Considered posting this to the Business and Investing board, but that seemed to be more about capital allocation, and I know there are some handy, manufacturing-minded folks here.

Our business uses some plastic components that are currently manufactured in China, but must first pass through Germany, resulting in a 3- to 6-month lead time. We were already investigating domestic manufacturers, who are more expensive on a per unit basis, but once shipping and duties figure in, it's a negligible difference. Now, with the dock workers strike, I think the supply chain risk tips the scales.

My question is about tooling. We're getting quotes of $40-50k to set up the 6 molds, which we still wouldn't own. Are these quotes down the fairway? Is it unreasonable to ask that we own the molds? I've even offered an exclusivity term, so we wouldn't be considered a flight risk and the manufacturer would have some guarantee on his cash flows for a time.

Any advice is appreciated

Probably depends on what you're molding exactly and how big/complex the mold is. Does it have to be extremely tight tolerances/surface finishes or are they disposable parts that won't ever be seen? Is it a 1/2" plastic grommet size or a 140 qt cooler?

I'm not in the manufacturing business, but I have a bit of a machinist hobby/ youtube binge habit.

It just seems like we can't tell much about a price range when there are so many variables

Happy to help you with your project. Send me a PM. Tooling costs all depends on size and complexity but we will likely be 2X China. But you will own your molds.

I owned a Machine shop for 30 years.
One of our customers for many years was an injection molding company.
Like mentioned previously depending on the part the molds can be very complex, expensive and possibly fragile.
Our customer would not run any molds that they did not own for final product quality issues.
The time it takes to get a machine set up after a mold change is substantial. And if a quality problem comes up because of a mold issue who is responsible for that cost if the end user owns the mold?
This might be clear as mud but I hope it helps.

I've been working with molds for a long time on both the machining side and the purchase side of our own molds. Depending on the size and complexity of the molds I have seen as high as $200k for two molds that made parts that would fit in your hand. It varies so much by part material and company. I highly recommend Empire Precision. Although they are located up north, they are extremely 2A friendly which is important to my needs.

https://www.metrocustomplastics.com/

Aggie owned and operated. Knowing nothing about your project, my guess is mold cost is in line. Precision machining isn't cheap.

Thanks for the replies & resources. Figured the answer was, as always, "It depends", but this is helpful context.

Arrow, I can't send a PM. Would you mind reaching out to me?

[email removed]

email sent

Received. Thanks