Tooling
Navigator ToolRoom covers tool room engineering, from tool request to commissioning, and tool room management through movement, usage, maintenance and repair.
Products
Navigator - ToolRoom
Tool Room Management & Engineering
- Purpose
- Manage production tooling end to end: engineer new tools from request to commissioning, then manage each tool through movement, usage, maintenance, breakdown, repair and modification.
- Problem we solve
- Not knowing where a tool is or whether it is available, tools issued again before they are returned or used with breakdowns still open — and, in engineering, development history, trials and cost that are never properly recorded.
- Our USP
- Engineering and management in one system: the tool request, development project and operational tool master are kept separate, so every revision, trial and correction stays traceable for the life of the tool.
Overview
About Navigator ToolRoom
Navigator ToolRoom covers both sides of the tool room. Tool room engineering takes a new production tool from a business or production requirement to a fully designed, manufactured, inspected, trialled, approved and commissioned tool. Tool room management then follows that tool through its working life.
It keeps three records separate: the tool request (why the tool is needed), the development project (how it will be created) and the tool master (the operational tool you end up with). That separation keeps the engineering history traceable after the tool goes into production.
On the management side, the tool master holds each tool’s category, location, department and machine. Tools are issued, returned, transferred or scrapped through movements, and usage, maintenance, breakdowns, repairs, modifications and outsourcing to vendors are recorded against them. A dashboard shows whether each tool is available, in production or held.
Execution models
Capabilities
Capabilities by area
Tool requests and feasibility
- Requests for new, replacement, capacity-expansion and modified tools
- Requirement documents: part and customer drawings, 3D models, photographs and specifications
- Engineering review checklist
- Manufacturing and commercial feasibility, with risk assessment
Specification and approval
- Revision-controlled technical specification as the engineering baseline
- Make, buy or hybrid decision at tool or component level
- Development approval with scope, target date, estimated cost and responsible engineer
- One development project per request, showing its current stage and timeline
- Engineering dashboard of pending work for each role
Design, BOM and routing
- Revision-controlled design records with CAD files, 2D drawings and 3D models
- Design review checklist
- Tool BOM with make or buy per component
- Routing with operations, work centres, internal or outsourced processes and inspection requirements
Manufacturing, procurement and inspection
- Tracking of quantities, dates, machines, operators, rejection, rework, outsourcing, delays and actual cost
- Vendor route: RFQ, quotation, vendor selection and purchase order
- Incoming, in-process and final inspection records
Trial and correction
- A separate record for every trial, with results, defects, observations and photos
- Pass, conditional or fail decisions
- Correction records with problem, root cause, proposed correction and drawing revision
- Repeated trial and correction cycles with the full history preserved
Approval and commissioning
- Final approval checklist before commissioning
- Commissioning with tool code, location, machine, expected life, final drawing revision, BOM and cost
- Final approved BOM, routing, drawing revision and documents as the commissioning baseline
Tool master and dashboard
- Tool master for every operational tool, with category, location, department, machine and vendor
- Tool statuses: active, inactive, suspended, retired and scrapped
- Dashboard showing whether each tool is available, in production or held
- Modules shown according to company and user role
Movement, usage and maintenance
- Issue to a machine or department, return, transfer and scrap transfer
- Movement rules, so a tool cannot be issued again before it is returned
- Production usage records
- Planned and in-progress maintenance
- Breakdowns: a tool stays suspended until every breakdown is closed
- Repairs, modifications and outsourcing to vendors, each tracked to completion
Workflow
From tool request to production
The engineering lifecycle a new production tool follows.
New tool request
Record why the tool is needed, with requirement documents.
Review and feasibility
Engineering review, then manufacturing, commercial and risk feasibility.
Technical specification
Freeze the requirement as a revision-controlled engineering baseline.
Make, buy or outsource
Decide the execution model and approve the development scope.
Design and review
Revision-controlled design, checked against a review checklist.
BOM and routing
Define the tool’s components and how it will be manufactured.
Manufacture and inspect
Manufacture or procure, with incoming, in-process and final inspection.
Trial and correction
Trial the tool; a failed trial leads to a correction record and a re-trial.
Approval and commissioning
Final approval, then commissioning into the tool master, where day-to-day tool management takes over.
Common challenges
Problems it is designed to address
- Drawing changes that silently alter the original tool requirement
- Development history lost once a tool goes into production
- Failed trials and corrections that are never recorded
- Vendor and outsourcing work disconnected from the tool’s development
- Development cost that is not accumulated against the tool
- Not knowing where a tool is, or whether it is available, in production or held
- A tool issued again before it has been returned
- Tools going back into production while a breakdown is still open
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is Navigator - ToolRoom?
Navigator - ToolRoom (Tool Room Management & Engineering): Manage production tooling end to end: engineer new tools from request to commissioning, then manage each tool through movement, usage, maintenance, breakdown, repair and modification.
What problem does Navigator - ToolRoom solve?
Not knowing where a tool is or whether it is available, tools issued again before they are returned or used with breakdowns still open — and, in engineering, development history, trials and cost that are never properly recorded.
What makes Navigator - ToolRoom different?
Engineering and management in one system: the tool request, development project and operational tool master are kept separate, so every revision, trial and correction stays traceable for the life of the tool.
What does Navigator - ToolRoom include?
Navigator - ToolRoom covers tool requests and feasibility, specification and approval, design, bom and routing, manufacturing, procurement and inspection, trial and correction, approval and commissioning, tool master and dashboard and movement, usage and maintenance.
Which industries is Navigator - ToolRoom a proven fit for?
Tooling: Navigator ToolRoom covers tool room engineering, from tool request to commissioning, and tool room management through movement, usage, maintenance and repair.
Next step
See Navigator ToolRoom against your own workflow
Tell us how you work today and we will walk you through the parts of Navigator that fit your operation.