OEM and ODM Service for Food Processing Machinery

Jinan Henco Machinery Co., Ltd. designs and manufactures food processing machinery that is sold under our customers' own brands. Since 2015 we have built meat cutting machines, vegetable cutting machines, battering and breading equipment, mixers and complete processing lines for food processors and equipment distributors, and a growing share of that output carries our customer's logo rather than our own. This page explains what our OEM and ODM service covers and how a project runs from first inquiry to shipment.

To learn more about how a private label project would run for your brand, send us your target market and the models you have in mind.

What OEM and ODM Mean at Henco

The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different amounts of engineering work and it is worth separating them before a project starts.

In an OEM arrangement, you bring the specification. You know the machine you want, or you have a design, and you need a manufacturer who can build it to your requirement and put your branding on it. Our engineering work focuses on production drawings, component sourcing and quality control against your specification.

In an ODM arrangement, you bring the market and the requirement. You describe the product you want to process and the output you need, and our engineers propose the machine or the line configuration. You then sell that machine under your own brand. In practice most projects sit somewhere between the two, and we are comfortable with that.

Either way, the machine is manufactured in our own factory in Jinan. We are not a trading company relabelling someone else's equipment, which matters when a customer needs a specification changed during production or a spare part matched years later.

Who Our OEM Service Suits

Three groups of customers use this service most often.

Equipment distributors and importers. These customers already sell food machinery in their market and want a manufacturing partner who can supply a consistent product under their own brand. They usually need stable configuration across repeat orders, their own documentation, and a spare parts supply they can rely on.

Food processors with a specific requirement. A processor who has run a particular line for years often knows exactly what they want changed: a wider conveyor, a different blade arrangement, a taller infeed, a control panel in their own language. We build to that requirement rather than asking them to adapt to a standard model.

Brands entering the machinery market. Some customers own a food brand and want equipment sold under that name, either to their own franchise network or to their suppliers. Here the ODM route is usually the starting point, because the specification has to be developed in parallel with the branding.

What We Can Brand for You

• Machine branding: your logo on the body panels, your machine nameplate and your model designation.

• Control panel: your branding on the panel face, with the interface language and terminology you specify.

• Documentation: the operation manual, maintenance schedule and spare parts list produced under your brand.

• Packaging: export packing arranged to your requirement, including your branding on the outer cartons where the destination market allows it.

• Model numbering: machines can be labelled using your own model code rather than ours, so your catalogue and your service records stay consistent.

We will also tell you what we would not brand. Safety labels, guarding warnings and certification plates carry information that the end user has to be able to read and trust, and those elements are not a marketing surface. We keep them accurate and in the required form regardless of the branding around them.

Machine Configuration and Custom Engineering

Customization is the part of an OEM project where most of the value is created, and it is also where most of the risk sits. A change that looks small on a drawing can affect blade tracking, cleaning access or the guarding arrangement, so we confirm each one before production.

Typical configuration changes include working width and conveyor length, blade or mould arrangement, infeed and outfeed height, drive and control specification, power supply and voltage, and the choice of stainless steel grade. We use grade 304 stainless for most food-contact parts, containing about 18–20% chromium and 8–10.5% nickel. For high-salt products or aggressive washdown chemicals, grade 316 with roughly 2–3% molybdenum gives better resistance to chloride attack, and we will say so if we think it is the right choice for your application.

Where a customer needs a mould plate, a blade set or a forming shape that does not exist in our range, we produce it to the agreed drawing. Because we manufacture in-house, a change agreed at the drawing stage can be made without a third party re-quoting the work.

Our OEM and ODM Process Step by Step

1. Inquiry. Send us the products you want to process, the output you need, your target market and any branding requirements. Product samples or photographs help more than a written description alone.

2. Solution and quotation. Our engineers propose a model or line configuration with pricing and a lead time. Where a trial run would reduce risk, we say so at this stage rather than after the order.

3. Confirmation. Drawings and specifications are confirmed in writing, and logo artwork is approved. This is the point at which configuration changes are cheapest to make, so we encourage customers to be thorough here.

4. Production. Manufacturing takes place in our Jinan factory with in-process quality checks. Where a project has a long production time, we send progress photographs so the customer is not waiting without information.

5. Inspection and shipment. Final inspection and test running, followed by export packing and shipping with a complete document set. Test runs are recorded so that the customer can see the machine working before the container is sealed.

Standard machines normally ship within 15 to 30 working days. Customized configurations take 30 to 60 working days because design work, mould or blade-set production and the pre-shipment test run all take time that cannot be compressed without adding risk.

Documentation, Manuals and Packaging for Private Label

Private-label supply fails or succeeds on documentation. A machine that arrives with a manual referring to a different brand or a different model number creates problems for the end user and for your service team, so documentation is treated as part of the product rather than an afterthought.

Our standard private-label document set includes the operation manual under your brand, the maintenance schedule, the spare parts list with part numbers that match your model code, the wiring diagram, and the certification documents. Where you supply your own manual, we can work from your template and confirm the technical content against the machine we are building.

Packing is arranged for the route and the market. Wooden packing must be heat treated to the international standard for wood packaging, which is set out on the IPPC ISPM 15 page and requires a minimum core temperature of 56 °C held for at least 30 minutes, with the finished packaging carrying the IPPC mark. Plywood cases, which are exempt from that treatment, are often the simpler choice for smaller machines.

