A supplier on a sourcing platform sends perfect samples, answers every message within the hour and shows photos of a busy production floor. You place your first large order. Six weeks later the goods arrive late, the colours are off, and it turns out the order was passed on to another workshop you have never heard of.
None of that shows up in a sample. It shows up when someone walks through the factory. That is what a factory audit is for: it answers the question whether this factory can make your product, at your volume, consistently.
- What a factory audit is, and what it is not
- What an auditor checks
- When you need a factory audit
- How an audit connects to EU rules
- What an audit cannot tell you
- Checklist
What a factory audit is, and what it is not
A factory audit is an on-site assessment of a manufacturer's facilities, processes and management. An auditor visits the production site, checks documents and photographs what they see. You get a report on what the factory can and cannot do.
It is easy to confuse with three other checks. They answer different questions:
| Check | Question it answers | When | Price at Westwood (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier verification | Does this company exist, and is it what it claims to be? | Before your first payment | 120 euro |
| Factory audit | Can this factory make your product consistently, at your volume? | Before a large order or before scaling | 540 euro in China |
| Inspections, such as a pre shipment inspection | Is this batch right? | During and after production | 250 euro per location per day |
| Certification audit, such as ISO 9001 or a social audit scheme | Does the factory meet a published standard? | Done by the certification body, on its own schedule | Usually paid by the factory |
A certificate is useful, but it is not the same as an audit for your order. Ask for it, check the name and address on it against the factory you are dealing with, and check that it is still valid. Large European retailers often ask for a social audit under a recognised scheme such as amfori BSCI or SMETA; many smaller importers do not need one, but they still want to know who is making their goods.
What an auditor checks
We audit factories in sixteen countries, with the same checklist everywhere. It covers six areas:
| Area | What the auditor looks at |
|---|---|
| Company and facility | Business licence, company structure, factory size and layout, number of employees and production lines |
| Production capability | Condition of machines and equipment, capacity compared with your order volume, process flow and bottlenecks |
| Quality control systems | Incoming material checks, checks during production, final inspection, documentation and traceability |
| Management and processes | Production planning, training and supervision of staff, how problems are reported and solved |
| Risks | Use of subcontractors, inconsistencies in production, risk of delays or of problems when volumes go up |
| Social and ethical compliance | Working conditions and workplace safety, use of protective equipment, working hours and wages |
The most important finding is often simple: is this the place where your product will actually be made? A trading company can be a good partner, but you should know that you are dealing with one, and which factory it uses.
Want to know whether your supplier can deliver before you place a large order? Our factory audit gives you a report with photos, the factory's strengths and weak points, and practical recommendations.
When you need a factory audit
Not every order needs an audit. For a small trial order, a supplier verification and an inspection before shipment are usually enough. An audit pays off in these situations:
- Your order is much larger than your samples. A factory that makes 500 pieces well may not have the people, machines or materials for 20,000.
- You cannot confirm the production address. If the supplier is vague about where the goods are made, or the address on the business licence is an office, an audit at the stated production site shows whether your goods are really made there.
- You move to a new factory or a new product category. Experience with one product says little about another, especially when other materials or processes are involved.
- Something already went wrong. Late deliveries or a failed inspection are a reason to look at the causes in the factory, not only at the next batch.
- You sell under your own brand in the EU. Then you count as the manufacturer, with the obligations that come with it. The next section explains why that makes the factory your concern.
How an audit connects to EU rules
For most consumer products, EU law does not require a factory audit. But two EU regulations make what happens in the factory more important for sellers who place products on the EU market.
The General Product Safety Regulation. If you sell a product under your own name or trade mark, you count as the manufacturer under the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 3(8)). Manufacturers must have procedures in place so that products made in series keep meeting the general safety requirement (Article 9(4)), and their products must bear a type, batch or serial number or another element that identifies the product (Article 9(5)). Both depend on the factory: on its checks of incoming materials, its controls during production and its traceability. An audit shows whether those systems exist. Our article on the GPSR risk assessment explains what the manufacturer has to document.
The Forced Labour Regulation. From 14 December 2027, economic operators may not place or make available on the EU market products made with forced labour, nor export them (Regulation (EU) 2024/3015, Articles 3 and 39). This also covers online sales targeted at end users in the EU (Article 4). If the lead competent authority finds a violation, it bans the products and orders their withdrawal from the market and their disposal (Article 20). Products that have already reached end users are not covered by this (Article 1(2)). The regulation does not create new due diligence obligations of its own (Article 1(3)). An audit cannot prove that there is no forced labour anywhere in a supply chain, but the social section of an audit gives you documented, first-hand information about working hours, wages and conditions at the factory that makes your goods.
If a market surveillance authority contacts you about a product, the questions are about the documentation and the production behind it. Our article on what to do when you receive a letter from a market surveillance authority walks through a real case.
What an audit cannot tell you
An audit is a snapshot of the factory on the day of the visit. Knowing its limits helps you use it well:
- It does not check your batch. A factory with good systems can still make a bad batch. That is what inspections are for, such as a pre shipment inspection based on the AQL tables.
- It covers one site. Raw materials and components from other suppliers fall outside the audit, unless you have those suppliers audited as well.
- It shows the situation at that moment. Factories change staff, owners and subcontractors. For a long-term supplier, repeat the audit when volumes or products change.
- It does not replace testing. Whether your product meets EU requirements, for example on chemicals, is shown by test reports, not by an audit.
Checklist
- Verify that the supplier exists and check its business licence before you pay anything.
- Ask where your product will be made, and whether any part of the work goes to a subcontractor.
- Have the factory audited before a large first order, before scaling up, or when you switch factories.
- Compare the capacity in the audit report with your order volume and delivery date.
- Check the quality systems: incoming material checks, checks during production and traceability with batch numbers.
- Read the social section, especially from 14 December 2027, when the Forced Labour Regulation applies.
- Ask for certificates, and check name, address and validity.
- Inspect each batch before shipment, even when the audit was good.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (GPSR), Articles 3(8), 9(4) and 9(5). EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market, Articles 1(2), 1(3), 3, 4, 20 and 39. EUR-Lex
- Westwood Sourcing, Factory Audit service description and audit checklist.
- Consulted October 2026.
