Factory audit. What is factory audit? Factory check, supplier audit

Factory audit, what is Factory Audit?  Supplier audit

What is Factory audit?

Factory audit is generally divided into human rights audit (social responsibility audit), QMS audit (quality technology audit), and anti-terrorism audit (C-TPAT, SCS, SCAN) and so on. Many customers expect suppliers to meet certain requirements in quality, social responsibility (human rights), anti-terrorism and other aspects of the management system, so before placing an order, they will themselves or entrust a third-party auditor to check the status of the factory, If there are no major and serious problems in the factory, the factory can be included in the list of qualified suppliers, and will establish long-term cooperation.

At present, many export-oriented factories provide a large number of consumer OEM goods for many European and American top retailers and brands such as WAL-MART, DISNEY, TESCO, TARGET, SEARS, Home Depot and THD because of competitive domestic prices. Therefore, they prefer to purchase products in China. However, to become a supplier to these foreign buyers, not only the quality and price of the product must be absolutely competitive, they must also pass some audit by the 3^rd party consulting company.

Factory audit is roughly divided into three types: social responsibility Factory audit, that is, human rights Factory audit, quality audit and anti-terrorism Factory audit after the “September 11 incident”, also known as supply chain security audit. The process of factory audit is complex and involves a wide range of aspects.

Social responsibility factory audit

That is, human rights Factory audit: also known as COC Factory audit /ES Factory audit /SER Factory audit, corporate social responsibility audit and other foreign trade factory audit. Although the audit is much the same, but each customer’s acceptance standard is very different.

Social responsibility audit, requiring suppliers to comply with the corporate code of conduct. Human rights Factory audit is divided into customer’s own standards audit and industry or regional recognized social responsibility system certification, such as the toy industry is generally recognized ICTI audit of the International Toy Industry Association certification, the clothing and textile industry is generally recognized WRAP certification, the electronics industry is generally recognized EICC audit, that is, the electronic industry social responsibility code of conduct. German customers generally agree with BSCI Factory audit, British customers mostly require SEDEX/SMETA audit, its Factory audit according to ETI standards, many customers in France adopt ICS Factory audit standards, and individual customers in the United States adopt WCA Factory audit standards. The above certification or recognized social responsibility audit generally has certification certificates or audit reports that can be shared, and the recognition degree is high, but it is relatively difficult. One is the rise of the foreign human rights movement and the participation of a large number of non-governmental organizations, the second is that foreign buyers have gradually realized that a qualified supplier not only can produce good quality products, but also must have a reasonable set of practices to ensure the continuity and stability of production.

Quality audit

Also known as QMS Factory audit /FCCA Factory audit/technical Factory audit/quality capacity Factory audit/quality system audit, etc., vary from customer to customer, but the content is much the same.

The quality control capability of a plant is determined by the overall evaluation of the plant. Foreign buyers realize that testing and audit is far from enough, we must understand the situation of the entire factory, control the production process, management, to ensure that the factory has an effective system and hardware, in order to ensure the production of high-quality products. After all, the process produces the result.

Anti-terrorism Factory audit

Also known as C-TPAT Factory audit or GSV certification or SCS Factory audit or supply chain safety certification or audit.

In the wake of 9/11. In order to combat international terrorists, the U.S. government requires all factories exported to the United States to pass anti-terrorism audits, mainly requiring factories to increase investment in anti-terrorism, such as raising walls, installing cameras, strengthening background checks on employees and so on. At present, mainly buyers or brands in the United States need to carry out the above anti-terrorism security audit.