Private Label & OEM Tool Manufacturing — How It Works
Private label means the tool carries your brand instead of ours — your logo on the housing, your colour on the body, your rating label, your manual and your own carton. AETHEL builds private-label power tools, hand tools, garden tools and agricultural machinery for brand owners, importers and retail chains, and the process is the same whether you are testing a single model or rebuilding a whole range.
This page sets out what you can change, the seven steps between your first inquiry and the container leaving, and what to have ready before you write to us. If any step is unclear, ask — we would rather answer ten questions before sampling than correct a specification after production.
What you can customise
Almost everything your customer sees is yours to define. Branding and labelling: your logo on the housing, your rating label, your model numbers, your language manual and your safety warnings. Colour: body and accent colours to your Pantone references, subject to the minimum a paint batch requires. Packaging: colour carton, gift box, blow-mould case, hang card or blister, produced from your artwork files. Configuration: voltage and plug standard, cable length, switch type, chuck or pad options, and the contents of the accessory kit. Beyond that, ODM work goes further — a different power output or speed range, a new body style, new tooling, or a kit built around your retail programme.
Step 1 — the brief
Tell us the category, the market you are selling into, the price band you need to hit, an estimate of volume, and which parts you want customised. The more specific the brief, the more useful the first reply: "a 900 W grinder for the German market at a €39 retail price, private label, 5,000 units a year" gets you a far better shortlist than "grinders, please quote".
Step 2 — quotation and shortlist
We come back with the models that fit the brief, the specification of each, indicative MOQ per model and a sampling plan. A quotation costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.
Step 3 — the sample
A pre-production sample is built to your specification and sent for your approval. Sampling normally takes one to two weeks from the point the specification is agreed, and the sample itself is free of charge — the courier cost to send it to your address is yours to cover. This is the step that matters most, because the approved sample becomes the reference standard that production and inspection are measured against. Take your time here and ask for changes until it is right — a change at sampling costs a sample, a change after production costs a container.
Step 4 — artwork and packaging approval
We produce carton and label artwork from your files and send proofs, then confirm a physical packaging sample. Barcodes, retail labelling and any market-specific warnings are checked at this stage, before printing plates or cylinders are committed.
Step 5 — production
Production is scheduled from the date the sample and artwork are approved, not from the date of the inquiry, and typically runs one to two months depending on the model, the depth of customisation and the order volume. That is why sampling comes first on every programme, and why the delivery date we quote is one you can plan a launch around rather than a date that moves when a specification changes late.
Step 6 — pre-shipment inspection
Before the order ships it is inspected against the approved sample and the agreed specification. What is checked, and which documents travel with the goods, is set out in detail on our quality control page.
Step 7 — shipping and documents
The shipment travels with the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or airway bill, certificate of origin and the certification documents your market requires. Tell us at the quotation stage if your customs broker or your retail customer needs anything beyond that standard set.
Payment terms
Payment is by T/T or L/C. The structure — deposit and balance, or a letter of credit — is set out on the proforma invoice for each order, so the terms on paper match the terms you agreed before anything is produced.
What to prepare before you contact us
A vector logo file (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF — not a screenshot), your brand colours as Pantone references, any existing packaging artwork, the target market with its voltage and plug standard, the price band you are working to, a volume estimate, and your own model-numbering scheme if you already use one. Buyers who arrive with these get a usable quotation in the first reply instead of a week of questions.
How customisation depth affects cost and MOQ
Customisation moves both the price and the minimum quantity, and it helps to see it as tiers. Branding a catalogue model with your logo and a label is the lightest change. A new body colour or new packaging artwork sits in the middle. New tooling, a bespoke housing or an unusual voltage sits at the top and carries the highest minimum. If your first order is small, brand a catalogue model first and move to tooling once the market has proved the product.
Confidentiality
If your artwork, packaging or tooling design is confidential, say so at the first contact and we will confirm what we can sign before you share any files.
Send us the category, the market and the price band you are working to — we will come back with a model shortlist, the customisation options and a sampling plan.