“OEM and ODM “How to choose from them?

OEM and ODM are two different types of manufactures or factories, and the buyers would choose the manufactures based on what types of products they are looking for. Before choosing the manufactures, we need to know a little more about these two types of companies.

What is OEM and example？

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacture. A company provides OEM service would have to follow the product designs from buyers, while the buyers develop or invent all the essential and credential information provided by themselves. For the most of time, the OEM suppliers are not able to develop the products independently, and they are not allowed to use the buyers’ information or design for their own production.

An example of OEM service would be a supplier or manufacture which produces the smart phone parts for Apple, Samsung, Huawei and etc. Even though the supplier is making the display screen for these brands, the supplier does not design it, yet it only runs under the contract.

What is ODM and example？

ODM stands for Original Design Manufacture. The most important distinguish between OEM and ODM is that ODM has the capability to develop and invent a finished product independently, but the buyers could ask for slight changes to fit their demand like branding.

An example of ODM service would be a clothing factory which has its own designers to develop new looks and is able to produce as well. The ODM suppliers would the big partners for the fast fashion brands like Shein, Zara and H&M, for they would provide finished designs for brands to choose and add labels.

How to choose between OEM and ODM?

If you have your own design and enough budget, OEM.

For developed companies or businesses who have their own designs, choosing the original equipment manufacture (OEM) is definitely the optimized option. For you could ask for adjustments when building the product models, and your products would be distinguished from the rest of your competitors. Accordingly, the buyers who are looking for OEM service should have great understanding of their customers, market and products.

If you are looking for finished and developed products, ODM.

Most small or start up businesses are not able to do research and development for their products; therefore, partner with an original design manufacture (OEM) would save you most time and efforts and allow you to focus on the customer service. However, it could also result with same products with your competitors.

Problems that you may face with OEM or ODM

• Hard to keep in track with the process and outcome.

This is a common problem for import and export businesses due to distant cooperation. The buyers are lacking the ability to communicate and monitor the whole product process and the final outcome. If there is a mistake, the buyers can hardly notice and ask for changes immediately.

• Intellectual property problems with the brands

Companies are always concerned about the their intellectual properties because these are their core competitiveness. If the manufactures leaked the commercial confidential information could result great loss in the revenue. Without a full time supervisor or third party monitor, information leakage would be unavoidable.

• Avoid the problems by working with your agent

As we mentioned the problems above, hiring or working with your agent to supervise and monitor the production process are very essential and irreplaceable. First, the agent could communicate all your demands with the suppliers and ensure they are met by your standard. Second, a professional agent like Juntu would check the process regularly with the suppliers to make sure proceeding smoothly. In case there is any mistake or misunderstanding, it should be solve or fix promptly. Third, working with the agent to monitor or supervise is actually much cheaper than hiring a full time employee to follow up the whole procedure.

With all have mentioned above, if you are looking for either OEM or ODM services, please feel free to contact with Yiwu Juntu. We have been successfully worked with hundreds of partners around world and provided both OEM and ODM services for them in the past decade. We are looking forward to work with you and contribute to your business success.