A price list tells you what a factory charges. An audit tells you whether it can deliver what you ordered. Done before the first order, it is far cheaper than discovering the answer afterwards.
What to verify
- Legal existence: business licence, registered address and the name on the contract.
- Real capacity: machines, lines, shifts and the share of capacity your order would take.
- Process control: incoming material checks, in-process checks and final inspection, written down and followed.
- Testing equipment: whether the tests the product needs can actually be run in house.
- Sub-contracting: which steps are done elsewhere, and who controls them.
Documents to ask for
Quality procedures, test reports, certificates relevant to your market and traceability records for materials. A serious supplier will answer; vagueness is information.
Warning signs
- Refusing visits or video walkthroughs.
- Samples that differ from the specification, with no explanation.
- Prices far below every other quote.
- No written inspection records.
Audit once, then monitor
An audit is a snapshot. A trial order, then pre-shipment inspection on each batch, keeps quality consistent over time. These steps are part of the supplier method our sourcing teams in Shenzhen follow: map the suppliers, audit, benchmark, trial order.
