Top Quality
From a prototype mold, we can produce high-quality moldings that are very close to mass production, or 100% matching the final production level.
Rapid Tooling Services
- Accelerate Time-to-Market
- Cost-Effective for Trials & Prototyping
- Supports Injection Molding & Casting
- Tolerance as tight as ±0.01 mm
ISO9001:2015 Certified
50+Rapid tooling monthly
100+Materials
10K+Moldings monthly
Trusted by
companies like
companies like
Why Choose Us For Rapid Tooling Service?
At KIXENER, we combine our experience, engineering capabilities, and advanced technology to produce high-quality rapid tooling solutions for prototypes and short production runs. We work closely with every client to manufacture custom tooling that meets both technical and time-to-market requirements.
Better Price
Our experienced engineers optimize rapid tooling design, material selection, and process efficiency to reduce costs without compromising quality. By streamlining the rapid tooling process, we help you achieve high-performance moldings at a lower price point.
Faster Delivery
With in-house facilities, a large stock of mold components, are mold base, plus our manufacturing network, we can manage to get your rapid tooling and final moldings done in days.
Quality Guaranteed
We implement strict quality control protocols throughout the entire rapid tooling and molding process. All components undergo 100% inspection before shipment, with dimensional and functional checks performed by experienced QC engineers.
Rapid Tooling Services Overview
Fast Mold Making
We produce rapid tooling using CNC machining and EDM, with aluminum or soft steel mold cavities and stock mold bases and components. This streamlined approach reduces design complexity and shortens lead times, making it ideal for prototype tooling, soft tooling, and other low-volume production applications.
Rapid Injection Molding
Building on our injection mold tooling capabilities, we can quickly start production. Rapid injection molding is ideal for prototypes and low-volume runs. It helps reduce lead times and speeds up validation. We operate over 10 molding machines dedicated to rapid manufacturing.
Rapid Tooling Materials
Rapid tooling can be produced using a variety of materials, chosen based on production volume, expected mold life, and part design complexity. At KIXENER, we commonly use aluminum, pre-hardened steels, and occasionally softer tool steels for low-volume applications.
Aluminum Mold Tooling
Aluminum mold tooling is a highly efficient solution for prototyping and low-volume production. Due to its excellent machinability, aluminum allows for faster cutting speeds and reduced tool wear, resulting in 15–25% lower tooling costs and up to 40% shorter cycle times compared to traditional steel molds.
One of aluminum’s key advantages is its ability to dissipate heat evenly, which enhances dimensional stability and minimizes warping or deformation during injection molding. This results in less material waste and improved part consistency.
- Softer and less wear-resistant than steel
- Not ideal for high-volume or high-pressure molding applications
- Shorter tool life, limiting usage to short production runs
- Best suited for prototyping, bridge tooling, and low-volume production
Steel Mold Tooling
Steel mold tooling is the preferred choice for high-volume production and demanding applications. With superior hardness and durability, steel molds offer a significantly longer service life than aluminum molds. They are also well-suited for molding engineering-grade plastics, especially those requiring resistance to abrasion, corrosion, or high injection pressures.
- Higher upfront costs compared to aluminum molds
- Longer lead times due to slower machining and complex processing
- Best suited for large-scale production requiring durability and consistency
- Delivers long-term value through extended tool life and superior material compatibility
Benefits of Rapid Tooling
The rapid tooling process involves streamlined mold fabrication using simplified materials and methods, making it ideal for rapid prototyping, design validation, and functional testing. It enables faster iteration, helping your team quickly respond to design feedback and streamline the product development process.
Fast processing
Prototype tooling provides quick results, so the transition between development and production is very short.
Economy of Scale
In most cases, rapid tooling is the most cost-effective option for an order of 100–2,000 units: too many for 3D printing, CNC machining, or urethane casting, but not enough to justify mass production tooling.
Material Options
Whatever material is available for injection molding can also be molded by rapid tooling. A wide range of material options is, therefore, one of the core benefits of the process.
