Guide · Before award
China factory visit checklist — and how a visit differs from an audit
“We visited the factory” is one of the most over-trusted lines in procurement. A visit only controls risk if it is run as a field discipline — with a checklist, evidence captured as you go, and a clear idea of what it can and cannot prove. Walked as a sales tour, it confirms very little.
It is also routinely confused with three things it is not — an audit, a factory acceptance test, and a pre-shipment inspection. Each answers a different question, at a different stage, and produces different evidence. Below is a working checklist for the visit itself, then the line between the four so each is used for what it actually proves.
What a factory visit is for — and what it is not
A factory visit sits in qualification, before award. Its question is narrow: is this supplier capable of this order, and on what terms? It is the moment to see the production floor, the in-process checks, the test equipment and the people — and to confirm, against the licence and the national registry, that the entity in front of you is the one that quoted.
| Control point | Question it answers | Stage | What it produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Factory visit | Is this supplier capable of this order, and on what terms? | Before award — qualification | Findings → proceed, proceed with conditions, or disqualify |
| Audit | Does the quality system function against a standard (e.g. ISO 9001)? | Scheduled or for-cause | Graded findings, non-conformities, corrective-action requests |
| Factory acceptance test (FAT) | Does the finished equipment meet the specification? | After build, before shipment | Witnessed test record → release, conditional release, or hold |
| Pre-shipment inspection (PSI) | Is the shipment that actually leaves complete and conforming? | At shipment | Quantity, conformity, packing, marking, documents → release or hold |
The distinction is commercial, not academic. A supplier that passed an ISO audit has not shown that your equipment meets your specification — that is the factory acceptance test. A strong visit does not remove the need for a pre-shipment inspection — the goods that ship are not the ones seen in build. Using one control to stand in for another is where buyers get caught.
The factory visit checklist
A field checklist for a qualification or follow-up visit. It is deliberately about the visit itself — what to confirm on the day — not the full qualification framework or the report written afterwards. For those, see the supplier due-diligence checklist and the supplier visit report.
Before you go
- Confirm the registered Chinese name and the 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code, and note the registered address you expect to visit.
- Decide what the visit must answer — capability for this order, a specific concern, or revalidation after an issue — and write it down before you arrive.
- List the documents you will ask to see in original on the day, with the certificate numbers you already hold to check them against.
- Confirm who from the supplier will attend — production, quality and management, not only sales — and whether an interpreter is needed.
On the production floor
- Walk the production steps your product actually needs, and confirm they happen in-house rather than at an unnamed subcontractor.
- See machines running — ideally your product type in production that day — not only a showroom or a line set up for visitors.
- Check whether in-process QC records are being filled in live at the stations, not reconstructed afterwards.
- Roughly count heads by area against the headcount claimed, and note the shift pattern and how many workstations are occupied.
- Look at how raw material is stored — identified, segregated, labelled — and whether mill or batch certificates match the markings on stock.
Testing and equipment
- Have the key tests demonstrated, not just pointed at, and confirm which can be run in-house versus sent out.
- Read the calibration labels and dates on test and measurement equipment, and note anything out of calibration or unlabelled.
Documents, sighted on site
- Sight in original — not as photocopies — the business licence, ISO certification and the product certificates the order requires, recording issuer, scope and expiry.
- For CE, record the issuer and the directives cited, and check the declaration matches this product, not a generic list.
- Ask for recent internal inspection records, drawing-revision control, and non-conformance and corrective-action records — and note what cannot be produced when asked.
Management and close-out
- Note who actually answers each substantive question — general manager, production, quality or sales — and record decision-relevant answers against the role that gave them.
- Give red flags their own note: entity-name mismatches, areas where entry or photography was refused, answers that changed between people, certificates not produced.
- Caption every photograph — what it shows, where, and why it matters — shooting wide before close, keeping nameplates legible and time-stamps on.
- Before leaving, write the one decision the visit supports — proceed, proceed with conditions, or disqualify — and what remains unverified, owned by whom and by when.
A visit run as a control point, not a sales trip
When Sinospect runs or attends a factory visit, it goes on the buyer’s side: confirming legal identity against the registry, walking the production steps the order needs, witnessing the tests that matter, sighting documents in original, and capturing captioned evidence — then recording the finding as proceed, proceed with conditions, or disqualify. The visit is treated as a qualification control point, not a relationship gesture.
It is the same discipline behind supplier qualification in China, and one of the things covered when you meet suppliers and review samples in China in person.
Related services and resources
Resource · China supplier visit report
Once the visit is done, the section-by-section report that turns what you saw into a defensible record.
OpenResource · Supplier due-diligence checklist
The fuller pre-order screen the visit sits inside — legal identity, certifications, references and quotation hygiene.
OpenResource · Factory acceptance test checklist
The downstream factory event a visit is not — a witnessed performance test against the specification before release.
OpenService · Supplier qualification in China
The qualification engagement that runs factory visits and records the result as proceed, conditions or disqualify.
OpenFrequently asked questions
Is a factory visit the same as an audit?
No. A visit is a buyer-side capability check before award — can this supplier do this order, and on what terms. An audit assesses whether a quality system functions against a standard such as ISO 9001, and produces graded findings and corrective-action requests. A supplier can pass an audit and still be the wrong fit for a specific order; a visit answers the fit question directly.
Does a good factory visit remove the need for a FAT or a pre-shipment inspection?
No. A visit confirms capability before award. A factory acceptance test witnesses the finished equipment against the specification; a pre-shipment inspection confirms the shipment that actually leaves is complete and conforming. The goods that ship are not the ones seen in build, so the later checks still apply.
Can a factory visit be done remotely?
Partly. A live video walk-through — production floor, QC stations, calibration records and staffing seen in real time, not a pre-recorded marketing video — can cover a commodity item from an established supplier. Higher-value or custom equipment usually warrants an in-person visit. The decision is project-specific and should be recorded with the result.
Who should attend on the supplier side?
Production, quality and management — not only sales. Much of what a visit verifies (in-process QC, calibration, non-conformance handling, decision authority) can only be confirmed by the people who run it. Note which functions were absent; absence is itself a finding.
What should we send to set one up?
The supplier name and registration, the equipment list or specification, and what the visit must answer. Sinospect replies with whether a visit is the right step, what it should cover on the day, and how it fits the qualification route.
Planning a China factory visit?
Send the supplier name and registration and the equipment list — Sinospect replies with whether a visit is the right step, what it should cover on the day, and how it fits the qualification route.