This guide is intended to help anyone who’s planning for their first visit to a factory.
Basic Questions: Getting to know the factory
- What’s your MOQ (Minimum order quantity)?
- What’s your INCOTERMs?
- What’s the distance to the nearest port? If you don’t already know.
- What’s their turnover last year? Get to know their typical customers by region.
- China Factories only:
- Does the factory have a CCC (China Compulsory Certification) Certificate?
- Does the factory have a domestic supply license?
Production Questions
- What is your sample lead time?
- Can you provide samples or proto-type before bulk production?
- What is your typical production lead time?
- Which processes or parts of the products that are sub-contracted?
- What quality control measures do you have in place? Get them to show you their quality manual.
- How are quality control processes managed at different stages (incoming materials, in-process, and final inspections)?
- Are there any certifications or test results available for review?
Fashion Production & Capabilities Related Questions
- How many sewing machines do you have? How many flat-lock machine do you have?
- How big is your cutting workshop? Is it a manual cutting or Auto-cutting bat?
- How big is their sample room? How many pattern makers do you have in the sample room? How many samples you produced each week?
- What’s their typical measurement tolerance? Anything between 0.5 to 1 cm indicates a high-end factory.
- Is there a Metal & Broken Needle Control Policy? Ask to see a copy and example record from metal detection.
Workforce and Labor Practices Questions
- What’s your typical shift look like? How many shifts in a day and what’s the length of the shift?
- Whats their factory opening hours?
- Do you check the ages of workers in your factory?
- Are you a member of SEDEX? Do your factory have ISO 9000?
- What training and qualifications do the workforce and management have?
Customer References and Transparency:
- Can you provide references from other clients or show recent purchase orders from significant customers?
- How do you handle issues and compensation related to product quality problems?
What’s next? Due Diligence / Factory Audit
This article should cover some of the most important questions you should be asking during a factory visit. However, it’s crucial to remember that your visit is just the first step; the next phase involves conducting a thorough audit of the factory.
This is where SupplyScope comes in. Our Factory Onboarding Form goes beyond basic questionnaires like those offered by Google or Zoho Forms. We allow you to create a customised set of questions that can capture all the essential quality and technical audit information needed after your visit. For example, you can request certifications, copies of the factory’s quality manual, FS Accreditation, FAMA certificates, and more.
By using our platform, you’ll be better equipped to evaluate the factory’s compliance with industry standards, ensuring a more comprehensive due diligence process.
Cool part? We’ll check and validate the document for you, and if you are deciding to work with the factory, we’ll remind you when a particular document / audit expires. Keeping you always on top of your factory compliance.
You got that right, SupplyScope Factory Onboarding Form supports multi-language translation…👍
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