Everything you need to know about factory audit in China
When embarking on a project in China, buyers often focus their attention on the product and everything that surrounds it: product quality, production times, customization… the list of options can be endless. Everything you need to know about factory audit in China:
Of course, all of them are points to take into account so that our business can get ahead with certain guarantees, and hence quality controls are increasingly requested and valued, even by small entrepreneurs. The point is that before performing quality control there is a previous step that many employers overlook: factory audits.
What is a factory audit
A factory audit is an on-site investigation process that tries to find out if precisely the factory meets the buyer’s needs.
It is an especially important step in China, since on many occasions buyers carry out their procedures online, without going to the Asian country, and even without knowing if they are really dealing with a real factory or a trader.
Reasons for conducting a factory audit
Among the different motivations to argue for conducting the audit, let us differentiate according to the results we intend to obtain:
Objective results
As its name suggests, these results will be the most logical and measurable by the auditors.
- A first desired result is as simple as it is important: Make known the existence (or not) of the factory. On more occasions than you would expect all kinds of scams related to this section occur. That is why this verification is so important and can save us a lot of time and money, and it is a step that BM Consulting will take care of at all times.
- The next objective to verify will be the verification of the different facilities and assets of the company. It will be verified that the factory is suitable for the production of our products, the type of machinery used and its quantity, the number of employees, etc. A factory that does not adapt to our needs will do us no good.
- Depending on the facilities and machinery that we see, we can also deduce the quality of the products that they are capable of producing.
- In many cases there are usually inconsistencies between what the manufacturers say and the reality (number of workers, machinery, etc.), so it is convenient to carry out these audits.
- In addition to all of the above, another point to verify will be the factory’s ability to meet future needs. For example, we as buyers may have in mind to apply some customization to our products. In this case, we should check if the factory has machinery to carry out this type of order.
- Also, when auditing a factory, we should be able to find out what the maximum order capacity is.
- If we simply ask the manufacturer, they will usually always answer yes to whatever figure we propose. This is a practically automatic response that they make in order not to lose the customer.
Psychological results
With the audit we will create a differentiating relationship and commitment with the manufacturer.
Many buyers are using the tactic of placing a low initial order while promising large orders in the future in the hope of better prices and terms. This strategy no longer works, since everyone does the same. But if we do a factory audit, we will take a step that will differentiate us from the rest. The supplier will see us as a serious and long-term project, since we have taken the step of physically going to the factory, and we will probably get priority treatment.
In addition, you will also know that we have the ability to return to the factory on more occasions, so the supplier will pay special attention to our products and orders so that these are developed as well as possible and we are satisfied with their services.
These are just some of the reasons for conducting a factory audit in China before making a final decision on choosing a manufacturer, but the list could be much longer.
An audit service has a really low economic cost, but the performance that it will produce in our project as well as the possible problems that we will avoid, is priceless.
If you want to contract an audit now, click here.