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The live factory visit checklist
Quick answer
A useful live factory visit has three phases: confirmation before (address, host, filming scope, your three key claims), systematic coverage during (outside-in, from signage to samples, recording refusals as carefully as sights), and disciplined follow-up after (unresolved questions in writing, certificates checked, evidence filed). The most common mistake is treating the call itself as the whole job.
Before the visit
Most failed visits fail here — at the address, the consent or the plan.
- Confirm the exact site address the visit will take place at — in Chinese characters, not just pinyin
- Confirm which company name is on the gate at that address
- Confirm who will host: name, role, and whether an English speaker will attend
- Agree what may be filmed, and get any restrictions stated in advance
- Confirm whether recording (not just streaming) is permitted
- List the three claims you most need tested (e.g. “in-house SMT”, “200 workers”, “export cartons in stock”)
- Prepare your product specification and sample photos for on-camera comparison
- Agree the session time in both time zones, with a fallback if the stream fails
During the visit
Work outside-in and keep the camera moving on your priorities, not the host’s tour route. A refusal is a data point, not a confrontation.
- Exterior: gate signage, building scale, vehicles, neighbouring units
- Address check: does the visible signage match the company you are paying?
- Office or showroom: certificates on the wall (photograph for later verification), product range
- Production floor: which processes are running, how many lines, how many people
- Machinery: age, brands, whether powered on, and what is actually being made today
- Warehouse: raw materials in, finished goods out, whose labels are on the cartons
- Packaging area: export cartons, labelling process, care in handling
- Samples: close-ups against your specification, on camera
- Questions to staff: subcontracted processes, tooling location, lead time for your order
- Note every request that is refused, and the reason given
After the visit
The visit produces evidence; the follow-up turns it into a decision.
- Write down what you saw while it is fresh — and separately, what you were not shown
- List every unresolved question and send it to the supplier in writing
- Check photographed certificates with the issuing bodies where they matter
- Compare what you saw against the registry facts and your documents
- Decide the next step: proceed, ask more, inspect, audit, or walk away
- Keep the footage and notes with your order file — they are your evidence trail
Want this run for you, with a bilingual representative on site and you directing the camera? That is the Live Factory Visit — from US$899. For the reasoning behind each item, read the full guide: Live Factory Visit Checklist.
Scope and disclaimer
FactoryPass China provides practical business verification, document review, supplier risk screening, and fieldwork coordination based on information available at the time of review.
Our services do not constitute legal advice, financial advice, certification, a formal factory audit, a product inspection, laboratory testing, or a guarantee of supplier performance, product quality, delivery, regulatory compliance, or future conduct.
Customers remain responsible for final supplier selection, contracts, payment decisions, product compliance, professional inspection, customs clearance, and import requirements.
A live factory video visit is a visual verification service, not a formal factory audit, product inspection, legal due diligence, financial audit, or certification.
Fixed buyer-paid fees only. We take no commissions or kickbacks from the supplier being reviewed. Read more about how we stay independent or how we reach a finding.
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Fixed buyer-paid fees only. We take no commissions or kickbacks from the supplier being reviewed.