Custom and Prototype Metal Stampings That Save You Time and Money
Precise prototypes. Real production materials. Faster to market.
We provide our customers with precise prototypes that are fully equipped to accommodate real-world applications. Our expert technicians will work with your team to turn your ideas into high-functioning components that are immediately ready to test in your lab or present to your marketing team. You can also trust that, right from the initial concept, we’ll collaborate with you, providing crucial industry insights and best practices so you can receive the highest quality final product.
Are you in need of prototype metal stampings for your essential products? If so, choose Westlake Tool & Die, as we supply reliable, custom components to satisfy your industry needs. Read on to learn more about our offerings.
About Our Prototype Metal Stamping Processes and More
Any successful final product starts with a realistic metal stamping prototype, which means it must be made using the material that will be used during production. Because of this, our team will work with you to source any type of material to build the most cost-effective prototype tooling for your project specifications.
Our state-of-the-art custom stamping equipment allows for flexibility throughout the prototyping phase. This ensures that we can quickly react to changes in plans and manufacture additional parts without starting the entire process over. Once your prototype is created, we’ll conduct a feasibility study to test whether it functions properly, eliminating any potential setbacks down the line.
Simply put, we have the years of knowledge and industry experience it takes to create a custom prototype of any metal stamped or welded metal component. When you choose us to be your full-service manufacturing partner – for prototyping, tool and die design and construction, production, and more – trust that you’ll get the best final product.
“How we treat our customers, employees and vendors over the course of each day is what matters to us the most.”
– Seamus Walsh, President of Westlake Tool & Die
Request A Quote
Request a quote using the form below or call us at 440-934-5305.
The Role of CNC Machining in Prototyping
While metal stamping is the core of our production work, we often recommend CNC machining as the most efficient path for developing a prototype. CNC machining produces precise, identical, high-quality components quickly, which lets you move from an initial concept or CAD file to a physical, test-ready part in a short timeframe.
Prototyping is an iterative process, and CNC machining gives our technicians the flexibility to keep pace with it. If a feasibility study shows that a design needs to change, we can adjust and machine modified parts swiftly, without scrapping the work already completed or starting over from scratch. That agility helps you refine a design before committing to a final stamping die.
CNC machining also operates as one piece of our full-service approach. It works alongside our custom metal stamping capabilities, allowing our team to machine precision parts using the exact materials and tolerances that will be used in full-scale production. The result is a prototype that accurately represents the component you intend to manufacture.
Tooling Built for the Full Lifecycle of Your Part
Our prototyping recommendations are shaped by how a part will eventually be produced. For a brand-new product, we typically recommend building short-run stamping tooling first. This lets you test the market and make engineering changes without investing in expensive high-volume tooling before the design is proven.
How the prototyping phase adapts to your production path:
| Job Type | How the Prototyping Phase Works |
|---|---|
| Progressive die or long-run jobs | The prototyping phase takes the form of approval samples – we assemble the tool, run initial samples in the press, and secure your sign-off before mass production begins. |
| Transfer die stamping | We support complex transfer die stamping projects from the very first prototype through full production ramp-up. |
All of our tooling is designed, built, and maintained entirely in-house, and we maintain that tooling for the entire life of your parts. In most cases, we do not charge for die maintenance or repairs over the life of the tool; charges apply only when the dies were originally built by another supplier.
Early in a project, we work with you to determine the expected lifespan of the tool and whether future design revisions are likely. If you plan to introduce an updated model later, we can build the option for those revisions into the tool from the start, saving you from investing in entirely new tooling down the road. Our tools are also engineered for adjustment and service while still in the press, so technicians can replace worn punches or die without removing the entire tool, keeping your production uptime high.
By controlling the engineering and maintenance of every die throughout its lifespan, we ensure our tooling stays repeatable and dependable.
The same part, to the same stringent tolerances – today and five or ten years from now.
Prototype Volumes That Scale with Your Project
Our prototyping work is built around flexibility. We regularly handle requests from one or two prototype pieces to runs of 25 to 50 parts, and we adjust our approach to match the stage of your project rather than forcing every job toward high volume.
Because we are a full-service manufacturing partner, we do more than build the prototype – we work with you as the project grows. A prototype can move into short-run stamping to test the market and then scale up to high-volume transfer die or progressive die stamping, all without you needing to find a new supplier. We actively partner with companies looking to transition new products from the prototype phase into series production.
A Collaborative Approach to Prototyping
From the first concept, our technicians collaborate with your engineers to provide industry insight, material recommendations, and design-for-manufacture best practices. Getting our team involved early in development gives us immediate visibility into tooling expenses, helps you optimize your budget, and lets us flag potential manufacturing challenges before they turn into errors or delays.
That feedback has real value for our customers. As one product development engineer noted, our input helped their team avoid unnecessary design iterations and arrive at better, less costly production components. By becoming product experts from day one, we help lower total development time and get your product to market faster.
Advantages of Choosing Westlake Tool & Die for Your Prototype Metal Stampings
Our In-House Prototyping Saves You Time
Our Streamlined Processes Save You Money
The bottom line: Ultimately, when Westlake Tool & Die supplies your metal parts prototyping, you can be sure we will help your final product get to market in the fastest, most cost-effective way possible.
Beyond Our Prototype Stamping Services
Along with providing precise prototype metal stampings and other options, our team also specializes in the following services for our customers:
Robust Services for a Variety of Industries
Whether you want prototype metal stampings to use in furniture projects or aircraft applications, know that we can provide you with precise results every time. We’ve worked with a wide range of industries, which include:
| Food processing | HVAC | Plumbing |
| Home appliances | Electrical transmission | Lawn and garden |
| Transportation | Medical and home care devices | Lighting |
| Commercial office furniture | Aircraft |
Contact Us Today for Prototype Metal Stampings
If you’ve been searching for the highest-quality prototype stampings for your application needs, reach out to our team to request a quote. And if you have any questions about our offerings, be sure to contact us as we look forward to assisting you.