What Preferred Tool & Die makes

Preferred Tool & Die is a tool and die maker in Comstock Park, Michigan, in the Grand Rapids metro. It designs and builds the stamping dies that other manufacturers run in their presses, rather than stamping high volumes of finished parts itself. The core product lines are progressive dies, line dies, and transfer dies, plus the stamping automation that feeds and moves parts through them.

Transfer work is the company's center of gravity. By its own account, roughly 80% of current die builds are transfer dies, and about three-quarters of those use Walking Beam Transfer systems built by DieBotics, the company's in-house automation brand. Preferred integrates these transfers into dies fed from coil as a progressive partial, from flat blanks, or from tubes and rolled sections, and combines them with robotic load and unload cells for secondary operations such as welding, stacking, part insertion, and in-line inspection. Its typical buyers are automotive OEMs and tier suppliers that run these dies in their own stamping operations.

The company points to specific areas of die-engineering depth rather than a generic capability list. It states it has produced dies for 25 sunroof assemblies, including roof-opening, roof-opening reinforcement, glass reinforcement, and roof-bow tooling, and it lists cut-off, draw-fed, and blank-fed transfer dies among its specialties. Alongside die building it runs die repair, CNC machining, and wire EDM, and its engineers use draw-form simulation, 3D solids modeling, and finite element analysis in CATIA and Mastercam to develop tooling.

Equipment and capabilities

Preferred keeps large press capacity in-house for die tryout and stamping. Its documented fleet runs from a Clearing 750-ton straight-side press with a 156 by 72 inch bed down through Clearing 400-ton and 250-ton presses and Verson and Cleveland 250-ton presses. Die-build and machining equipment includes Awea, Johnford, and Makino CNC bridge and horizontal mills, a Charmilles Robofil 500 wire EDM, and Starrett/Faro coordinate measuring plus a mobile Faro articulating-arm CMM for inspection. Three ten-ton bridge cranes handle the large die sets the transfer work requires. This equipment list is drawn from company materials and has evolved over time, so treat the specific machines as representative of the shop's scale rather than a live asset register.

The automation side runs through DieBotics, which sells engineered part-transfer systems as a distinct product line: front-and-rear mount three-axis transfers, three-axis Cartesian movement systems, walking beam transfers, and process load and unload robots. DieBotics positions these transfers for stamping processes that are not well suited to a single progressive die, where separating operations across stations saves material and simplifies handling of bulky or complex parts.

Ownership and history

Preferred Tool & Die was founded in 1966 and has operated as an independent, owner-run West Michigan tool shop for about six decades. Tim Launiere is President and the owner of the business; on the DieBotics leadership page he describes more than 40 years in the tool and more than 20 years as a die-manufacturer owner, and he is a named patent holder in stamping automation. The DieBotics automation brand, led on the commercial side by Sales Director Kishen Kavikondala, shares the Comstock Park address and phone line and also lists an office in Hyderabad, India.

The company's own website, preferredtoolanddie.com, is currently not serving content: as of late September 2026 it returns a server error on every page. The profile here is reconstructed from the Internet Archive's working snapshots of that site, a company brochure, and the live DieBotics site, all first-party sources. Buyers evaluating Preferred should expect to reach the company by phone or through DieBotics rather than the main web address until it is restored.

Certifications and quality

Preferred describes itself as an ISO-registered manufacturer holding ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 registrations. ISO 9001 is the general quality-management standard; ISO 13485 is the quality standard for medical devices, and its presence is consistent with the company's stated medical-device stamping work alongside its automotive base. A 2009 company brochure cited an earlier ISO 9001:2000 registration. These are reported here as company claims: a current, dated certificate could not be independently verified while the company's own site is down, so a buyer should request the active certificate and scope directly during qualification.

Frequently asked questions

What does Preferred Tool & Die make?

Preferred Tool & Die designs and builds stamping dies, progressive dies, line dies, and transfer dies, along with the automation that feeds and moves parts through them. Transfer dies make up roughly 80% of its current builds, most using Walking Beam Transfer systems from its DieBotics automation brand. It also offers die repair, CNC machining, and wire EDM. It is a die maker, not primarily a high-volume parts stamper.

Who owns Preferred Tool & Die?

Preferred Tool & Die is independent and owner-operated. Tim Launiere is the President and owner. The company was founded in 1966 and has remained a privately held West Michigan tool shop. Its automation product line, DieBotics, is run under the same ownership from the same Comstock Park address.

Where is Preferred Tool & Die located?

Preferred Tool & Die is at 5400 West River Drive NE, Comstock Park, Michigan 49321, in the Grand Rapids metro area. Its main phone line is (616) 784-6789, shared with the DieBotics automation brand.

What is DieBotics and how is it related?

DieBotics is Preferred Tool & Die's in-house stamping-automation brand, offering engineered part-transfer systems: walking beam transfers, three-axis servo and Cartesian transfers, and load and unload robots. It is run under the same ownership and address as Preferred and also maintains an office in Hyderabad, India. Because Preferred's own website is currently down, DieBotics is the more reliable live point of contact.

What certifications does Preferred Tool & Die hold?

Preferred Tool & Die describes itself as ISO-registered with ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certifications. ISO 13485 covers medical-device manufacturing and matches the company's stated medical stamping work. These are reported as company claims; because the company's own site is currently unavailable, buyers should request the current certificate and its scope directly.

How many employees does Preferred Tool & Die have?

Preferred Tool & Die is a small manufacturer, with an employee count in the 11 to 50 range. It is a specialized die shop rather than a large production stamper, and its headcount reflects that focus on engineering-intensive tool building.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.