Pressure transducers are also called pressure sensors, and an OEM pressure transducer is a transducer that is made by a company other than the original manufacturer of the end product which uses the transducer. A pressure transducer measures variables such as speed, water level, gas and fluid flow, and altitude. A transducer also controls and monitors the use of the variables in a wide array of applications, and it’s estimated that pressure transducers are used in over 50 technologies.
Original Equipment Manufacturer
The use of the acronym OEM is ambiguous in almost any industry, but, in general, OEM means a part or product that is manufactured by a third party for use in a product manufactured by someone else. Often, OEM products are cheaper and more versatile than a component built by the creator of an end product. For example, a car manufacturer may buy an air filter from a third party manufacturer to include in the original production of a car. Used in this example, the car manufacturer is the OEM.
Transducers and OEM
Applying OEM to a pressure transducer usually means that a third party manufactures the actual transducer used in an end product. If you need a replacement, you can go to the original manufacturer of the end product, and pay a premium, or you can go the original manufacturer of the transducer, and buy the replacement at a lower cost. In each case you are getting the same OEM pressure transducer, but by bypassing the OEM they are saving a few dollars.
OEM Confusion
The confusion over the use of OEM is because while the producer of the end product is called the OEM, the component, and in our case that is a pressure transducer, is engineered and produced by a third party company. However, the actual transducer is called an OEM pressure transducer. It’s called this because the component was purchased by the end OEM product manufacturer to use in their final product.
Using OEM components by end product manufacturers is cost-effective, and more efficient usually than engineering and manufacturing the pressure transducer themselves. The same savings are available to end users when they go directly to the pressure transducer manufacturer because in the end it’s the same product.
