Factory Audit Checklist

• Supplier Name

• Product Category

• Location
  Address

• Conducted on

  Date

• Prepared by

General Information

• Date established

  Date

• Total annual sales

• No. of Employees

• No. of Quality Control Employees

• No. of Operators

• No. of Machines

Quality Control

• Does the supplier has a quality system?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Opinion about the factory'a ability to deliver quality products consistently

• Does the factory communicate requirements to its suppliers on its POs (or other documents)? Are these requirements clearly listed?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are incoming QC results recorded in a formal report?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are conform samples available to workers in production and QC areas?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are clear procedures given to each operator and to the QC staff, for each job?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Does final QC occur before or after packing is completed?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there QC staff solely dedicated to final QC? How many? Do they only do QC, or also a finishing operation at the same time?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are final QC results recorded in a formal report?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the first-pass yield displayed on a wall, and tracked day-by-day and line-by-line?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are numbers and details of customer complaints displayed on a wall?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Cost Control

• Are top managers (general manager, production manager, finance manager, sales manager, QC manager) part of the owner’s family? Or are they professional managers?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there several empty floors?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Can you see recent investments in expensive machinery?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there idle machines?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Maintenance

• Is equipment failure down time calculated?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there checklists for maintenance? Do they seem to be followed?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Visual Control

• Is the number of pieces per labor hour displayed on a wall, and tracked day-by-day?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the amount of scrapped material displayed on a wall, and tracked day-by-day?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the total unit cost displayed on a wall, and tracked day-by-day?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Degree of "Lean-ness"

• Can you see a lot of inventory kept before production and kept between each production step?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Production

• Before a new product is launched, are some jigs/tools prepared by the engineering department?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is pre-production inventory well organized?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is work-in-process inventory stored in a predictable way, or do people need to look around to find what they need?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Where do the components used in production come from? How long does transportation take?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is production organized as a continuous flow, without any work-in-process inventory visible in the workshop? (best)

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a kanban system? (very good)

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a production planning, with details for each workshop, and updated every day? (good)

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there no production planning at all? (worst)

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a list of approved subcontractors, who can take over part of the job? For which process steps?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is there a power generator?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is equipment failure downtime calculated?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there checklists for maintenance? Do they seem to be followed?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the proportion of on-time shipments displayed on a wall, and updated at least weekly?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Is the time to make one piece, from start to finish, displayed on a wall, and updated daily?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Can you see a lot of inventory between each production step?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Compliance

• Are there enough fire extinguishers (in workshops, dormitories)? Are they accessible, and up to date?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there enough emergency exits? Is it possible to lock them? Are they used as storage areas?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Do workers have appropriate personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, glasses, safety boots)?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Are there enough first-aid kits? Are they available and full?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Does production generate a lot of waste? Is this waste treated?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

• Has the factory invested in energy-efficient equipment?

  Yes

  No

  N/A

Summary of Findings

• General organization in the factory

  Good

  Average

  Bad

• Working environment (light, noise..)

  Good

  Average

  Bad

• Motivation of top management

  Good

  Average

  Bad

• Ease of mutual understanding

  Good

  Average

  Bad

• Can they make our product?

  Yes

  Probably

  No

• Do they have enough capacity?

  Yes

  Probably

  No

• Do they already sell to our country?

  Yes

  Probably

  No

• Do they understand our standards?

  Yes

  Probably

  No

Completion

• Full Name and Signature of Inspector/QC Manager

  Sign