The most expensive sourcing mistakes happen before production starts: a deposit paid to a company that turns out to be a trader, a factory that subcontracts your order to a workshop you never saw, or a supplier whose "capacity" was a rented booth at a trade fair. A factory audit is the cheapest insurance against all three. Here is what we check on a visit.
Legal identity
- Business licence — the registered name, scope and address match the company you are paying.
- Export licence or agent arrangement — the factory can legally export, or has a declared partner who can.
- Bank account name — payment goes to the company on the licence, not a personal account or an unrelated trading entity.
Real manufacturing
- Production lines for your product — the machinery on the floor makes what you are buying. Photos of "our factory" are easy to borrow.
- Raw material stock — materials for your product category are physically present.
- Workforce — headcount roughly matches the claimed output.
- Subcontracting — ask directly which processes are outsourced. Plating, printing and packaging often are; that is fine if declared.
Quality system
- Incoming material inspection — is there a station and a record, or does material go straight to the line?
- In-process checks — sample inspection points during production, not only at the end.
- Reference samples — the factory keeps signed samples for existing customers. If they cannot show you one, they will not keep yours.
Track record
- Export markets served — a factory that already ships to your region understands its labelling, certification and packaging norms.
- Delivery history — ask for recent shipping documents (with customer details masked). Real exporters have them to hand.
What an audit does not tell you
An audit confirms the supplier is real and capable. It does not guarantee that your specific order will be right — that is the job of the reference sample and the pre-shipment inspection. Treat the audit as the gate that decides whether a supplier gets to quote seriously at all.
Zhoukun Group audits suppliers on site as a standard part of every engagement, and for clients who already have a supplier in mind we can carry out an independent audit before the deposit is released.