A useful shortlist usually has five to ten genuine manufacturers, after traders and weak candidates have been removed. That is our own range. You then choose which to audit, and the number narrows again at sampling.
The goal is not a long list. It is one approved supplier and one qualified backup for each product.
How the list narrows
- The long list comes from registrations, trade bodies, references and visits, and can be much longer than the shortlist.
- Background checks remove traders, firms without the right registrations and factories without the capacity for your volume.
- The shortlist of five to ten goes to you with names, locations and capacity notes.
- You pick the factories you want audited, usually a few of the strongest.
- Sealed samples from the audited factories go to the laboratory.
- You approve one supplier to buy from and keep a second as a backup.
When the list is shorter
Some products are made by only a few factories in India. Specialist grades, unusual materials and products that need a particular certificate can leave a shortlist of two or three. That is not a failure. A short list of real manufacturers is worth more than a long list padded with traders.
If an agent can only find one supplier, ask why. It may be true, or the agent may be steering you towards a factory they have a reason to favour.
Why more is not better
Every factory you take forward costs time and money: audits, samples, tests and your own review. Ten unchecked names in a spreadsheet push the real work back onto you, and you still do not know which of them are real factories. Ask for fewer, checked names, with reasons.
The reason to keep a second supplier is covered in why have a backup supplier. The checks that remove traders are set out in trader or manufacturer.
Adding to the list later
A shortlist is a snapshot. Factories change owners, lose staff, add lines and close. Ask your agent to keep the next-best candidates on file, so that if your approved supplier fails an audit or a sample, the search does not start from zero. A yearly check of the market also tells you whether better options have appeared. Keep the shortlist reports, audit reports and test results together, so each new decision starts from evidence rather than memory.
What the shortlist should tell you
- The factory's legal name and production address.
- Its registrations and export history, as checked.
- Capacity compared with your volume.
- Any concern found during checks, stated plainly.
- The agent's recommendation and the reason for it.
Next step
Our shortlist report names each factory, with location, capacity notes and our recommendation. To start one for your product, book a free sourcing review.