OEM vs. ODM Why Your New Clothing Brand Needs a Supplier That Does Both


Launching a new clothing brand is an exciting journey filled with creative vision and ambitious goals. However, one of the most critical and challenging decisions you'll face is choosing the right manufacturing partner. For a new brand, finding a supplier that offers both Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) services isn't just a convenience—it's a strategic advantage. Here’s why.


Understanding the Key Difference
First, it’s essential to understand what these terms mean:

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing): In this model, you provide the complete design package. This includes tech packs, detailed sketches, fabric specifications, trim details, and samples. The supplier's role is to execute your precise vision, manufacturing the product exactly to your specifications. You own the designs.

ODM (Original Design Manufacturing): Here, the supplier provides pre-designed products. You can browse their existing catalogs and select designs to customize with your own labels, fabrics, colors, and minor alterations. The core design and development work are handled by the factory.

see our new ODM designs : Recycled MTB wear


For a new brand, a supplier that excels in both areas offers unparalleled flexibility and becomes a true partner in growth.

1. Unmatched Flexibility and Scalability
A new brand's needs can change rapidly. You might have a brilliant, fully-formed idea for a signature piece that requires OEM precision. Simultaneously, you might need to quickly fill out your collection with complementary basics like t-shirts or leggings, where ODM is a perfect, cost-effective solution.

A hybrid supplier allows you to pivot between these models seamlessly within the same relationship. You can use ODM to launch faster and test the market, then leverage OEM to develop your unique, brand-defining products without the hassle of managing multiple manufacturers.

2. Optimal Resource Allocation (Time and Money)
Cost-Efficiency: ODM services significantly reduce development costs. The supplier absorbs the R&D expense of creating the base designs. This allows you to allocate your limited budget to OEM projects for your custom designs or to marketing efforts.

Time-Saving: Developing a product from scratch (OEM) is time-consuming. Sourcing fabrics, creating tech packs, and sampling can take months. ODM shortcuts this process, enabling you to bring products to market much faster and capitalize on trends.

3. Reduced Risk and Market Testing
The fashion market is unpredictable. Instead of investing heavily in a full custom collection immediately, you can use a supplier's ODM options to test the waters.

Launch a small capsule collection using customized ODM pieces to gauge customer response to styles, fits, and price points. The data and feedback you gather are invaluable. You can then make informed, lower-risk investments in OEM production for your next collection, creating custom designs you are confident will resonate with your audience.

4. Access to Expertise and Innovation
A supplier capable of both ODM and OEM is often more established and has a deeper well of expertise. Their ODM offerings showcase their capabilities, design sensibility, and knowledge of current trends and fabrics.

This relationship becomes a collaborative partnership. You can learn from their experts, get advice on materials and construction techniques for your OEM projects, and leverage their industry connections. They can help troubleshoot design flaws and suggest improvements, elevating the quality of your brand from the start.

5. Streamlined Communication and Logistics
Managing multiple suppliers for different needs is a operational nightmare for a nascent brand. It multiplies communication efforts, complicates shipping logistics, and increases the margin for error.

Having a single, versatile partner simplifies everything. You have one point of contact for sampling, production timelines, quality control, and shipping. This consolidation reduces administrative overhead, ensures consistency in communication, and often leads to better negotiation power on minimum order quantities (MOQs) and pricing over time.

Conclusion: Building a Partnership for Growth
For a new clothing brand, the choice of a manufacturer is more than just a vendor transaction; it's about choosing a foundational partner. A supplier that offers both OEM and ODM services provides a unique toolkit: the agility to experiment and grow, the efficiency to conserve crucial resources, and the expertise to elevate your product quality.

This flexibility allows you to navigate the challenging early stages of your brand with more confidence, less risk, and a greater capacity for innovation. In the competitive world of fashion, that strategic advantage can make all the difference. When evaluating potential partners, prioritize those who can grow with you and offer both paths to production.


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Do not accept glass bottles in these situations

I.Color: Slight color deviation from the Pantone color chart will be determined based on the Pantone color chart.

II.Finished Product Defects：Mold line misalignment is noticeable and can cause hand injuries.

III. Common Appearance Defects: Cracks, chips, chipped corners, deformation, glass ripping, internal wall sticking, and sharp punctures that may affect the seal and pose a risk of injury. Cold marks, pitting, brush marks, wrinkles, stubble marks, scissor marks, base thickness variations, and minor scratches may also be present on the bottle. Discoloration, black spots, bubbles, and pinholes may be present elsewhere.

IV.Foreign Objects: Broken glass, insects, metal, blood, and other issues. Check the bottle's interior and exterior for visible foreign objects such as oil, water, paper scraps, and small impurities.

V. Process Spraying

The sprayed surface is not smooth or flat; it may exhibit streaks, wrinkles, frosting, orange peel, or other defects. On the main viewing surface: Two particles or off-color spots with a diameter ≤ 0.5mm² may be present, and these particles or off-color spots must not affect the logo or layout. On the non-main viewing surface: No more than three particles or off-color spots with a diameter ≤ 0.5mm² may be present, and these particles or off-color spots must meet the requirements of "not noticeable after direct viewing for 3 seconds," "not concentrated," and "not affecting the logo or layout."