Customizable Finishing
With rapid injection molding, we can tailor molds to produce different finishes including smooth, glossy, and textured. Further finishing procedures such as painting, chroming, and silk-screening can then be applied to the moldings.
Proof of concept/testing
Rapid prototyping facilitates practical real-world design testing and troubleshooting solutions. It also enables quick and precise production of new tooling that implements design changes and improvements.
Speed to market
Fast production and accurate tooling contribute to efficiency in production, ultimately providing a faster introduction to the market than other methods.
Competitive pricing
The affordability of the rapid tooling process translates into a positive impact on the bottom line for our customers.
Rapid Tooling for Tail Light Project
Can you imagine attempting to make prototype tools for over 30 components in just two months? Our customer desperately needed 200-300 sets of tail lights for testing, but mass production tools wouldn’t have been ready for eight months. They needed a solution to get good quality moldings by their deadline and at a much lower cost than production tools.
For this tail light project, we needed to fabricate a housing, reflector, light guide, bezel, an outer lens, and other components in a short period of time. The overall assembly size was about 600 x 400 x 150 mm, which is relatively large and the customer wanted to test real materials. In this case, 3D printing, CNC machining, and vacuum casting were not suitable, so prototype molding was the only option.
Two months ago, I was super stressed by an urgent plastic molding project. Our customer desperately wanted 100 sets at very short notice in order to run testing with real materials, even though normal production would have taken more than six months. Luckily, one of my friends recommended KIXENER to us by chance. Thanks to their rapid tooling services, KIXENER’s fantastic mold design team managed to finish the mold design within 10 days and immediately began fabrication. I was amazed that more than 60 items, including some large parts, were completed to a high standard within just two months.
David Roberts, Design EngineerA customer’s words mean more than ours
See what our satisfied customers have said about how we fulfilled their requirements.
Thanks to KIXENER's 5-axis machining capabilities, we’re able to push the limits on our uprights and wheel package designs for maximum performance. Their bespoke and rapid manufacturing services allowed us to complete our project on time and ahead of schedule.
FSAE School of EngineeringMy prototype from KIXENER arrived earlier than expected with outstanding quality. Their manufacturing standards and machining precision are impressive. They provided excellent customer service and clear communication. Highly recommended.
Trent L.KIXENER delivered high-precision parts for our low-volume project with excellent lead time and competitive pricing. Communication with them was fast and helpful, and the team even provided useful design feedback. All parts worked perfectly.
Sivan S.KIXENER has been our top source for CNC parts. Even complex 5-axis CNC machining projects delivered excellent results. The team provides high-quality parts, fast production, anodizing and laser logo services, and reliable communication.
T. J.Rapid Tooling FAQ
Rapid tooling—also known as prototype tooling or bridge tooling—is a fast, cost-effective method for producing low-volume plastic parts through injection molding. It uses aluminum or soft steel molds, often with stocked mold bases and hand-loaded inserts, to quickly create functional prototypes or small batches. This approach is ideal for marketing samples, design validation, and short-run production before full-scale manufacturing.
Rapid prototyping produces a few functional models for testing, using materials like plastics or resins. Rapid tooling creates aluminum or soft steel molds for low-volume production, enabling faster lead times and injection molding with production-grade thermoplastics.
Rapid tooling is a fast and cost-efficient way to create a few prototypes in a selected material for function and aspect testing, as well as for low-volume manufacturing to test out the market.
This depends on the size and geometry of the parts. For a common open and shut mold with regular size part such as 300 x 300 x 50 mm, fabrication of tools and moldings can be done within 10 days.
Moldings from rapid tooling are end-use-parts quality. They are very close to mass production parts. Normally, aluminum molds are good enough for +/- 1,000 shots, while Steel P20 molds can last for +/- 10,000 shots.
Put your parts into production today
All information and uploads are secure and confidential.
Get Instant Quote
1Upload
2Quote
3Confirm
4Ship