Two sourcing trips were made in the same month with the same product brief. One came back with photographs, catalogues and five quotations; the other came back with a qualified supplier, a written capacity answer and a pilot plan. The difference was not the itinerary. It was that the second trip had a checklist and the first had a schedule.
China charger sourcing: the six checks that make the trip useful
Entity and site, platform and limits, certification scope, capacity as a schedule, the process walk and the pilot plan.
Five of the six can be started before the flight: ask for the documents, read them, and use the visit to confirm the two or three points that remain uncertain. That order is what turns a tour into a verification exercise.
The checklist also makes two suppliers comparable. Two visits that both end with a completed checklist can be compared line by line, which is impossible when one trip returns with a price and the other with a factory impression.
Check 1: the entity, the site and who owns the tool
The name on the invoice and the address that produces the goods.
Ask for the legal entity, the production site and the relationship between them, and treat the answer as part of the record. Where the seller is not the producer, the producing factory is named together with its role. On site, confirm the entity against the sign at the gate and the paperwork at the station, which is a two-minute check that prevents the most common surprise in this market.
Check 2: the platform and the limits
What is running this month, at which revision, with which limits.
Ask to see the platform in production and the harness that measures it, then ask where the test limits came from. A platform in production has a stable bill of materials and limits taken from characterisation data; a design on a screen has neither. The revision question matters because a platform changes quietly as components reach end of life, and the quotation may describe the revision before the last change.
Check 3: the certification scope by market
Read the scope, and use the visit to see the label.
Ask which reports exist, which revision they cover, which markets they support and who is named as the responsible party. On site, look at a finished unit and compare its label with the artwork in the file. A mismatch between the label and the file is not a printing error, it is a revision that has moved without the documentation following.
Check 4: capacity as a schedule
The question is which line, which months and how many per shift.
A factory that answers with square metres is describing capability. The answer worth bringing back names the line the product would run on, the shift pattern, the units per shift for this configuration and the months already committed. Written on the day, with a date, that answer is what makes the delivery commitment checkable later.
Check 5: the process walk, and what to look at
Follow the product from incoming to packing, and stop at three stations.
At incoming, ask what is verified on the components that decide the product’s behaviour, per lot or per batch. At the fixture, ask how the coil or the assembly is positioned and how the position is measured on finished units. At the test station, ask what is measured against which limit and where the result is stored. Those three stops produce more than a full tour of the building, and each has a documentary answer that can be checked afterwards.
Check 6: the pilot and the acceptance criteria
The pilot verifies the process, and the criteria are agreed before it starts.
Leave the visit with the pilot scope written: the quantity, the configuration, the packaging version, the acceptance criteria and the record that will accompany it. A pilot agreed in principle during a visit and defined afterwards usually becomes a sample order, which proves the design rather than the process.
| Check | Document to request in advance | What to confirm on site | Record to bring back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entity and site | Registration and role statement | The entity at the gate and the paperwork | A signed statement of roles |
| Platform and limits | Platform revision and limit sheet | The platform running and the harness | The revision and the limit source |
| Certification | Reports with their scope | The label on a finished unit | Scope by market and revision |
| Capacity | Nothing reliable in advance | The line and the shift pattern | A dated schedule answer |
| Process walk | The criteria document | Incoming, the fixture and the test station | Stage, limit and record format |
| Pilot | Nothing; it is agreed on site | The line and the fixtures | A written pilot scope |
What to bring back from the trip
Five documents, and none of them is a brochure.
The registration and role statement, the platform revision with the limit source, the certification scope by market, the dated capacity answer and the written pilot scope. With those five, the decision can be taken without a second visit, and a second supplier can be compared against the same five documents rather than against an impression of the building.
FAQ
How many factories should be visited on one trip?
Two or three, with the documents reviewed in advance so the visits concentrate on the uncertain points. Visiting more in one trip usually means shorter visits and fewer documentary answers, which is the opposite of the goal. Visit two or three with the documents reviewed in advance so the visits concentrate on the uncertain points, because more visits mean shorter conversations.
Is a trading company worth visiting?
Yes, and the visit should include the production site that builds the product. Where the trading company assembles and packs in its own facility, the same three stations apply to that facility. The visit should include the production site that builds the product, and where the trading company assembles in its own facility the same three stations apply there rather than at a partner.
What should be photographed?
The platform with its revision marking, the fixture, the test station with its limit displayed, the label on a finished unit and the packed carton. Photographs support the record; they do not replace the documents. Photograph the platform with its revision marking, the fixture, the test station with its limit displayed, the label on a finished unit and the packed carton.
How is a capacity answer verified?
By asking for it in writing with a date, and by checking it against a pilot or a small order. A capacity claim that never appears in a document cannot be compared with the next supplier or reviewed six months later. Ask for it in writing with a date and check it against a pilot, because a claim that never appears in a document cannot be compared later.
What disqualifies a supplier during a visit?
A refusal to name the production site, a limit that cannot be traced, a label that does not match the file, or a capacity question answered with floor area. Any one of the four is enough to stop the process before tooling is discussed. A refusal to name the production site, an untraceable limit, a label that does not match the file or a capacity answer given in floor area.
Next step
Send the brief, the markets and the expected volume to Wecent Group through the contact page. The reply provides the five documents in advance: the entity and site, the platform revision with its limits, the certification scope, a dated capacity answer and the pilot scope. Related reading: OEM and ODM charger manufacturing, wholesale charger programmes and the factory floor. External references: IEC standards, EU CE marking rules, UL standards and certification, International Trade Centre Trade Map, ICC Incoterms rules and BSI ISO 9001 quality management.
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