VI. Packaging:Mixing or misplacing packaging; damage or dirt on the outside of the packaging that affects the quality of the contents.

VII.Vacuum Tightness Test: Fill the bottle with 80% colored water, place it sideways in a vacuum chamber, and apply a pressure of -0.05 MPa for 5 minutes. If there is any visible leakage,

VIII. Hot Stamping and Printing Adhesion Test

Scotch 3M810 tape was applied to the test area, smoothed to remove air bubbles, and left for 1 minute. The tape was then peeled off quickly and vigorously at a 45-90 degree angle. The same area was tested once. The ink and hot stamping were slightly adhered to the tape. The adhered object showed spots or surface detachment, affecting the writing and appearance.

IX. Wall Thickness:Bottle body thickness deviation >1.5mm, bottom thickness deviation >3mm.

X. Glass Bottle Thermal Shock Resistance Test

1. Place empty glass bottles in a mesh basket, ensuring the bottles remain upright and separated from each other. Securely close the basket lid.

2. Immerse the basket containing the bottles in a hot water tank (controlled at 64°C ± 1°C), ensuring that each bottle is completely filled with hot water and that the top of the bottle mouth is at least 50mm below the water surface. Maintain this condition for 5 minutes.

3. Within 16 seconds, completely empty the hot water from all bottles in the basket. Immediately, transfer the basket to a cold water tank (controlled at 22°C ± 5°C), ensuring that each bottle is completely filled with cold water and that the top of the bottle mouth is at least 50mm below the water surface. Maintain this condition for 30 seconds.

4. Remove the basket containing the glass bottles from the cold water tank and completely empty the cold water from all the bottles.

5. Inspect the glass bottles to ensure they are free of cracks, breaks, or other defects.

XI. Stability

1. Pour an equal amount of the corresponding material into each glass bottle and seal it.

2. Place the sealed glass bottles in the following three environments for three consecutive months:

  • Room temperature
  • Incubator (controlled at 45°C ± 1°C)
  • Refrigerator (controlled at -15°C ± 1°C)

3. Observe the glass bottles regularly at the following time points:

  • First week: Observe on the 1st, 3rd, and 7th day
  • Within the first month (excluding the first week): Observe weekly
  •  After two months: Observe monthly

4. After inspection, ensure that the glass bottle meets the following requirements:

  • The packaging material exhibits no signs of expansion, cracking, deformation, whitening, or embrittlement
  • There is no color transfer between the packaging material and the material
  • The packaging material's color intensity is not diminished, and there is no corrosion
  • empty flat shoulder glass bottle

How to test the functionality of a glass bottle？

Glass bottles are subject to various external forces during transportation, stacking, and daily use. We conduct mechanical tests that simulate actual scenarios to prevent product failures during end-use.

Leakage test: Use a negative pressure seal tester to place the bottle under a specific vacuum degree to observe whether there is leakage or bubble generation to ensure that the contents will not leak or be contaminated.

Drop test: This test simulates an accidental drop that may occur during transportation and handling. A bottle filled with contents (or a substitute) should not break or leak after being dropped from a specified height (such as 1 meter or 1.5 meters) onto a hard surface.

Stacking Test: To simulate warehouse stacking conditions, we apply a 5 kg weight (or the equivalent of 10 layers of bottles) to a stack of filled bottles for 72 hours. The bottles must show no deformation, collapse, or seal damage.

Bottle Cap Torque Test: A torque meter is used to measure the force required to open and close the bottle cap (typically 0.5-2.0 N·m, depending on the bottle size). This ensures that the force prevents leakage while allowing easy opening and closing for the end user.

Pump Head Functionality Test: For bottles with pump heads, the dispensing volume (with a tolerance of ±5%) and the stability of the dispensed liquid over 100 cycles are tested. "Dry pumps" (no liquid discharged) and uneven dispensing are not permitted.

Finally, we test the bottle's ability to fulfill its designed function based on its specific intended use:

Ease of dispensing: For squeeze bottles, measure the force required to dispense liquid (ideal for adults is 30-50 Newtons); for pump-top bottles, ensure that excessive pressure is not required.

Reusability (if applicable): For refillable bottles, perform a "clean-fill-seal" cycle test at least 50 times to ensure there is no wear on the bottle threads, cap, or pump tip.

Label adhesion: If the bottle has a label, test its resistance to water, oil, and friction to ensure it remains intact in humid or oily environments (such as bathroom skincare glass bottles).

skincare shampoo glass bottle

3-Piece Empty Aerosol Can



3-piece tinplate aerosol can is a sealed container composed of three independent metal components: the can body, the top and the bottom, which are combined through processes such as welding and crimping.


Parallel development of traditional and emerging fields

The food, pharmaceutical, and daily chemical industries remain core application scenarios, while new categories such as e-cigarettes have become growth highlights. Environmental policies are promoting the substitution of metal aerosol cans for plastic and glass packaging, especially in personal care and cosmetics.


Technological upgrading and green transformation

Optimization of production processes: Enterprises are accelerating the introduction of automated production lines and green technologies (such as energy-saving welding processes) to enhance product quality and production efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.


Material sustainability

The recyclability of tinplate aligns with the trend of a circular economy, and environmental policies are driving industry standardization and the improvement of recycling systems.