Picking the wrong OEM supplier is one of the most expensive mistakes a lighting brand can make. Quality drift, missed shipments, and certification problems all flow back to your warehouse.
Before signing, verify: (1) Real factory or trading company? Ask for a video tour. (2) Number of SMT lines and production capacity. (3) In-house QC vs outsourced QC. (4) Aging test policy — is it 100% of units or a sample? (5) Third-party certifications issued under the factory name.
Continue with: (6) LM-80 / IES-LM-79 photometric files on every SKU. (7) Sample lead time and cost. (8) MOQ per SKU, not per order. (9) Tooling cost ownership. (10) NDA protection on your designs.
And finally: (11) Warranty terms — both years and claims process. (12) Reference customers in your target market. A good OEM partner will share contact info from at least one comparable customer.
