A factory can make or break your supply chain. In order to run your business smoothly you need to make sure that your supply chain has optimal suppliers. Therefore, vetting suppliers before placing an order should be a must for a business to run smoothly. A manufacturing audit provides a detailed profile of potential and current suppliers in your supply chain. A manufacturing audit can also be called a factory audit.
Once you receive the audit report you will have a thorough understanding of your supplier, it would ensure they have the capabilities to produce products according to your expectations and prevent time consuming and costly delays.
What is checked during a manufacturing audit?
Factory Profile:
When a factory sends you their initial profile or a brochure, it includes things such as location, certifications, employee head count, departments. We check to make sure that the certifications are authentic and real. Also check to make sure they have appropriate designated departments. We also check in-office headcount with verification from salary records.
Production:
What will the total production be of a certain product when the factory is working at optimum capacity? Do they have the have the appropriate machinery to be able to produce said products? Which type of machinery do they have? Do they have the appropriate equipment to test products?
We check the condition of the machinery and equipment. How old is the machinery? What brand is the machinery? Are parts of the machines new or old and worn out?
We also check storage areas for raw materials and finished goods, this includes the storage capacity of said area. Every step of production capabilities is carefully analyzed.
Facilities:
We check to see if the factory is clean and products kept in the storage areas won’t collect mold. Do they have appropriate areas to store products which are moving through different stages of production.
Workflow process:
The workflow process of the factory is analyzed. This ensures how the factory handles production of their products from start to finish. How the products are handled and moved along the production line. Are appropriate departments and management setup? The workflow process determines how efficient the factory is and if they would be able to function properly at all times.
Quality control:
Inefficient in house quality departments can be detrimental to a factory’s performance. We check to see how efficient their quality processes are. We check they type of quality assurance systems and they have in place in order to see how are quality control inspections performed on incoming raw materials. How is quality control done for finished outgoing goods?
Conclusion:
There are multiple factors that affect a factory’s performance and capabilities, a manufacturing audit makes sure that the factory will be able to handle the production of a customer’s products without compromising on quality and time.