A factory audit is the cheapest insurance you can buy before placing an order. The goal is not to see a showroom — it is to see how the factory builds and checks product when you are not watching.
What to inspect on the line
- Welding fixtures and jigs — do frames come out straight and repeatable?
- An actuator and electronics test station — is every unit tested?
- In-process QC gates, not just a final check.
- Material storage and traceability.
Documents to request
- Test reports and certificates for the models you are buying.
- A quality manual or process documentation.
- Load-test and cycle-test records.
- References with on-time and defect rates.
Red flags
- No jigs or fixtures on the welding line.
- No functional test station.
- Certificates that cannot be tied to your model.
- Vague answers about defect rates or rework.
How KCAI approaches this
KCAI welcomes factory audits. Our Dongguan facility builds frames on jigs, functionally tests every unit, and documents the compliance and test data for the models you order.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do an audit remotely?+
A live video walkthrough is a good start, but an in-person or third-party audit catches what a camera does not.
What is the single most telling thing to check?+
Whether the factory has a functional test station on the line — it is the clearest signal of a real quality system.