Food-contact surfaces are protected with film and desiccant for the voyage, and machines are documented photographically before the container is closed. If an insurance claim is ever needed, those photographs and the packing list are the evidence that matters.

Compliance, Power Supply and Market Requirements

Machinery sold into different markets has to satisfy different expectations, and confirming those at the inquiry stage avoids the most common cause of delay: a machine that is ready to work except for its electrical supply.

We confirm voltage, frequency and phase, plug and connection type, control voltage, guarding arrangement and any labelling required by the destination market. Our machines are CE certified and our management system certifications were obtained in 2022, and we work to an ISO 9001 quality management framework. Certification documents are supplied with the shipment.

For food equipment, the underlying requirement in most markets is that surfaces in contact with food can be cleaned and, where necessary, disinfected. That principle is set out for the European market in Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs and reflected in Codex Alimentarius guidance used in many other countries. It shapes how we design removable guards, drain paths and cleaning access on every model.

Protecting Your Design and Your Market

Customers considering private label usually ask two questions: whether their design will be sold to someone else, and whether their brand will turn up in a competitor's catalogue.

On the first question, a design developed for a customer is built for that customer. We do not offer a customer's customized configuration or custom mould to another buyer. Standard models in our own range are, by definition, available to anyone, which is why customized work is worth doing where a customer needs genuine differentiation.

On the second question, we do not contact your customers, and we do not use your branding on machines supplied to anyone else. If you want an explicit exclusivity arrangement for a market or a model, raise it at the inquiry stage so it can be agreed in writing rather than assumed.

Dealer and Agent Programmes

Dealers and agents are welcome, and a number of our long-standing customers started with a single private-label order and grew into a full distribution relationship. We support dealer programmes with consistent configuration across repeat orders, spare parts availability, technical documentation in the dealer's preferred language and engineering support when a customer's application is unusual.

Where a dealer wants to hold demonstration stock, we can discuss which models make the most sense for their market. The right demonstration machine is usually the one that covers the widest range of customer applications, not necessarily the largest or the most advanced unit in the range.

What Happens After the First Order

The first private-label order is a test of the whole arrangement, and what matters most is whether the second order is easier than the first. Our aim is that it is.

After the first shipment we keep the confirmed configuration on file, including drawings, branding artwork, control panel layout and the settings used during the pre-shipment test run. A repeat order can then be built to the same specification without repeating the approval cycle, which usually shortens the lead time and removes a whole category of risk.

We also keep a record of any change the customer requested during production and the reason for it. That history is what allows a spare part ordered two years later to match the machine that was actually delivered, rather than the machine as originally drawn.

Where a customer sells through dealers or agents, we can supply consistent documentation across the network so that every end user receives the same manual and the same parts numbering. Consistency is what makes a private-label range look and behave like a single product line rather than a series of one-off machines.

How Private Label Affects Your Spare Parts Business

Private label changes more than the nameplate, and the customers who plan for it early get more out of the arrangement.

When a machine carries your model code, your service records refer to that code rather than ours. That means the spare parts list we supply has to be built around your numbering from the first order, not retrofitted later. We prepare the parts list with your model code in one column and our internal reference in another, so your team can order by your own number and we can still identify the component unambiguously at our end.

Consumables are the part of the business customers most often overlook. Blades, blade guides, belts and mould plates are replaced over the life of a machine, and they generate repeat revenue for a distributor. We will tell you which consumables are specific to a model and which are common across a range, so you can decide how much stock is worth holding locally.

Warranty handling also needs a decision at the outset. Where a distributor holds stock and serves the end user directly, we can supply parts under warranty for the distributor to fit, which is faster than returning a component to China. Where the fault is structural, we will discuss whether an engineer visit or a replacement assembly is the better answer. Agreeing this in advance avoids an argument in the middle of a customer's breakdown.

FAQ: OEM and ODM Service

What is the difference between OEM and ODM?

With OEM, you bring the specification and we manufacture to it, branding the machine as yours. With ODM, you describe the processing requirement and our engineers propose the machine or line configuration, which you then sell under your own brand. Most projects combine both, and we will tell you which route fits your requirement once we understand it.

Can you put our logo on the machine and the manual?

Yes. We brand body panels, nameplates, control panel faces, the operation manual, the spare parts list and export packaging. Safety labels, guarding warnings and certification plates are kept accurate and are not used as branding surfaces, because the end user has to be able to trust what they say.

What is the minimum order quantity for private label?

It depends on the model and on how much new engineering or tooling the project needs. Where the branding work is straightforward and the model already exists in our range, a single machine can be produced under your brand. Where new moulds, blade sets or drawings have to be created, the tooling cost has to be spread across the order, so volume changes the economics. Send us the model and the annual volume you expect and we will confirm what is practical.

How long does an OEM project take from inquiry to shipment?

Allow roughly one to two weeks for specification, drawings and artwork approval before production starts. Production then follows the normal lead time: 15 to 30 working days for standard models, and 30 to 60 working days where customized design, moulds or blade sets are involved. Projects that move slowly almost always wait on the specification stage rather than on the factory.

If you would like to discuss a private-label or customized project, contact our team with the products you want to process, your target market, and the branding you have in mind. You can also learn more about our factory and our team or explore our machine range to see which models suit your market.