Guide
Three different questions. Do not pay for the wrong answer.
A visit asks whether this is the right partner. An audit asks whether the factory meets a standard. An inspection asks whether one batch meets a spec. They are not interchangeable.
Why it matters
Mixing them up is a known way to overpay.
A buyer who pays for an audit when they only needed to meet the production manager has overspent. A buyer who thinks a friendly visit is a compliance certificate has bought something that will not survive a retailer's review. The three words are not synonyms, and the price, the deliverable and the person who does the work are all different.
The one we run ourselves is the visit — the floor walk, the five checks, and the written report. For an audit or an inspection we coordinate the right specialist and keep our own role explicit, which is what procurement teams need when a standard is on the line.
The difference
Three terms, side by side.
| Dimension | Factory visitwhat we run | Factory auditcoordinated with specialists | Product inspectiona separate discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core question | Is this the right partner? | Does the factory meet a standard? | Does this batch meet the spec? |
| What gets checked | Licence, scope, floor, capacity, decision-maker | Systems, records, compliance evidence | The units in one specific order |
| Who does the work | Our team, on the ground | Certified auditors we coordinate | Independent QC inspectors |
| Deliverable | A written visit report | A formal audit report | An inspection report |
| What ChinaFactoryHost provides | Yes — this is our core | Coordination only | Coordination only |
- Factory visit
- Core questionIs this the right partner?
- What gets checkedLicence, scope, floor, capacity, decision-maker
- Who does the workOur team, on the ground
- DeliverableA written visit report
- What ChinaFactoryHost providesYes — this is our core
- Factory audit
- Core questionDoes the factory meet a standard?
- What gets checkedSystems, records, compliance evidence
- Who does the workCertified auditors we coordinate
- DeliverableA formal audit report
- What ChinaFactoryHost providesCoordination only
- Product inspection
- Core questionDoes this batch meet the spec?
- What gets checkedThe units in one specific order
- Who does the workIndependent QC inspectors
- DeliverableAn inspection report
- What ChinaFactoryHost providesCoordination only
A visit is not an audit and neither is an inspection. We do not pass a casual visit off as a formal audit; when you need one, we coordinate the right specialist and keep our own role explicit.
Deciding
Which one you actually need.
- You need a visitWhen you are choosing a supplier or checking one you already have. The five vetting checks and the floor walk tell you whether the partner is real and can hold your volume.
- You need an auditWhen a written standard is the requirement — a retailer programme, a compliance scheme or a certification that has to be verified by someone who is not us. We coordinate the auditor; we do not pretend to be one.
- You need an inspectionWhen one batch is shipping and you need to know it meets spec before it leaves the loading dock. That is a different skill from judging a factory.
Turning it into evidence
A visit is only as good as how you score it.
When it is a visit you need, the question becomes how to compare what you saw across factories. The factory visit scorecard runs the same six dimensions on every visit, and the on-the-floor checklistis what each dimension checks against.
What we don't do
What we will not do here
We keep the three roles separate, and we will say which one applies rather than let the wrong one be sold.
- We will not present a casual visit as a formal audit, even when a buyer would rather not pay for the audit.
- We will not issue a certificate or a compliance mark — we are not a laboratory or a certification body.
- We will not pretend a visit can guarantee a future production run.
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