What is OEM?
The abbreviation OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. A company that designs and builds a product to its own specifications is undertaking OEM. The company usually sells the product to another company for distributing to the market. The selling company may use their brand on the product for sale under a private label arrangement. OEM may be referred to as a service while ODM is a product.
What is ODM?
The abbreviation ODM stands for Original Design Manufacturer. A company that designs and builds a product to another company’s specifications is undertaking ODM. They usually take on the cost of the equipment and building to make the product.
How is Private Labelling Different to OEM and ODM?
A private label product is quite similar to ODM. The manufacturer sells a product to you which you can brand your own before marketing and selling. The product is not made specifically for the seller and is made available to other companies to apply their brand and sell. The product is not unique and can be purchased under multiple brand names, but it is one of the fastest ways to launch and sell a product.
Even if a product is private label, it is not without its risks. As simple of printing your logo on the product can go wrong if you don’t fully brief the manufacturer. Also, you don’t know if someone already has a patent on the product or part of the product.
A private label product still needs to be full tested and quality assurance conducted. Before purchasing, conduct testing to ensure the product isn’t defective and meets the requirements of the market you are selling it in.
