BUYER GUIDE
Custom Bag Supplier Audit and Factory Visit Checklist
A factory visit is most useful when it verifies the supplier’s actual role, workflow and records—not when it becomes a showroom tour with no connection to the buyer’s product.
Verify the complete operating record
Buyers should adapt the audit scope to their own sourcing policy, destination market and product risk. The goal is to compare claims with visible facilities, controlled records and the proposed production route for the specific order.
Verify the business and production role
Match the legal company name, registered address, operating location and commercial contact to the quotation and proposed contract. Clarify which processes are completed at the core facility and which may use approved partner factories.
Ask who owns sampling, material approval, production communication, inspection, documentation and corrective action when more than one facility is involved.
Follow one product through the facility
Trace how materials are received, identified, stored, cut, decorated, sewn, assembled, inspected and packed. Look for clear separation of approved, pending and nonconforming materials or products.
Use a product similar to the buyer brief to discuss equipment, workmanship risks, in-process checks, capacity planning and the actual handover between operations.
Review quality and change-control records
Examine how specifications, approved samples, artwork, color references, inspection criteria and revisions are issued to production. Ask for examples of incoming, in-process and final inspection records without requesting another customer’s confidential data.
Check how material substitutions, defects, corrective action, rework and repeat-order changes are recorded and approved.
Confirm evidence and next actions
Review applicable certificates and reports for the correct company, facility, scope and validity period. A certificate should not be treated as proof of every product claim.
Close the visit with a written list of open questions, evidence required, responsible owners and dates. Commercial approval should follow the buyer’s own supplier-qualification process.
BUYER FAQ
Questions to settle before approval.
Does a certificate replace a factory audit?
No. Certificates, product evidence and factory-process review answer different questions and should be assessed according to the buyer program.
What if partner factories are involved?
The buyer should understand which processes are outsourced, how partners are approved and how materials, quality, changes and communication remain controlled.
Should a factory share other customers’ reports?
Buyers can review the supplier’s record system and anonymized examples without requesting confidential customer information.
Connect the decision to supplier and approval control
Carry factory-review evidence into the supplier onboarding record and unresolved approval conditions.
Use the supplier onboarding checklist →
Build the approval responsibility matrix →
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