Four terms get used interchangeably when a brand goes looking for someone to build its fans — OEM, ODM, private label and contract manufacturing. They are not the same thing. The difference decides who owns the design, who pays for the tooling, whose licence the product is sold under and who carries the inventory risk. Getting it wrong is expensive, and it is usually discovered late.
This page sets out what each model actually means in practice, and how we work under each.
The four models, and what separates them
| Model | Who owns the design | Who owns the tooling | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract manufacturing | You | You | You have a proven design and need capacity |
| OEM | You, or jointly | Usually you | You want a product built to your specification |
| ODM | Us | Us | You want to launch quickly without development |
| Private label | Us | Us | You want an existing model in your branding |
In India the phrase third-party manufacturing is often used for what the table above calls contract manufacturing, and white label for what it calls private label. The vocabulary varies by sector; the underlying questions do not.
Contract and third-party manufacturing
You bring a finished design and, usually, the tools. We bring capacity, process control and the supply chain. This is the right model when you already sell the product, you know it works, and the constraint is that you cannot make enough of it — or cannot make it at the cost you need.
It is also the model most often used for a second source. Brands that depend on a single plant for a seasonal product are exposed in exactly the weeks that matter, and a second qualified vendor is cheaper than a missed peak. We are frequently brought in this way, and we would rather be a reliable second source than a disruptive first one.
OEM
You specify the product — sweep, motor, winding, finish, packaging — and we engineer and build to it. Most of our work sits here. The specification conversation usually turns on four things:
- Winding: copper or aluminium, to your specification. We offer both and we do not claim a single standard, because buyers at different price points genuinely want different things.
- Sweep and thrust: the right answer differs by market. A fan specified for a temperate market is under-specified for a humid one, where air velocity has to compensate for slower evaporative cooling.
- Finish and colour: matched across every moulded component, because the parts are moulded in-house on the same masterbatch.
- Packaging: to your artwork, packed on-line to your specification.
ODM and private label
We hold 24 models across table, pedestal, wall and ventilation fans. If one of them suits you, there is no tooling cost and no development cycle — you are buying an existing, tested product in your branding.
This is the fastest route to market by a wide margin. Where a buyer takes an existing model, we go straight to the N-10 pilot batch, typically within seven days of techno-commercial agreement on the product. New tooling, by contrast, is a development programme measured in months.
The questions worth settling before you sign
Whichever model you choose, these decide what the arrangement actually costs you.
- Whose BIS licence does the product ship under? This governs who is liable and who controls the certification timeline. It is the single question most often left vague.
- Who owns the tooling, and where does it sit? If you paid for it, establish in writing that you can move it.
- Who holds inventory through the season? Fans are seasonal. Someone finances the pre-build, and whoever does carries the risk.
- What is the inspection regime? Sampling plan, who audits, and whether pre-dispatch inspection happens at the plant or on receipt.
- What happens when something goes wrong? Not the warranty clause — the behaviour. Ask any prospective vendor what they did the last time they shipped a defect.
How we are set up
- 150,000 fans a month — 1.8 million a year — across three conveyorized assembly lines
- 100,000 sq. ft. in Hyderabad: 60,000 manufacturing, 25,000 warehousing, 15,000 ancillary
- Backward integrated — injection moulding on 12 machines from 80T to 220T, fan guards at 100,000 sets a month, plus lamination stamping, die-casting and powder coating
- 100% of motors and 100% of finished fans tested in built-in STR cabins
- ISO 9001:2015 certified, ISI marked, BIS licensed; products built to IS 302 (Part 2/Sec 80)
- MOQ from 500 pieces, three-week lead times on existing models
- Manufacturing since 2017; exports to Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and Africa