Two audits were carried out on the same line in the same month. One produced a twelve-page report and no change; the other produced four findings, a retrained station and a revised fixture. The difference was not the auditor. It was that the second audit had been scoped around a product and finished with actions that had dates and owners.
Charger factory audit: the six steps that make it useful
Scope, evidence review, process walk, records, corrective actions and follow-up.
The steps are ordered because each one prepares the next: an audit scoped around a product asks different questions from one scoped around a certificate, and a process walk is only informative after the records have shown where the weak points are.
The output is not a grade. It is a short list of findings with an owner, a date and a verification method, which is what distinguishes an audit from an inspection.
Step 1: define the scope around the product
The audit covers the product you buy, not the company in general.
Write down the configuration, the volume, the markets and the critical components before the visit. That scope decides which stations matter, which records are relevant and which limits apply, and it prevents the audit from drifting into a general tour. A scope written around a product also makes the findings actionable for that product rather than for the factory’s system in the abstract.
Step 2: ask for evidence before the visit
Half the audit can be done from documents, and it changes what to look for on site.
Request the measurement plan, the acceptance criteria, the incoming verification records for the critical components, the last batch’s test results and any containment record from the previous year. Reading these first identifies the two or three areas worth the on-site time, and it also shows which documents exist only as templates.
Step 3: walk the process in production order
Follow the product rather than the floor plan.
Start at incoming and finish at packing, asking at each station what the operator measures, what the limit is, what happens to a unit that fails and where the result is recorded. The walk is where the difference between the documented process and the running process appears, and it is usually visible in three questions rather than through a checklist of two hundred items.
Step 4: read the records rather than the reports
The raw data is the audit’s evidence; the summary is a convenience.
Ask to see the per-unit or per-lot values for the last shipment, the incoming verification entries for the critical components, and the failures recorded during aging or burn-in with their disposition. A factory that can produce raw data and describe what changed because of it is controlling the process; one that produces a pass rate has a reporting system.
| Step | What you do | What you get | What makes it useless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Fix the product, volume and markets | A defined subject | A general company audit |
| Evidence review | Request documents in advance | Two or three areas to examine | Arriving to a guided tour |
| Process walk | Follow the product in order | Documented versus actual practice | A checklist of generic items |
| Records | Read raw values, not summaries | Evidence the process runs | A pass rate with no data |
| Actions | Agree owner, date, verification | A short actionable list | Findings with no owner |
| Follow-up | Verify on the next batch | A change that holds | A report filed and closed |
Step 5: agree the corrective actions with dates
A finding without an owner is an observation.
Each finding is written as a statement of fact with the evidence, followed by the change, the owner, the date and the method that will show it worked. Where the finding concerns a limit, the action is the revised limit and its source; where it concerns a station, the action is the fixture, the instruction or the training, with a verification on the next batch rather than a promise.
Step 6: follow up, or the audit expires
An audit describes a moment, and the moment passes.
The follow-up is a short check on the next shipment: does the revised limit appear in the criteria document, does the fixture show the change, and does the raw data reflect it. One page is enough, provided it is done. Audits that are never followed up become a filing exercise, and the findings reappear in the next audit in the same words.
The audit questions that produce the most information
Three questions, and they work at almost any station.
What is the limit here, and where did it come from? What happens to a unit that fails this check, and where is that recorded? And what changed at this station because of the last time something went wrong? The answers show whether the station is a control or a formality, and they take less time than reading the procedure.
FAQ
How long should a factory audit take?
A product-scoped audit can be done in a day where the documents were reviewed in advance. The length matters less than the scope: an audit that follows one product through the process produces more than a two-day tour of the whole factory. A product-scoped audit can be done in a day where the documents were reviewed in advance, and an audit that follows one product produces more than a tour.
Do we need to audit every factory we use?
The factories that build your product and the ones that would build it if the first one fails are worth auditing. A proactive audit of the second source is cheaper than an audit under time pressure after a supply interruption. Audit the factories that build your product and the ones that would build it if the first fails, because a proactive audit of the second source is cheaper.
What if the factory refuses to show raw data?
That is a finding. The data relates to the product being bought, and a supplier that will not share it leaves the buyer unable to trace a problem, which is a commercial risk rather than a documentation preference. The data relates to the product being bought, and a supplier that will not share it leaves the buyer unable to trace a problem.
How are findings prioritised?
By the risk they carry for the product being bought, not by how easy they are to fix. A limit with no source affects every unit; a missing label template affects the next packaging version, which may be months away. Prioritise by the risk the finding carries for the product being bought rather than by how easy it is to fix.
Next step
Send the product, the volume and the markets to Wecent Group through the contact page. The reply provides the evidence pack for a product-scoped audit, the records behind the last batch and an example of a finding with its corrective action. Related reading: our charger factory, charger manufacturing services and OEM and ODM charger manufacturing. External references: IEC standards, IEC Webstore, UL standards and certification, TUV testing services, Intertek testing services and IQNet certification network.
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”FAQPage”,”mainEntity”:[{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How long should a factory audit take?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”A product-scoped audit can be done in a day where the documents were reviewed in advance. The length matters less than the scope: an audit that follows one product through the process produces more than a two-day tour of the whole factory.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”Do we need to audit every factory we use?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”The factories that build your product and the ones that would build it if the first one fails are worth auditing. A proactive audit of the second source is cheaper than an audit under time pressure after a supply interruption.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What if the factory refuses to show raw data?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”That is a finding. The data relates to the product being bought, and a supplier that will not share it leaves the buyer unable to trace a problem, which is a commercial risk rather than a documentation preference.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How are findings prioritised?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”By the risk they carry for the product being bought, not by how easy they are to fix. A limit with no source affects every unit; a missing label template affects the next packaging version, which may be months away.”}}]}