When you are a brand looking for an OEM manufacturer with the right sheet metal fabrication expertise for your products, you can choose white label or private label sheet metal fabrication services. Let’s see how your choices can have an impact on your brand identity, and consider the services and capabilities required for successful private or white label manufacturing.
ODM private or white label manufacturing makes it easy to outsource OEM sheet metal fabrication products
Most OEM brands mitigate the financial risk of designing, engineering, tooling and manufacturing their own sheet metal products in-house by outsourcing their sheet metal fabrication needs. Many look for experienced ODM manufacturers with a catalog of products that can be customized and labelled with their brand identity. Outsourcing your manufacturing is called private label if the agreement is to make an exclusive product, and white label for use of a generic design that can also be used by other OEM brands.
ODM manufacturers of sheet metal products should be able to offer you product customization to make the product more distinctive with both white label and private label manufacturing. This includes choices of colours used for finishing and adding your brand logo or other identifying features to match your OEM brand identity.
Differences between white label & private label sheet metal fabrication
White label manufacturing is when an ODM manufacturer applies your logo, information and brand styling to one of their catalog products for you to sell under your OEM brand identity. There are several reasons for doing this when manufacturing OEM sheet metal products. An ODM manufacturer of private and white label sheet metal products has done all the design, engineering, and testing of the products in their catalog, making it quicker to market and eliminating preparation costs.
- White label manufacturing is when you brand an ODM product designed by a third party
- Generic white label products can be put on the market by other brands
- Private label manufacturing is the exclusive right to sell an ODM product with your brand identity
- Private label agreements exclude competition in markets where you have purchased the rights
Private label manufacturing gives you a unique licence to sell an ODM manufactured sheet metal product in a specific market with your brand identity. The ODM manufacturer will supply this product for your exclusive use and will not supply it to other brands. Private label manufacturing enables you to have the use of unique, tested, designs for your brand without the design, development, engineering and tooling costs that are required to do this as part of your own business operations.
White label sheet metal fabrication is cost-effective
It is much more cost-effective to select from an ODM white label catalog than to manufacture OEM brand sheet metal products. Sheet metal fabrication requires expensive equipment and tooling as well as expertise in sheet metal design for manufacturability. You also need to have experience and technical knowledge to ensure your products comply with safety standards and will function as expected. These factors make established white label products a safe and dependable option.
Private label manufacturing agreements for sheet metal products
A private label manufacturing agreement has the advantage that you get exclusive access to a product, and it will not be available to other brands in the markets that you specify. The cost of private label manufacturing will be higher than white label sheet metal fabrication, because the manufacturer will be unable to sell that product to other customers who are in the same markets as you.
Private label manufacturing requires more detailed agreements than white label manufacturing, to safeguard your brand and to safeguard the interests of the manufacturer. This usually means that the markets and regions into which you can sell the product exclusively will be clearly defined, and you will be required to purchase minimum order quantities (MOQ) to ensure that the agreement works for the manufacturer as well as for your brand.
Third party manufacturing of your own sheet metal product designs
Private label manufacturing is also sometimes used to describe when a third party manufactures your product design directly for you, for your use, like the table top heater design shown above and manufactured by Taiwa for a heating tool specialist. This is a very clear and straightforward situation, as you hold all the rights to the IP and can control the market channels without needing agreement from the manufacturer.
Look for strong IP protection of your registered designs
When you are looking for a private label sheet metal fabricator to make your own designs, you need to be careful to protect your IP and ensure that your rights will be adequately protected by local laws and regulations applying to your manufacturing partner, otherwise you are likely to find copies of your design appearing in online markets under a host of different brand names at prices that undercut your market.
Taiwa is an expert white label & private label sheet metal fabrication service provider
Taiwa have the skills and experience to make your sheet metal project a reality. We have decades of experience in manufacturing our own range of products as well as the tooling, expertise and supply chain expertise to facilitate placing your branded products anywhere in the world.
We are based in Taiwan, where you also benefit from strong legal protections and robust regulatory systems. Contact us to find out how we protect your IP for your designs and also deliver the best possible white label or private label sheet metal fabrication service for you.
