Glossary
OEM & private-label sourcing glossary
The terms outdoor brands meet when sourcing factory-direct — defined in plain English, from OEM and MOQ to container maths and Incoterms.
- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
- Manufacturing an existing base product to a buyer's brand — your logo, colours and packaging on a proven design. The fastest route to a private-label range.
- ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)
- Going beyond branding to bespoke design and tooling — original shapes, features and moulds developed for one buyer. Suited to larger programmes.
- Private label
- Selling a manufacturer's product under your own brand. On our catalogue, every base model can be private-labelled with your logo, colourway and retail packaging.
- MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)
- The smallest order a factory will run. Ours is set by the container — typically one full container load to start, and base models can be mixed to fill it.
- FCL (Full Container Load)
- A shipment that fills an entire sea container booked to one buyer — the basis of our container-direct MOQ.
- CBM (Cubic Metre)
- The packed volume of a product's carton (length × width × height in metres). Container load counts come from dividing a container's usable volume by the carton CBM.
- 40' HQ (High-Cube Container)
- A 40-foot high-cube sea container with about 76 m³ of usable volume — the reference we use for 'cartons per container' figures.
- Cartons per 40' HQ
- How many export cartons of a product fit in one 40' high-cube container — the headline figure for planning a container order and freight cost per unit.
- Incoterms (EXW, FOB, CIF, DDP)
- Standard international trade terms that set who pays and who is responsible at each leg of shipping — from EXW (buyer collects at the factory) to DDP (delivered, duties paid).
- Retail / master packaging
- Shelf-ready branded packaging — colour boxes, hang-tags, barcodes (UPC/EAN) and manuals — plus the master cartons goods ship in. Both can be customised on an OEM run.
- Pre-production sample
- A branded sample produced with your logo, colours and packaging for sign-off before mass production starts — the checkpoint that locks the spec.
- Full ODM
- The deepest customisation tier: bespoke tooling and original designs developed for your brand, beyond logo and colour changes on a base model.
- Denier (D) — 600D / 900D Oxford
- Denier is the weight/thickness of the yarn in a woven fabric — higher denier means a heavier, more abrasion-resistant cloth. Cooler bags and gear commonly use 600D Oxford polyester as standard, with 900D for heavier-duty models. Oxford refers to the basketweave construction.
- PEVA lining
- A water-resistant, wipe-clean inner lining used inside cooler bags and backpacks. PEVA is a non-PVC material chosen for low odour; it is the goods-contact surface, with the foam insulation sitting behind it.
- PE / EPE foam (insulation)
- A closed-cell polyethylene foam layer that provides the insulation in soft coolers; EPE is the expanded variant. Thicker foam holds temperature longer, but cold-retention time is approximate and ambient-dependent — never a guaranteed fixed number of hours.
- TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane)
- A flexible, abrasion- and puncture-resistant material used for welded, seam-sealed surfaces (e.g. leakproof linings and inflatable products). Allows high-frequency welded seams instead of stitching.
- RPET (recycled polyester)
- Polyester yarn made from recycled PET bottles, used where a brand wants recycled content (e.g. RPET Taslon shells). Any recycled-content certification is confirmed on quote.
- Aluminium vs steel frame
- Aluminium frames are lighter and corrosion-resistant, suiting premium or ultralight positioning; coated-steel frames are heavier and typically lower cost with higher load capacity. Choose by weight target, price point and load — confirmed per build on quote.
- Textilene (PVC-coated polyester mesh)
- A breathable, quick-drying, UV- and mildew-resistant PVC-coated polyester mesh used for chair and lounger seating. Also described as PVC-coated elastic filament fabric.
- Silkscreen vs heat-transfer vs embroidery
- The three common ways to apply a logo: silkscreen (crisp, low-cost, few colours), heat-transfer (full-colour photographic artwork), and embroidery (premium, textured, best on thicker fabric). The right method depends on artwork, substrate and quantity.