How much is a tool shop worth by size band?
Lumpy bookings and scarce skill support a higher SDE band when the bench is real. A shop that is one designer plus manuals sits lower.
Lumpy bookings support a higher SDE band only when the bench is real and you use a cycle-aware earnings base. Peak-year 5x is fiction. Split production if the shop also runs parts — that is a second business.
| tooling / dies / molds band | Basis used | Cell | What breaks it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M SDE | SDE | 2.4x–4.0x | lumpy bookings in a higher SDE band only with a real bench |
| $1–3M EBITDA | Adjusted EBITDA | 5.0x–7.0x | peak-year 5x treated as fiction |
| $3–10M EBITDA | Adjusted EBITDA | 5.5x–7.5x | parts-running work as a second cell |
| $10M+ EBITDA | Adjusted EBITDA | 6.5x–9.0x | customer tools refused as shop OLV |
When is tooling / dies / molds valuation an asset-floor conversation?
Illustrative only, mold shop, sde-under-1m: $560,000 SDE in a peak year, $310,000 three-year average. Use the average and 2.4x–3.8x SDE. Peak-year 5x is fiction.
Illustrative only, tool-and-die with production, ebitda-1-3m: $1.7 million adjusted EBITDA, diversified. Range 5.0x–7.0x if the bench stays. Split production if it distorts.
How should a broker opinion on a tool shop be used — and not used?
Lumpy bookings in a higher SDE band only with a real bench belongs in the tool shop opinion before anyone quotes a headline. Mixing bases to absorb that fact is how a teaching case becomes marketing. File custody is not a cell. Jason Taken will not sign an appraisal to paper over it. Put “lumpy bookings in a higher SDE band only with a real bench” on this tool shop valuation list.
Keep peak-year 5x treated as fiction on the size band. A Main Street tooling / dies / molds shop does not get a larger-EV print because the teaser sounded institutional. Bench gravity can sit in the CIM climate paragraph. It does not move the cell by itself. Put “peak-year 5x treated as fiction” on this tool shop valuation list.
Skip parts-running work as a second cell and the tool shop number is a brochure. The floor test still has to run. If orderly liquidation plus clean NWC beats earnings, say so. Cycle average does not get a vote. Put “parts-running work as a second cell” on this tool shop valuation list.
A court that wants a certified appraisal needs an appraiser. This tooling / dies / molds page still insists on customer tools refused as shop OLV plus a named band. Search-fund medians are a different animal (Source: Stanford GSB). Keep that print off the wrong tool shop. Put “customer tools refused as shop OLV” on this tool shop valuation list.
Change design-file IP as the premium not the EDM photo and the tool shop teaching case moves. That is the point of naming the process. Illustrative cases on this page are not offers. File custody describes the operating year, not the method. Put “design-file IP as the premium not the EDM photo” on this tool shop valuation list.
Pick SDE or adjusted EBITDA by size, then apply size-band logic still first on small tool rooms. Slogans do not get a vote on tooling / dies / molds. Jason Taken will not sign an appraisal. The broker opinion still has to be honest about this item. Put “size-band logic still first on small tool rooms” on this tool shop valuation list.
Do not import a larger-EV print onto a Main Street tooling / dies / molds shop because broker opinion that will not invent a mold print sounded institutional. Name the band. Name the process. Then talk. Put “broker opinion that will not invent a mold print” on this tool shop valuation list.
If asset-floor talks when iron exceeds the book points at an asset floor, the tool shop opinion should say so in the first table, not in a footnote. Bailment honesty does not hide a liquidation story. Put “asset-floor talks when iron exceeds the book” on this tool shop valuation list.
Stanford medians refused as tooling law is a method input on tooling / dies / molds, not a marketing adjective. If you cannot source it, drop the cell and talk iron plus net working capital. Put “Stanford medians refused as tooling law” on this tool shop valuation list.
