Five questions to ask your metering supplier before approving an OEM project
Where is it manufactured? Who writes the firmware? Who responds when something changes? Five questions to understand what you are really buying.
Two meters may look equivalent: the same accuracy class, the same protocol, a comparable price and compliant documentation. On paper, there is no difference.
The difference becomes clear later, when the firmware needs to be modified, a component replaced, an enclosure detail corrected or a delivery recovered. That is when an OEM discovers whether it has purchased a product or chosen an industrial partner.
The problem is that this moment comes after the project has already started, when changing supplier can cost months. The right questions need to be asked before that happens. These are the five that matter.
Where is the meter manufactured?
The question is not just about geography. It is about the scope of control: do assembly, programming, testing, non-conformity management and change control take place within the same industrial system, or are they distributed across different suppliers and organisations?
A meter goes through dozens of steps before shipment. Every time one of those steps changes hands, responsibility changes as well. When a problem arises, the first task is often not solving it, but understanding who is responsible for it.
A solid answer identifies the manufacturing site, explains what happens there and who controls process changes. A vague answer stops at origin: “European production”, without specifying which operations are actually performed there.
Who writes the firmware?
Firmware is not an accessory to the product. It determines measurement quality, communication, registers, updates and how the meter behaves within a wider system. In a modern meter, a significant part of the product is software.
The question is designed to measure distance: how many people or organisations stand between your request and the person who can actually modify the code?
If firmware is developed in-house, the answer involves a clear team and a clear process. If it is purchased or outsourced, every modification has to pass through another contractual relationship.
A solid answer explains who develops the firmware, how versions are managed and what can be customised on request. A vague answer refers to a “technology partner” without explaining what can actually be changed.
Where are the moulds?
This is the question almost nobody asks, and one of the most revealing.
The mould determines the continuity of plastic components: whether a detail can be corrected, production can be restored or an enclosure can be adapted for a white-label project. Knowing that the mould exists is not enough. You need to know who owns it, who can modify it and how quickly an intervention can be made.
If the mould belongs to a subcontractor on another continent, every enclosure modification depends on an organisation that has no direct contractual relationship with you. This part of the supply chain does not appear in the datasheet or in the quotation. It appears when problems occur.
A solid answer specifies ownership, location and intervention lead times. A vague answer sounds like: “It has never been a problem.”
What are the technical response times?
Not commercial response times, those are usually fast.
The question concerns the distance between the problem and the person who can make a technical decision: someone who understands the hardware, firmware, certification and manufacturing process.
The point is not simply to receive an immediate answer. It is to understand who responds, what expertise they have and what process is used to reach a solution.
There is a simple test you can run during the negotiation: describe a real technical problem and observe who gets involved and how quickly.
If the response comes from someone who helped design the product, you have measured that distance. If the issue keeps moving between commercial functions, you have measured it as well.
What happens if logistics stop?
Every supplier claims to have a plan. The more useful question is: when will you find out that there is a problem?
A structured supplier communicates while the risk is still manageable, when alternatives are still available and the project can still be adapted.
A fragile supplier communicates once the delivery has already been missed. At that point, the problem has become yours.
Ask three things:
- whether planned materials and already-qualified alternative sources are available;
- how supply risk is monitored;
- at what point the customer is informed.
The first answer is about inventory. The other two are about transparency. And transparency is what distinguishes a supplier from a partner.
Herholdt Controls’ approach
These five questions are not designed to put a supplier under pressure. They are designed to understand what you are actually buying: a product, or responsibility?
Herholdt Controls answers with clear organisational information: electronic design, firmware development, assembly, testing and technical support operate within the same industrial system in Milan.
The people managing a modification understand the product, not just its part number. When something changes, the distance between the problem and the technical decision is short.
This does not eliminate the risks involved in an OEM project, but it makes them visible before they become critical and manageable when they arise.
The same five questions can be asked directly to us, and the answers can be verified in person: at our production site, during an audit or through a pilot project.
