01
System audit
Tests whether the management system controls responsibilities, documents, records, calibration, training and improvement as intended.
Evidence route
Procedures, records, interviews and sampled transactions
Factory evidence
Factory audits in China: scope the questions before the visit.
A useful factory audit is an evidence exercise against agreed criteria. It should distinguish the management system, the intended manufacturing process, the product route and any compliance scope instead of collapsing every question into a generic checklist.
Control premise
Decision question: what must be seen, tested and closed before this factory can be trusted with the proposed work?
Decision framework
Four audit lenses, four different answers
The right scope depends on what the project team needs to decide. A site visit can combine lenses, but each finding should remain linked to the criterion and evidence that produced it.
02
Process audit
Follows the proposed manufacturing route through people, equipment, parameters, material flow, inspection and reaction plans.
Evidence route
Route observation, work instructions, parameter and control records
03
Product-route audit
Examines how a defined part or family would move from order review to release, including outside processes and traceability.
Evidence route
Drawing trail, traveller, inspection plan, sample records
04
Compliance-scope audit
Assesses a clearly named regulatory, ethical, environmental or customer requirement. Specialist scopes may require qualified independent auditors.
Evidence route
Scope-specific criteria, licences, records and objective evidence
Visible decision logic
An audit report must support a decision
Photos and narrative are not enough. Findings need severity, ownership, evidence and a verifiable closure route.
| Report element | What good looks like | Weak substitute |
|---|---|---|
| Criterion | Requirement or agreed benchmark stated before review | Auditor preference introduced after the visit |
| Evidence | Record, observation, interview and sample are traceable | Uncaptioned photo or unsupported assurance |
| Finding | Gap explains requirement, observed condition and risk | Generic red/amber/green label |
| Severity | Classification reflects project consequence and exposure | Every finding treated as equally important |
| Corrective action | Owner, due date, containment and root-cause action | Promise to improve without objective closure |
| Disposition | Approve, conditionally approve, re-audit or reject | Audit filed without a recorded sourcing decision |
What a factory audit cannot prove on its own
A prepared audit day may not reflect routine production behaviour.
Site capability does not prove the quoted route will use that capability.
An audit does not replace sample or first-article validation.
Closed findings require evidence; elapsed time alone is not closure.
Connected control cluster