The largest US medical distributors sell hundreds of thousands of products under their own brands. Very few of those products are made in factories the distributor owns. The gown, the drape, the mask and the underpad are made under contract, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, to a specification the distributor's sourcing team wrote, and shipped in a carton with the distributor's name on it.
How a Private Label Gown Gets Made
- The distributor's sourcing team writes a specification: level, material, gsm, sizes, packaging, artwork.
- Two or three factories are audited and sampled. One is chosen. Usually one that already makes the same gown for someone else.
- A supply agreement sets price, volume, lead time and quality terms for one to three years.
- The factory makes the gown. The distributor's inspection agency or a third party releases each shipment.
- The gown arrives at a distribution centre, is put on the shelf next to the branded alternative, and is sold to hospitals, clinics and dealers with next day delivery.
What the Brand Adds
Real things. A stocked warehouse near you. Credit terms. A sales representative. A returns process. GPO contract pricing. A liability position with a large balance sheet behind it. A hospital buying ten cases a week needs most of that, and the distributor's margin pays for it.
What the Brand Does Not Add
It does not change the gown. The material lot, the seams, the level and the test are the factory's work. A regional distributor or a private label brand that buys the same gown from the same factory gets the same gown. What they give up is the service layer, which they either already have or are building.
Who Should Go Direct
- Distributors who already have the warehouse, the credit and the reps, and are paying a national competitor's margin on the product itself.
- Private label brands in dental, veterinary, long term care and home health, who need the product with their own artwork and a technical file they can defend.
- Health systems with a direct sourcing program for strategic categories, who want the factory relationship and the documentation.
- International distributors who are outside the US distributor network anyway.
Who Should Not
A practice, a surgery centre or anyone ordering under a production run. The service layer is worth more to them than the margin. We say this on every page because it is true, and because the buyers we serve are the ones who already know it.
Where to Go from Here
Every gown and drape on our protective apparel page is listed with its level, tests and construction. The tariff page carries the current duty picture for US buyers, and the quotation request takes a spec, a SKU or a competitor's item.