Brandauer’s Modular Tooling
Our modular tooling features precision-guided modules, tolerances to ±0.001mm, and quick in-press changeovers that reduce SMED times while protecting tools for long-term efficiency.
Slash changeover time and scale production effortlessly
Brandauer’s modular tooling is an innovation that was created by the combination of Brandauer’s 160+ years of experience and continued drive in modern innovation within precision manufacturing and tooling standards. This solution sets new progression tooling standards and has never been seen before in precision manufacturing. It is the most complex of Brandauer’s press tool offerings and provides the longest life-span, shortest changeover downtime, and most accurate components.
What is Modular Tooling?
Brandauer’s modular tooling has been developed with high-volume, consistent precision manufacturing in mind. The main goal of the modular tooling methodology is to replace the traditional fixed-tool approach with a system of interchangeable (two, three or even four) precision-engineered modules. Each module represents its own progression tool and incorporates its own guidance and protection, allowing it to operate independently from other modules within the full toolset, all whilst maintaining tolerances of less than 10 microns.
With these individual modules being present, when there is a need to extract and modify the tool (This could be for several reasons, scheduled maintenance, design changes, or even tool failure) the downtime and costs incurred will be significantly less compared to a fully fixed progression tool, as only the impacted module will need to be removed and maintained, not the full tool.
Expanding on this approach, there is a possibility to have module spares, so if a module were to fail and need to be taken out, you can just changeover the specific module, meaning your downtime is limited to the changeover of the module, not the full repair time.
This system has been developed to meet the demand of high-volume applications, particularly when thin materials, tight tolerances, and consistent quality are at the forefront of the project.
The Development and Success of Brandauer’s Modular Tooling
Brandauer’s modular press tooling was developed through a deliberate, structured innovation programme that began in 2017. At the time, tooling was seen to support high-volume stamping work rather than a value-adding capability in its own right. Despite Brandauer’s deep technical expertise, Brandauer wasn’t leveraging this to give clients the absolute best return on their tooling investments.
Brandauer then made a conscious decision to change this. After initial market research, it was seen that a gap in the market was present for widely available, quality, precision modular tooling for a wide range of markets. Highly complex modular tooling has been attempted elsewhere, but this typically came with a very high cost, bespoke and unsuitable for widespread audiences.
Brandauer began the development of their new modular tooling solution. The goals of affordability and flexibility were non-negotiable from the outset. Significant investment of time and money was then injected into this project, around £1.5 million into their toolroom, £2 million of Innovate UK funding and leveraging academic expertise all enabled a low-risk, real-world development through collaborative projects with real OEM’s in the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Saietta, Ricardo and Ford. This provided live environments in which the modular tooling concept could be refined and validated before being offered to a wider market.
After multiple process and tooling refinements, Brandauer’s modular tooling went to market in April 2018, marking a significant breakthrough in precision press tool technology. Since then, Brandauer’s modular tooling has been proven across multiple sectors/projects and embedded into the business’s broader capability range and in late 2024, was the main driving factor in Brandauer being awarded the King’s Award for Innovation, marking another historic achievement for the whole business.
Brandauer case study
Shaving the future with LORD International
One of the many customers taking advantage of Brandauer’s modular tooling is LORD International Razors. LORD International came to Brandauer with the requirement to produce 500 components per minute with ultra-precise tolerances. This level of volume and precision immediately called for a Brandauer modular tool to be manufactured. The team designed and manufactured a tool with 4 interchangeable modules to minimise downtime and allow for any potential changes in the future.
The result? LORD International has created a £4 million export opportunity for Brandauer, generating close to £1 million in annual revenue. It has created dedicated jobs within the business and supported the upskilling of apprentices. For LORD International? Outside of their 500ppm automatic precision production line, a long-term precision engineering partner is on hand with all of their precision manufacturing needs.
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Nationally recognised,
globally trusted
Beyond heritage and case studies, Brandauer has a reputation backed by a range of awards and quality standards. Along with being one of the very few SMEs to hold both the King’s and Queen’s Awards for International Trade and Innovation, the business has also been a proud recipient of multiple awards over the years, all in many different areas, spanning components, people and environmental efforts!
Beyond Brandauer’s success, we hold a range of quality certifications and are committed to continuous improvement of everything we do.
