Who has responsibility for die maintenance, repair and replacement: the die caster or the OEM customer?
A. The responsibility and criteria for maintaining tooling, on the one hand, and replacing the tooling, on the other, should be understood in the contract between the customer and the die caster. The most common practice is for the die caster to provide minor maintenance, and the purchaser to provide major repair and replacement. Minor maintenance is generally described as “run-to-run” maintenance of a serviceable die to maintain die casting production. Major maintenance would cover the replacement or rebuilding of an entire die cavity, die section, or complex core slide that makes up a significant percentage of the casting detail, or the major resurfacing of a die. Die maintenance responsibilities are outlined in greater detail in the NADCA Product Standards Manual (see description and discount order form).
