Managers and salespeople from overseas factories will often assure you they can

make any quantity of any product you want, all of the highest quality. But how can
you verify what they’re saying is true?
Many importers use factory visits as an opportunity to strengthen their relationship
with a supplier and evaluate their capabilities. Productive factory visits can lead to
improved product quality, smoother communication and fewer production delays.
And preparing before your visit helps ensure you get the maximum benefit and
insight from your trip. If you’re not prepared, your factory contact might rush you
through a brief tour of parts of the facility before you have a chance to see any
issues or ask any questions.  
There’s no substitute for a formal audit of a supplier’s facilities. But visiting the
factory is a valuable opportunity for you to informally evaluate the factory for
yourself. Whether your factory is in China, Vietnam, India or elsewhere, here are six
areas to check during your next visit.  
1. FACTORY ORGANIZATION
You often don’t need a black belt in Six Sigma to spot serious organizational issues
during a factory visit.      
Poor organization can cause many problems—from order delays to wasteful
production processes, poor quality and even safety issues (related: Factory
Efficiency: 5 Common Examples of Poor Factory Layout & Process Setup).
But how do you know what a “good” factory looks like? All you need to

 remember is “5S”.
 5S is a workplace organization method originating from Japan as part of the “just-in-
time” manufacturing methodology. The rough English translation of each of the five
S’s is:

1. Sort: Sort through all items in a factory area and remove unnecessary tools, parts and
instructions
2. Set in order: Organize remaining items and arrange for easy use
3. Shine: Clean the factory area on a regular basis
4. Standardize: Schedule regular cleaning and maintenance
5. Sustain: Train employees to make 5S a habit and monitor implementation

While you might see 5S posters when touring factories, it’s rare to see small- and
medium-sized factories that actually implement the 5S method.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself when visiting a factory to evaluate its
organization: 

 Do employees seem to be walking far from one production area to another? Moving

long distances to transport materials can cause bottlenecks and slow down