In-house tooling with OF Bell for cost-effective complex component manufacturing

Accurate, precision tooling is essential to the successful large-scale manufacture of complex miniature components, supporting round-the-clock injection moulding processes to deliver consistent components and parts, either as stand-alone components or as part of more complex assemblies. 

OF Bell invests heavily in our tooling workshop, skills and technologies, keeping the design and manufacture of our tools in-house, under one roof, to bring countless benefits to our clients. From greater confidentiality to faster, more cost-effective component production, in-house tooling design and tooling manufacture by OF Bell keeps your supply chain stocked and production lines running while protecting your business's commercial interests.

Experienced skills for expert tooling design onshore, in the UK

OF Bell's tooling workshop is led by Toolroom Manager Mark Brown. A time-served toolmaker and manager for over 35 years, Mark has established unparalleled knowledge and experience that's driving our toolroom forward though modernisation, mentorship and service expansion. 

Our fully-equipped tooling design facilities include 3D CAD and manufacturing software for pinpoint accuracy throughout tooling design, which is undertaken collaboratively with our clients, and as designs are transferred to production machinery including CNC machinery such as our FANUC Robodrill. And during early product design and development, tooling design and consultancy phases, 3D printing using our market-leading technology supports efficient and accurate prototyping, speeding up processes to move components into production more quickly without compromise on accuracy. 

OF Bell continually invests in our team and facilities, and Mark plays a crucial role in the mentoring of junior tooling team members to maintain our standards, the professional working practices we operate to, and the drive to innovate toolmaking for greater efficiency and capacity. 

In-house tooling design by OF Bell for unbeatable project confidentiality 

Across our industry, the design and manufacture of tooling is often outsourced to third parties. OF Bell's unique, in-house, fully-equipped toolroom eliminates the need to share highly sensitive and valuable product design and tooling design information outside of our manufacturing processes, designing tools for the manufacture of complex miniature components and parts under one roof for reassuring confidentiality. 

Our clients' product designs are unique and protected by intellectual property rights, carrying intrinsic commercial value. Removing risks presented by the sharing of information, OF Bell professionally manufactures mould tools to agreed processes, often under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and develops tools exclusively for our clients' projects - we don't make tools for anyone else.

This approach enables us to work much more closely with clients to support their product design and development phases, collaborating closely to fine-tune tooling designs and recommendations for optimum cost and production efficiency. 

Time-saving tooling design that keeps your supply chain flowing 

Working with one, in-house team in the UK keeps your organisation's supply chain stocked and your production lines moving. OF Bell's manufacturing facility is based in County Durham, UK, and our onshore team of complex component specialists works closely and collaboratively alongside our clients throughout tooling design and development. 

No long distances, no miscommunication and no delays caused by shipping or international supply chain issues, just reliable tooling design with continual prototyping by a fully-equipped manufacturing partner that benefits from exceptional knowledge of your product, its application in the field and your wider production processes. By moving tooling design forward proactively, OF Bell quickly gets your components into production.

Specialist tooling design for manufacturing cost efficiency 

Our team helps you to achieve great value out of every injection mould by maximising output, reducing waste and delivering the components you need more quickly. 

Precision single and multi-cavity tools are designed with pinpoint accuracy using our 3D CAD modelling systems, simplifying product and tooling designs where necessary to maximise the output and performance potential of every mould and from every component.

In particular, OF Bell advises on metal replacement opportunities in order to deliver robust, hardwearing components that perform as well as metal alternatives. Plastics specialists with decades of experience offer valuable materials consultancy advice right from the outset of your project, recommending compounds and materials that will help you to achieve value with complete reassurance on quality. 

Multi-cavity tooling for complex miniature components designed for our textiles sector client

OF Bell's client is a global leader in the development of technologies for use in the textiles industry, notably machinery, components and automation for the production and inspection of industrial yarns.

Utilised in our client's technologies are some of the smallest components manufactured in-house by OF Bell. These 8mm-wide miniature moulded plastic components hold magnets in place during the manufacture of laser vision sensor equipment, forming part of a much larger assembly. 

Our team designed a multi-cavity tool which maximised output from every 3.02g shot, moulded on our 6T vertical injection machines which accurately produce around 200,000 units annually, and around 25,000 units per batch. Complementing OF Bell's tooling design, our plastics specialists recommended an advanced LCP engineering polymer for its strength and durability in miniature components, delivering reliable, robust and consistent miniature components that are dispatched quickly from our UK base. 

Read more about OF Bell's manufacture of miniature components for our textiles sector client