A supplier audit in India, done on the ground, sends someone to the supplier's premises to confirm that the business, plant and stock are what the paperwork claims, and to assess whether the supplier can meet your specification. It is the one step that no registry lookup, video call or certificate can replace.
On-ground verification and a full factory audit overlap. Verification answers: is this real, and are they who they say? An audit goes further and asks: can they do this well and consistently? You can commission either, or both in one visit. For a full audit report outline, see what a factory audit should contain.
What the visit confirms
A good visit takes roughly half a day to a day for a small or mid-sized plant, longer for large or multi-site operations. Treat these as rough guides, since the scope decides the time.
- Identity: the address, the signage, the registrations on display and the people on site match the legal entity.
- Ownership of the plant: whether the supplier owns, leases or merely uses the plant, and whether other brands are made there.
- Capacity: machines, shifts, the stock of raw material and finished goods, and the order book if it will be shown.
- Process: how the product is made, where quality checks happen, and whether the sample was made on this line.
- People and records: production records, batch numbers, testing logs and who is responsible for quality.
- Compliance: licences relevant to the product and, where it matters to your market, hygiene, safety and social conditions.
Who can do it
You can go yourself, send an employee, appoint an independent inspection company, or use a sourcing agent. Each has a trade-off. Going yourself gives the best feel for the people, but it is expensive and the supplier may stage the visit. An independent inspector is neutral and issues a formal report but may not know your product. An agent who knows the product can ask sharper questions.
Our comparison of agent inspection versus third-party inspection goes into the trade-off, and you can use an agent to audit an existing supplier without changing anything else about the relationship.
Ask for these in the report
If a report cannot tell you what was not checked, it is a brochure rather than an audit.
- Date, duration, names and roles of the people met, and who attended for the supplier.
- Photographs with dates, including the entrance, production areas, storage and the product being made.
- The legal name, address and registration numbers seen on site, and any mismatch with the documents.
- A clear list of findings, graded by severity, and what the supplier agreed to fix.
- A statement of what was not seen or not allowed, so you know the limits.
A short scenario
A buyer in Europe has a supplier in Gujarat who has sent excellent samples and wants a deposit. A video call shows a clean line, but the buyer cannot tell whether it is the supplier's. An inspector visits the agreed address, finds a working plant making another customer's product, and sees no stock for the buyer's specification. The supplier then says production will start after the deposit.
That is not necessarily fraud; some plants only buy raw material after a deposit. But the buyer now knows the real capacity, can negotiate staged payment, and has a written record. Without the visit, the first sign of the problem would have been a late container.
Common mistakes
Announcing the visit far ahead lets a supplier prepare a showpiece. Auditing only the sales office is a waste. Accepting the supplier's own driver and guide for the whole day lets them control what you see. Skipping the warehouse means you miss the stock. And treating one clean visit as permanent leaves you exposed, since conditions change; repeat visits for important suppliers.
How we work
We arrange audits and inspections where the supplier is, across India. We find and audit manufacturers, check samples and documents, have lots tested, and supervise production and loading, and we book third-party inspection on request at cost with receipts. Our fee is one written fee agreed in advance and we take nothing from factories. Book a free sourcing review to scope an audit.