What Is the Best Time to Conduct Factory Auditing?
Conducting a stringent factory audit can be time-consuming and expensive especially for small and medium scale businesses. Those importers who are conscious of their quality control budget often want tso know what is best for them. You understand that a properly balanced factory quality control inspection can help you proactively understand the factory’s performance, setup, and points of compliance with all the international standards.
An adequately utilized and professionally managed supplier audit can help you precisely identify, address as well as avoid problems with a supplier’s product quality, facilities, practices, organization, and processes before they spread. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to conducting a good factory auditing service, there are some everyday situations and triggers where an organization should audit its suppliers.
1. Customer and supplier history
Of course, you know that you will need to conduct fewer factory audits if you have a good relationship with your suppliers. Things to consider are how long the supplier has been in use, the results of previous factory audits, and whether or not the supplier has an adequate quality management system. The answers to these questions should tell you how often you will need to be audited.
2. If the supplier is new or has changed its quality
Anytime you are unsure, it is a great time to conduct a factory audit. A new supplier, a change in the ownership of the supplier, or something strange about the quality of the supplier’s work are all indications that it is time to audit the supplier’s factory.
3. Random factory audit is a good idea.
Sometimes you intuitively feel that something is wrong, and sometimes you want to audit a supplier after a long time. Auditing may not be a part of your routine daily work with suppliers, but it is always good to listen to your inner voice. By doing so, customers will be able to do business with you with complete peace of mind, and your relationship with your suppliers will be pretty smoother.
4. New regulations and requirements are introduced.
Product quality starts with choosing the right supplier. The purpose of an audit is to assess whether a factory has the relevant product knowledge and can produce products that meet international regulations and its brand requirements.
5. How complex is the product?
The more complex a product is, the more things can go wrong. If you are producing a product with many moving parts, you may need to audit your factory more frequently to make sure everything is in order.
Factory Audits as Part of a Comprehensive Quality Control Program
There are many factory audit companies that offer user-friendly quality control programs to help companies– small or big– reduce time & costs and maintain their brand reputation. By providing the necessary advice as well as advanced tools for quality control, these companies also help you minimize risks, avoid buying defective products, and sell the best quality products faster.
These companies have dedicated and skilled factory auditors and quality inspectors who are always ready to offer the best quality inspection solutions as per the specific business needs and within the stipulated time frame.
