Three Ways to Work With VOHON: Distributor, Integrator, OEM

Most equipment makers offer exactly one way to work with them, and it is the one that suits the factory. That is why so many distribution agreements die in year two: the partner bought a model that did not fit how they actually sell.

We run three. Each has a different commitment level, a different price band and a different failure mode. Read all three before you pick.

Model A — Distributor

You buy on your own account, hold or drop-ship stock, and own the customer relationship in your territory. You quote, you invoice, you collect. We build, test and ship, and we back you on technical questions.

Best for: companies already selling fuel equipment, tank gauging or station construction services, with an installation team and a service van.

What it demands: an annual volume commitment, a named technical contact who will attend our training, and a stock of the two or three filter elements that fail most often. That last item sounds trivial and is the single biggest cause of a bad first year — a partner who cannot change a filter element on the same visit turns a two-hour job into a second trip.

What it earns: the hardware margin plus commissioning plus service. This is the model with the highest ceiling, because you keep the aftermarket.

Model B — Project Integrator

You take the skid into a larger EPC or terminal package and resell it as part of a system — with piping, electrical, civils and PLC integration around it. You may never hold stock. We quote project-by-project on a registered-project basis.

Best for: engineering contractors, terminal package builders and system integrators who win work through tenders.

What it demands: early engagement. The vapour flow, the inlet concentration and the stack height are decided in the tender documents, usually months before anyone asks the equipment supplier. If we see the specification at award stage, we can only confirm or decline. If we see it at tender stage, we can help you write a scope that is buildable and priced correctly.

What it earns: package margin, not product margin. Lower per-unit, larger per-project.

Model C — OEM and Private Label

You sell the equipment under your own brand, with your documentation, your nameplate and your manual. We manufacture to an agreed specification and stay invisible to your customer.

Best for: established brands that already have a product range and want to add vapour recovery without building a factory.

What it demands: a minimum order quantity per model, agreed artwork and documentation, and a technical agreement covering who answers the end user’s first-line support calls.

What it earns: brand ownership and the ability to price on value rather than comparison. It also means you cannot use our case studies or our name in your marketing — which for some partners is the whole point.

Side by side

How to choose without regret

Ask yourself one question: who is going to change the membrane element in year four?

If the answer is “our own technician”, you want Model A or C. If the answer is “nobody, we hand the site back to the operator”, you want Model B, and you should price the handover honestly rather than pretending service is included.

The second question is equally practical: do we want our logo on the nameplate or not? Partners who answer “yes” usually want OEM, and partners who answer “does it matter?” usually want Distributor.