David Krause15.1 Four maturity levels
| Level | Practice | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | tools as overhead, no allocation | none — watering can across all centers |
| 1 | allocation per cost center | centers become comparable |
| 2 | allocation per tool type and spindle hour | costing-capable — the target for most companies |
| 3 | tool-life recording per tool and order | order-accurate, but high recording effort |
15.2 Tooling costs per spindle hour
| Tool type | annual usage | €/year | €/spindle-h |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid-carbide mills 3–12 mm | 280 pcs | 14,560 | 5.50 |
| Indexable inserts | 1,200 pcs | 8,400 | 3.17 |
| Drills solid-carbide / HSS | 180 pcs | 5,040 | 1.90 |
| Taps and thread mills | 95 pcs | 4,275 | 1.62 |
| Clamping tools, shrink-fit chucks | 12 pcs | 2,880 | 1.09 |
| Regrinding | 320 operations | 4,800 | 1.81 |
| Total | 2,087 pcs | 39,955 | 15.09 |
In many companies regrinding runs under "grinding costs" or "external services" and thereby lands in maintenance. That is wrong: regrinding extends a tool's life and is therefore a tooling cost — it belongs on its own sub-account within tools. At €4,800 a year, the wrong posting shifts a full €1.81/spindle hour into the wrong cost type.
15.3 Scrap credit
Spent carbide tools have a residual value. For solid carbide the credit is €18 to €30/kg depending on the market — that is not a side effect but a position that noticeably lowers the tooling rate.
A solid-carbide drill of 8 mm weighs 38 g. At €28.00/kg scrap credit that is €1.06 per piece. At a purchase price of €28.50, the effective tooling costs drop to €27.44 — nearly 4 percent. Summed over the cost center's entire tool consumption, this adds up to a four-figure amount per year.