Control generation, certificate status, and cycle-aware earnings as the only honest base should sit in the same paragraph of a tool shop opinion. Splitting them is how a 5x story gets invented. Put “cycle-aware earnings as the only honest base” on this tool shop valuation list.
Broker opinions on this site refuse to invent a tool shop print. Illustrative three-year average versus a peak is one of the reasons. If you need a court-ready number, hire an appraiser. Put “illustrative three-year average versus a peak” on this tool shop valuation list.
Where this tooling / dies / molds cell sends you next depends on one-designer manuals kept out of the industrial cell. If the item holds, read the hub and the buy page. If it fails, stay on the floor test. Put “one-designer manuals kept out of the industrial cell” on this tool shop valuation list.
The tool shop cell moves when customer tools refused as shop OLV moves. Say that in the first paragraph of the opinion. Bench gravity can sit in a footnote. It should not sit in the multiple. Put “customer tools refused as shop OLV” on this tool shop valuation list.
An illustrative tooling / dies / molds case that ignores design-file IP as the premium not the EDM photo is decoration. The tables on this page assume the item is named. Cycle average is not an input to the cell. Put “design-file IP as the premium not the EDM photo” on this tool shop valuation list.
Haircut language belongs next to size-band logic still first on small tool rooms, not in a general “risks” paragraph. On tooling / dies / molds, a buried haircut is a lie. Bailment honesty is not the haircut. Put “size-band logic still first on small tool rooms” on this tool shop valuation list.
If broker opinion that will not invent a mold print is the reason a tool shop should sit at the discount end of the band, say “discount end.” Do not average it with a certified lot. File custody is not an average. Put “broker opinion that will not invent a mold print” on this tool shop valuation list.
SDE versus EBITDA is a size-band choice. Asset-floor talks when iron exceeds the book is a process test. Do not use one to dodge the other on tooling / dies / molds. Bench gravity is neither. Put “asset-floor talks when iron exceeds the book” on this tool shop valuation list.
GF Data-style larger-EV prints stay off a Main Street tool shop unless the earnings base matches. Stanford medians refused as tooling law will not drag a small file into that series. Cycle average will not either. Put “Stanford medians refused as tooling law” on this tool shop valuation list.
Teaching cases on this tool shop page change when cycle-aware earnings as the only honest base changes. That is intentional. It is not an offer. Bailment honesty is not a case. Put “cycle-aware earnings as the only honest base” on this tool shop valuation list.
Use this tool shop opinion to negotiate and to write a teaser. Do not staple it to a lender form and call illustrative three-year average versus a peak appraised. File custody is not an appraisal standard. Put “illustrative three-year average versus a peak” on this tool shop valuation list.
A lapsed certificate and one-designer manuals kept out of the industrial cell can both knock a tool shop out of a premium cell. Name which one you are talking about. Bench gravity is not a certificate. Put “one-designer manuals kept out of the industrial cell” on this tool shop valuation list.
Split the trailing twelve months when lumpy bookings in a higher SDE band only with a real bench lives in only part of the tool shop book. A blended multiple is a slogan. Cycle average is not a split. Put “lumpy bookings in a higher SDE band only with a real bench” on this tool shop valuation list.
Asset-floor math on a tool shop is addition, not a vibe. Iron plus clean NWC versus earnings. Peak-year 5x treated as fiction often decides which story wins. Bailment honesty does not add. Put “peak-year 5x treated as fiction” on this tool shop valuation list.
When this tool shop cell is honest, parts-running work as a second cell is already in the sentence. If you have to hide it to keep a headline, the headline is wrong. File custody is not a headline. Put “parts-running work as a second cell” on this tool shop valuation list.
Where does this tooling / dies / molds cell send you next?
Use the tooling / dies / molds hub to keep the process named. Sell and buy carry the transaction versions. Parent method: manufacturing business valuation. Buyer comparison: how each buyer type prices a manufacturer.
This tooling / dies / molds valuation page will not sign an appraisal or import a neighbor cell. Counsel, a CPA, and credentialed environmental or M&E professionals own the licensed questions.