Original equipment manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another company. The term is ambiguous, with several other common meanings often attributed to genuine misunderstanding: an OEM can be the maker of a system that includes other companies' subsystems, an end-product producer, an automotive part that is manufactured by the same company that produced the original part used in the automobile's assembly, or a value-added reseller.

OEM manufacturing is also widely used in the packaging industry, particularly in the production of customized gift boxes for wine and spirits. These OEM producers allow brands to create unique holiday packaging without maintaining their own manufacturing facilities.

The term OEM may be confused and used interchangeably with original design manufacturer (ODM) and original brand manufacturer (OBM).