Is your business in need of a custom or part or series of parts in an assembly? Partial or completely custom consumer product? Perhaps your product could be made better if you just had one specific part or modification. An OEM offers specialized or custom components to businesses at affordable costs, helping enhance your existing products or improve your product ideas to perfectly suit customer demands.
What Does OEM Mean?
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) produces parts and assemblies that can then be marketed by another manufacturer or organization. An OEM produces those parts on behalf of another company and can work with companies across various industries.
For example, one OEM might produce a part for a larger automobile company while another one produces a unique part for a dog toy sold by an E-commerce store. Whatever the case may be, an OEM provides the means and expertise to provide complex solutions to businesses and brand owners in need of a specific part or asset.
OEM Examples
There are plenty of reasons why businesses should outsource product manufacturing to an OEM. And, there are plenty of ways to do so. OEMs have the labor and expertise to manufacture components for everything from a unique cap for a beverage container sold by an E-commerce business to a specific part for a camping tent sold by a sports products company.
If your business is in need of custom molded plastic parts for your products, utilizing an OEM like IPS is a cost-effective solution. With IPS, our manufacturing facilities utilize the highly skilled labor resources in Taiwan, China, and Vietnam to manufacture your custom product components at a lower cost.
OEM vs. ODM
So, what’s the difference between an OEM and an ODM? An original design manufacturer (ODM) designs and manufactures products for businesses, handling the entire production process. An OEM manufactures parts that can be remarketed by another business or manufacturer. Both have their benefits and serve the needs of a business looking to sell products to their customer base under their own marketing.
With IPS, you do not have to choose between an OEM and ODM. IPS manufactures both parts for products and handles designing, prototyping, engineering, and manufacturing custom products for businesses. As a cost-effective solution to your business, you can outsource all of your product manufacturing needs to IPS, as our team of experts oversees everything from product design to quality assurance.
Value Added Resellers (VARs) and OEMs
Because OEMs manufacture parts for businesses to repackage and sell, there is a need for a middleman between the OEM and end user. A value-added reseller (VAR) sells the finished product either to the public or other end users. While serving as the intermediary between OEMs and end users, VARs can provide additional value to products through additional features or even customer service.
IPS works well with VARs who want to work with a custom product manufacturer to produce their products. While working with IPS, VARs have the ability to provide additional value to their customer base while meeting customer demand with custom products. This additional value could include:
- Package bundles: additional hardware or accessories to sell along with the custom product
- Customer service: Managing customer service for customers and ensuring full customer satisfaction
- Services: Providing resources to customers including setup instructions, training on how to use the custom products, or troubleshooting
OEMs like IPS provide quality assurance to the customer products manufactured at the manufacturing facilities. From there, VARs already have a leg up on the competition by being able to offer customers a unique or custom product.
Should I Outsource to an OEM or a Custom Product Manufacturer?
Outsourcing to an OEM or a custom product manufacturer is all about determining the needs of your business. If you already have products that require custom parts, such as a custom plastic molded part, or a unique component, an OEM is your ideal solution. For businesses with ideas for new products that require designing and engineering, a custom product manufacturer or original design manufacturer is the best bet.
Luckily, IPS offers both. Contact our team at IPS to determine how we can best help you serve your customer base. Through an initial consultation, we will learn more about your needs and what you want to achieve. From there, we can guide you through every step of the process to help you gain a competitive edge in your market.