Vetting a Chinese supplier: a buyer's checklist

Most of the supplier problems we see buyers run into could have been caught in the qualification phase. This is the short version of the checklist we apply.

The paper trail

• Business license (营业执照): Verify the company name, registered capital, scope of business, and legal representative. The scope of business should actually cover what you are ordering.
• Factory certifications: For electronics, ISO 9001 at minimum. For medical adjacent devices, ISO 13485. For CE distribution, a CE mark self declaration plus any notified body certificate.
• Export record: Ask for two recent proforma invoices or bills of lading with customer names redacted. A factory that has never shipped internationally is a higher risk partner.

On site signals

A clean factory floor, properly labeled raw material zones, a staffed QC station with documented inspection plans, and operators who look comfortable with the process are all positive signals. A factory that is hastily staged for your visit tends to betray itself in small details, for example the dust pattern on machinery and the state of the restrooms.

The firmware and engineering test

For any electronics project, ask to meet the firmware engineer or product engineer directly. Ask them to describe how they configure the SoC, where the SDK lives, and how they handle customer firmware requests. Factories that cannot produce a named engineer on the day are not serious ODM partners.

Component level cost breakdown

Factories we source and vet will typically share a component level BOM with labor and overhead lines. Client sourced factories, where the buyer has gone direct, rarely will. This is one of the main reasons buyers who go direct end up overpaying by margins that dwarf any sourcing agent fee.

Reference checking

The last step is independent reference checks. Ask for one or two existing customers in a comparable market, and call them. A factory that claims a long client list but will not name anyone is a red flag we take very seriously.