Beauty ODM, OEM and OBM services

OEM manufacturing: your formula, made properly

OEM means you bring the product and we make it. It sounds simpler than ODM. In practice it is the model with the most hidden risk, because the quality of the outcome depends entirely on how well the site was qualified and how tightly the specification was written.

The work

Qualification first. Production second.

Before a single unit is filled we establish what the site can actually do: which lines, which fill weights, which pack formats, what the changeover looks like, how deviations are handled, and whether the GMP certificate on the website belongs to the entity that will invoice you.

That last point is not pedantry. Certificates are frequently out of date, held by a sister company, or issued for a different production hall. A factory that passes a paper review and fails an audit is more common than the industry admits.

Once qualified, we write the specification with you — raw material grades, fill weight tolerances, decoration method, testing scope — and hold the run to it.

Scope

What we control on your behalf.

Before

Site and specification

Capability audit, GMP and ISO 22716 evidence, capacity check, tooling review, raw material specification and a fill trial in the final pack.

During

Production oversight

Pre-production approval, in-line checks on fill weight and torque, decoration approval, deviation handling and a hold point before palletisation.

After

Release and records

Batch record, certificate of analysis, microbiological results, retain samples, GMP statement for the technical file and a documented release decision.

The question that saves launches

Ask any manufacturer for the batch record of a product they made last month, and for the name of the person who signed it off. The answer tells you more about the site than any brochure.

Fit

When OEM is the right answer — and when it is not.

It fits when

You have a formulator or a laboratory and a formula you trust
The formula is already licensed or assigned to you
You are moving production from a supplier you have outgrown
A retailer requires manufacture at a specified or audited site
You need a second source for an existing, proven product

It does not fit when

The formula exists only as a list of ingredients from a supplier
Nobody has run stability or preservative efficacy testing
The claims have not been checked against the formula
You need a bespoke product but have no development partner
The pack has never been tested with the fill

Documentation

What a retail technical team will ask for.

Increasingly, UK retailers audit the file before they audit the product. These are the documents we assemble and keep current.

Product

Cosmetic Product Safety Report, Product Information File in English, formulation record, specification sheets, stability and compatibility data, challenge test results.

Process

GMP or ISO 22716 evidence for the manufacturing site, batch record, certificate of analysis, retain sample policy, deviation and recall procedure.

Market

SCPN notification reference, Responsible Person appointment, label artwork approval, claims substantiation file, packaging recyclability information.

Questions

OEM, practically.

Can you manufacture a formula developed by another lab?

Yes, subject to the lab assigning or licensing the formula to you in writing, and to the safety assessor accepting the existing stability and preservative data. Where the data is missing, we re-run it rather than assume.

Do you manufacture in the UK or overseas?

Both, selected by product type and volume. UK fill is faster and simpler for small runs and short lead times; overseas production wins on unit cost at volume. We quote the honest comparison, including freight, duty and the working capital tied up in a longer pipeline.

Who is the importer of record if we manufacture overseas?

Usually you, as the UK brand, unless a UK distributor takes title. That affects VAT, duty and who legally becomes the Responsible Person — a decision worth making before the first shipment, not after.

Can you audit a factory we have already chosen?

Yes. Audits are scoped to the product: GMP compliance, line capability, documentation practice, and — where relevant — the social compliance evidence a retailer will request.

Next step

Wherever you are based, start with a conversation — not a purchase order.

Tell us what you are building, where it needs to land and which suppliers you already have. We will come back with an honest view of feasibility, timings, indicative costs and the compliance route — usually within two working days.

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