FACTORY AUDIT IN CHINA
Know what the factory can actually do before you commit.
An on-site factory audit turns supplier claims into evidence on capability, quality controls, capacity, subcontracting, and the risks that matter before you commit more money or volume.
Best used before major tooling, deposits, mass production, or repeat-order scale — especially when factory capability or process control still needs evidence.
Is this really the factory?
Confirm the production site, manufacturing role, and where critical work is actually done.
Can it reliably make this product?
Compare equipment, process experience, capacity evidence, and quality controls with the order you plan to place.
What could block approval?
Identify critical findings, hidden subcontracting, control gaps, and actions that must close before exposure increases.
What we check before you trust the factory.
The checklist changes with the product and risk. The core job stays the same: verify the site, test the operating controls, and identify risks that should change your supplier decision.
Can the site support the product and volume?
Confirm the real production site, relevant equipment and process flow, manufacturing experience, maintenance, capacity support, and which critical processes are done in-house or subcontracted.
Are quality controls visible in real records?
Review incoming controls, in-process checks, final inspection, nonconforming goods, calibration, defect records, document control, and corrective-action practice against evidence on site.
What could fail outside the sample room?
Understand material traceability, sub-supplier control, outsourced critical processes, scheduling bottlenecks, and whether findings can be owned, corrected, documented, and verified.
A factory audit should change a decision, not just produce a score.
Critical findings should act as hard gates. A high average score should not hide identity, capability, subcontracting, quality-system, or capacity risks that materially affect the order.
Three phases. One usable supplier decision.
The detailed checklist may be longer, but the service should remain easy to understand: define the questions, collect operating evidence, then convert findings into actions.
Scope the audit
Set the factory, product, order stage, buyer requirements, known concerns, and the records or processes that need deeper evidence.
Output: audit scope
Collect operating evidence
Walk relevant production areas, review records, ask follow-up questions, and capture dated evidence for material findings.
Output: evidence record
Turn findings into a decision
Separate critical risks from correctable gaps, assign actions, and define what must be closed before approval, production, or scale-up.
Output: decision + CAP
The real report should connect material findings to the decision and next action.
Your report should make the next step obvious.
Someone who was not at the factory should still be able to understand what was checked, the material risks, and what needs to happen before the supplier carries more exposure.
BEFORE YOU START
Common questions before a factory audit.
A few practical questions before you send the factory details and audit scope.
What information should I send before an audit?
Send the factory name and location, product or process involved, order stage, known concerns, and any buyer requirements or documents the auditor should use.
Is a factory audit the same as supplier verification?
No. Supplier verification can check identity and desk-based risk signals. A factory audit is an on-site assessment of the facility, capability, systems, records, and operating evidence.
Do I need a factory audit for every supplier?
No. The audit depth should match the value, complexity, product risk, uncertainty, and repeat-order importance of the supplier relationship.
Does a factory audit replace product inspection?
No. An audit evaluates the supplier and its systems. Product inspection checks the goods for a specific order against defined requirements.
START WITH THE AUDIT SCOPE
Tell us what you need checked.
Send the factory, product or process, order stage, and the risks you want checked. We’ll use that to define the appropriate verification and audit scope.