A business licence proves a company exists. It tells you nothing about whether the goods you receive will match the sample. The difference between those two statements is what an audit is for.
Before you arrive: what to ask in writing
- How many people work in moulding, and how many in assembly?
- What is the monthly output of this specific product line?
- Which third-party lab do you use, and can I see a report with our product category on it?
- Is the moulding floor temperature controlled and logged?
Written answers before a visit set your agenda. If a supplier cannot answer these four in an email, the visit itself will not tell you much.
On the floor: five things to physically check
| Check | What a bad answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Moulding floor | Resin pellets exposed to open air; no dust control; single unmetered machine |
| Mould traceability | You cannot tie a physical product back to a mould ID or a production date |
| Cooling and trimming | Visible flash or parting lines; no jigs for consistent dimensions |
| Assembly line | No torque tools, no first-article check at station one |
| Ageing rack | Either absent, or full of product that has been there since last year |
The ageing rack is the single most revealing thing in a factory that makes anything with a battery or a motor. Product that has been running for weeks tells you what actually happens after week one. A missing ageing rack tells you the same thing just as clearly.
Documents worth photographing on the spot
- A current test report for the material you are buying, with the lab's name and date visible.
- A batch record showing that an actual shipment was traced back to a raw material lot.
- Your quotation, with the unit price broken into material, labour and packaging.
A note on claims: be sceptical of certification logos you cannot match to a report. "CE certified" is not a thing — CE is a conformity marking, not a certificate, and many non-electrical adult products fall outside every CE directive. "RoHS compliant" describes electronics, not a silicone sleeve. Ask for the report, then decide.
