How do you calculate a tooling risk score?

Multiply the three ratings: severity x occurrence x detection. With a severity of 6, occurrence of 4 and detection of 3, the tooling risk score is 6 x 4 x 3 = 72 on a 1-1000 scale.

What is a good tooling risk score?

Lower is better. On a 1-1000 RPN scale, scores under about 40-60 are usually acceptable, 60-100 warrant a watch item, and anything above ~100-125 typically triggers a mandatory tooling action.

What is the difference between severity, occurrence and detection?

Severity is how damaging the failure is if it reaches parts, occurrence is how frequently the failure mode happens, and detection is how likely your current controls miss it (10 = you'd never catch it).

Should I use the RPN or look at severity alone?

Use both. A high total flags the worst combined risk, but any single severity of 9-10 (safety, full batch scrap, tool destruction) should trigger action even if occurrence and detection are low.

How often should tooling risk scores be recalculated?

Rescore after any tooling change, a mold or die repair, a new PM control, or at each scheduled FMEA review — the detection score in particular drops as you add better inspection.

Why does detection use a reversed scale?

A high detection score means the failure is hard to detect, which increases risk. A robust in-die sensor or SPC check earns a low detection score and pulls the total down.

Tooling, Fixtures, Dies & Mold Economics calculator

Tooling Risk Score Calculator

A Tooling Risk Score is a Risk Priority Number (RPN) applied specifically to production tooling — dies, molds, fixtures and cutting tools — that multiplies how bad a failure would be, how often it happens, and how hard it is to catch before it reaches parts. Tooling engineers and maintenance planners use it to rank which tooling failure modes deserve a preventive-maintenance action first, instead of chasing whichever tool broke most recently. On a shop floor with dozens of active tools, it turns gut feel into a defensible priority list. The higher the score, the more urgent the mitigation.

What this calculator does

Estimate tooling risk for tooling, fixtures, dies and mold economics using production-ready inputs so teams can rank risks and decide which issue needs containment, controls, or escalation first.
Use it when tooling risk in tooling, fixtures, dies and mold economics needs a defensible ranking against other tooling, fixtures, dies and mold economics risks for the next review.
It computes a single tooling Risk Priority Number by multiplying the severity, occurrence and detection ratings for one tooling failure mode.

Formula used

Tooling risk score = tooling risk severity score × tooling risk occurrence score × tooling risk detection score
Use the same scoring scale across comparable tooling risk risks.

Inputs explained

Tooling failure severity rating (1-10):
Tooling failure occurrence likelihood (1-10):
Tooling failure detection difficulty (1-10):

How to use the result

Use it during tooling FMEA reviews, PM planning, or when deciding which die, mold or fixture risk to fund a fix for first.
RPN treats a 6x4x3 and a 9x2x4 as roughly equal even though a severity-9 failure (scrapped batch, safety) usually warrants action regardless of the product; always let high severity override a low total.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for plastic resins and materials stands at 319.371 (BLS, May 2026), up 19.5% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The U.S. has 14,378 furniture and related products establishments employing about 355,594 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate a tooling risk score? Multiply the three ratings: severity x occurrence x detection. With a severity of 6, occurrence of 4 and detection of 3, the tooling risk score is 6 x 4 x 3 = 72 on a 1-1000 scale.
What is a good tooling risk score? Lower is better. On a 1-1000 RPN scale, scores under about 40-60 are usually acceptable, 60-100 warrant a watch item, and anything above ~100-125 typically triggers a mandatory tooling action.
What is the difference between severity, occurrence and detection? Severity is how damaging the failure is if it reaches parts, occurrence is how frequently the failure mode happens, and detection is how likely your current controls miss it (10 = you'd never catch it).
Should I use the RPN or look at severity alone? Use both. A high total flags the worst combined risk, but any single severity of 9-10 (safety, full batch scrap, tool destruction) should trigger action even if occurrence and detection are low.
How often should tooling risk scores be recalculated? Rescore after any tooling change, a mold or die repair, a new PM control, or at each scheduled FMEA review — the detection score in particular drops as you add better inspection.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.