Services
Manufacturing & Factory Management
Production follow-up, on-site QC, and OEM/ODM support while your order is on the line.
What factory management includes
While your order is in production
- ✓ Written spec enforcement — materials, dimensions, colors and packaging checked against the signed document
- ✓ First-article inspection — the first units approved before the run continues
- ✓ During-production checks (DUPRO) — mid-run reviews that catch systematic errors early
- ✓ Weekly photo check-ins — materials arriving, lines running, goods packed
- ✓ Deadline management — schedules chased in Chinese, slack protected from other clients’ rush orders
What are the quality gates, in order?
Production quality is a sequence of gates, not a single inspection. The standard is AQL sampling.
First article
The first units off the line checked against spec before mass production proceeds.
During production
A mid-run review while most of the order can still be corrected.
Pre-shipment
The gate: finished and packed goods sampled at 80–100% completion, before the balance payment.
When production goes wrong
Material substitutions, silent factory changes and capacity squeezes are normal events in Chinese manufacturing — the difference is whether someone is standing there when it happens. Our inspectors escalate the same day with photos and options, and lots that fail are reworked at the factory’s cost. Real examples are in our case studies.
Building your own brand?
Factory management extends to private label projects: sample rounds, packaging approval and logo application checks — the workflow in our private label guide.
Need this service?
What does managing production actually involve?
Between the deposit and the finished goods sits a list of unglamorous jobs that decide the outcome: confirming materials were purchased before the start date, checking the line plan actually contains your order, walking the floor during production to catch drift early, and chasing the small approvals that stall lines when nobody owns them.
Each check produces something you can read. A during-production report with photos at 30 to 50 percent completion shows whether color, material, and assembly match the approved sample while rework is still cheap. A packing check confirms cartons, markings, and labels before the container arrives. The inspection types guide explains where each check sits in the sequence.
The deliverable is simple to state: you know where your order is every week, in photos and numbers, not in promises. The first consultation will map these checks onto your product.
Factory management: questions buyers ask
Between deposit and finished goods sits weekly, documented work: material checks, line walks, first-article approval and defect-gated payments to the AQL standard. Where each check sits in the sequence is in the inspection types guide; private-label workflows are in the private label guide.
What quality checks happen during production?
First-article inspection approves the first units before the run continues, a during-production (DUPRO) review at 30–50% completion catches systematic errors while rework is cheap, and a pre-shipment inspection at 80–100% completion gates the balance payment. Each produces a photo report you can read.
Who pays for rework after a failed inspection?
The factory. Failed lots are reworked at the factory\u2019s cost and re-inspected to the same standard before anything ships, with photo evidence. Because the balance is gated on a pass, leverage stays on your side — the structure is written into the contract alongside the 30/70 payment terms.
How do you prevent factory delays?
Milestones with material-confirmation before start dates, line plans that actually contain your order, weekly chasing in Chinese and buffers sized to the season — the five real causes and controls are in preventing factory delays. You see slippage the week it appears, not the week goods were due.
Can you manage a supplier I already work with?
Yes. We verify the license, sign or tighten the spec, then enforce it with first-article, mid-run and pre-shipment gates plus weekly photo check-ins. If verification or the first audit fails, we shortlist vetted replacements before further deposits — see what an audit covers.
Do you handle private label production?
Yes: sample rounds against brand specs, packaging development and approval, logo application checks and boundary samples for color and finish. The end-to-end workflow — manufacturers, MOQs, design protection — is in our private label guide.
How do I follow production progress?
Weekly photo check-ins — materials arriving, lines running, goods packed — plus written reports with quantities and defect classifications at each gate. No chasing across time zones: your agent answers in your window and escalates with photos and options the same day something drifts.
What does factory management cost?
Inside full-service orders it sits within the 5–8% commission. Standalone, inspections and audits are quoted per visit — pre-shipment or DUPRO around one inspector-day with photo report — so bigger orders never inflate QC cost. Current rates are on the pricing page.
What is a DUPRO check and when do I need one?
A during-production review at roughly 30–50% completion, while most of the order can still be corrected. It is essential for large runs, new factories and tight specs — the check that catches systematic errors the final inspection can only reject. Placement in the sequence is in inspection types.
How are OEM and ODM projects managed differently?
OEM builds to your drawings with strict spec enforcement and first-article approval; ODM adapts a factory\u2019s existing design with change control on every modification. Both run the same gates — samples, mid-run review, pre-shipment AQL — but ODM needs extra attention on who owns tooling and artwork, fixed in writing upfront.