When you pay for a tool, you own it. The molder holds and maintains it, but the asset is yours, and that should be stated explicitly in the tooling purchase order rather than assumed.
A tooling agreement is clearer if it also covers the points that only come up later:
- Storage. Where the tool is kept between runs and who is responsible for its condition.
- Maintenance. Routine cleaning and preventive maintenance between production runs, and who pays for wear-related repair over time.
- Release. The conditions under which the tool is shipped to you or to another factory, and who bears the cost of removal and freight.
- Inactivity. How long a tool is held without production before storage is reviewed.
- Design ownership. Your part design and drawings remain yours regardless of who built the tool.
We sign a mutual NDA on request before reviewing sensitive designs, and we do not produce a customer part for another party.