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.
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.