A factory sends a license and workshop photos. Can it actually make your product on time? This guide shows how to check the company, production site, key processes and current workload. Use it to plan a focused visit or remote review, then decide which questions still need an answer.
List the questions the factory check must answer
Start with the product version, quantity and proposed delivery date. List the supplier claims that matter most. These might include making a key feature in-house, using a specific tool, holding enough material or performing a required test. Each claim should lead to a question and a suitable type of evidence.
Decide who will assess the answer. A buying coordinator can collect records and arrange access. An engineer may need to judge whether a process can hold a required tolerance, which is the allowed range around a dimension. A lab or other specialist may be needed for particular tests.
Do not request a generic factory score and assume it answers every concern. Give the reviewer your known risks and any earlier sample faults. Agree on what the check covers, the report format and the limits. This makes the work more focused and easier to use.
See our supplier verification scope for how checks, findings and open questions are organized.
Match the company to the production site
Compare the seller’s legal name with the contract and available business records. Record the registered address and the address where your goods will actually be made. They may differ for a valid reason. Ask the seller to explain the relationship rather than treating every mismatch as proof of fraud.
Identify whether the contracting party operates the site, leases space or buys from another producer. A trading company may coordinate several factories. That can be a workable model, but the buyer needs to know who controls the product files, quality checks and shipment release.
Business records can help establish identity. They do not prove that a production line exists or can make your product. Keep identity checks separate from process findings. Where documents name another company, record that name and ask how it fits into the order’s supply chain.
Follow how your product will be made
Use the proposed production route as the structure for a visit or remote review. Begin with incoming materials, then follow the key steps through to testing and packing. Ask which steps happen at the site and which go to outside firms. Focus on work relevant to the order.
At the critical steps, ask to see suitable equipment and recent records for similar work. Similar means the process and difficulty are relevant, not merely that the finished product looks alike. A large machine list is less useful than evidence about the operation that controls your key feature.
Ask how outside work is specified and checked when it returns. Who approves the subcontractor? How are batches kept apart? What happens when a result fails? The main supplier should be able to explain its controls without exposing another customer’s private prices or designs.
Can the factory finish your order on time?
A factory’s monthly output may cover products much simpler than yours. Ask how long your version takes at each key step. Find the slowest step, also called the bottleneck. Check whether materials, staff and machine time will be available when your order needs them.
Ask for records that support the plan. These may include recent output for similar work, a dated schedule or material orders with private details removed. A machine’s maximum cycle rate is not the same as its daily output of accepted parts. Allow for setup, maintenance, testing and rework.
Date the schedule check and name the product it covers. A factory that had spare time last month may be full now. Use the result to plan order size and progress updates. One visit cannot prove that every later delivery date will be met.
Example: the final process controls the schedule
This is an invented planning case. A buyer needs 2,000 metal housings. The supplier shows machines that can complete the main shaping work within a week. Its sales schedule assumes the whole order can leave shortly afterward. The buyer asks the reviewer to follow the finishing step too.
The review finds that coating happens at an outside shop. That shop has not confirmed its slot. The main factory also needs time to check returned parts and pack them. The machining plan alone therefore does not support the promised shipment date.
The buyer asks for a confirmed coating plan and a revised schedule with return checks included. It may reduce the first batch or accept a later date. The finding does not prove the factory is unsuitable. It identifies the missing evidence that must be resolved before the buyer commits to the schedule.
Review how faults and measurements are handled
Ask how the factory checks incoming material and records results during the run. Look for a clear way to identify rejected goods so they do not mix with accepted stock. Ask who can approve rework or an exception. The answer should fit the product and the agreed order rules.
For measurements that matter, ask how tools are checked and maintained. Have the technical reviewer decide whether the method and equipment suit the required limits. A tool label alone does not show that the measurement was done correctly on your parts.
Review one example of a fault from detection to closure, with private details removed. What caused it? What was changed? How was the fix checked? This can reveal more than a general statement that the company has strict quality control. Record what you actually saw and any limits on access.
If a supplier presents a certificate, check its issuer and scope separately from the site visit. ISO’s certification guidance explains that ISO develops standards but does not issue certificates itself. Our process-review questions are practical recommendations; they are not a certification audit or proof that a particular factory is approved.
Handle limited access without guessing
A supplier may decline a visit because of safety rules, scheduling or business privacy. Ask for the reason and consider a live video review, dated process photos or relevant records. Remote evidence has limits, but it may answer a specific question. No coordinator can promise entry to a private site.
For each finding, record the source and date. Say whether the seller told you, a document showed it or the reviewer saw it. If a process was stopped during the visit, note that limit. Let the seller correct factual errors, while keeping the reviewer’s own findings clear. The buyer can then decide whether to request more checks or start with a smaller trial order.
JFScope can help collect supplier answers and arrange checks. Appointed third-party providers carry out inspections or lab tests and issue the reports. Your team keeps final technical and buying approval.
If the remaining evidence is too weak, pause the decision or choose another candidate. Base that choice on the unresolved risk, not an accusation you cannot support. Keep a final list of confirmed findings, open questions and actions.
