The Importance of OEM Parts

Jul 26, 2020

Please understand that OEM does NOT mean the manufacturer "made" the part.  Almost every part on every machine is sourced overseas, American manufacturing just cannot compete at the low cost and (now) relatively good quality.  Landice, might be the only one left, and that's debatible. OEM really means "OEM Spec" or Specification.

Point is, OEM products are new and are created with the same specifications, materials and careful handling done to original pieces were.  That means the manufacturer of part x was vetted by that manufacturer to be the best vendor, at the lowest possible price. 

Lets Focus on that last part, that is price.  We have found that for a given cardio machine, lets say a treadmill motor with (part number x), can encompass different MFR (Manufacturer Reference Numbers). WE call these numers this because they are numbers on the part but are not in the superassembly part number of the manufacturer of the treadmill.  Why does this occur?  Mainly, price and then maybe qty available by motor manufacturer.  By example, if you are repairing a Proform Treadmill PFTL123456 for example and you pull an "FBS" motor and get a "Leili" (both Chinese motor manufacturers, one saying f-318100 and the other saying l-318100, don't be alarmed, you got the same spec, different motor mfr.

Bottom line, In an OEM product you’ll be getting the same performance you expect and need from your equipment with an OEM replacement part because it was designed and tested under the same rigorous manufacturer standards.  Although it is tempting to buy from 3rd party suppliers, you run the risk of purchasing an incompatible part or worse further damaging the main machine that will cost more instead. 

*Addendum

Part numbers.  Part numbers jump around a bit over time, usually due to slight part revisions, or seemingly arbitrary reasons. We do our best in our database to update and provide these updated Part numbers, but also MFRs.  Alot of the time you can query them right from our search functionality at the home page.