What this is: a two-page working checklist for vetting a supplier before you commit tooling or place a first order. It is built to be printed, taken to a factory, marked up by hand, and handed to whoever signs off on the supplier — because in most companies the person reading this is not the person who approves it.
It contains no prices, no ratings and no supplier names. It is a set of questions with a column for the evidence that answers them, and a scorecard at the end.
Download the checklist (PDF, 7 KB)
What is in it
- Section A — five checks you can complete remotely. What kind of company you are actually talking to, whether the test equipment is owned or borrowed, what the documents really cover, what happened the last time a batch failed, and whether your own requirements can be enforced at all.
- Section B — three things that cannot be checked remotely. Batch consistency, real spare capacity and yield. These need time rather than effort, and any claim to have settled them faster is a description of a sample, not a process.
- Section C — what to put in writing before the first order. Seven items, each with the reason it decides something, so you can lift them straight into a purchase order or a specification annex.
- Section D — red flags that survive a good presentation. Six patterns worth stopping on, including the two that are hardest to argue with: a price given before the specification is agreed, and a willingness to accept any target price without changing the specification.
- Section E — a scorecard. Four counts, so you can compare two candidate suppliers on the same basis instead of on impressions.
How to use it honestly
The checklist is most useful in the order it is printed. A failure in Section A is a conversation; the same failure discovered after tooling is an invoice. Tick a box when you have the evidence, not when you have the assurance — a supplier saying the right thing and a supplier being able to show the record are different outcomes, and the gap between them is where most first orders go wrong.
Two cautions we would apply to ourselves. First, this is a working tool rather than an opinion about any particular supplier, and passing it does not certify anyone. Second, everything in Section A can be answered convincingly by a good salesperson; Sections B and C are where the answers become testable.
Want it applied to your own programme?
The checklist will tell you what to ask. If you would rather we ran it for you and told you which answers we would and would not accept, send us the lines you are considering and we will come back with the specification, the verification scope and the pricing structure for each.
How this fits with the rest of what we publish
We are a product development partner, not a factory: we hold the specification, the verification work and the record of what was checked, and production runs at manufacturing partners we select, test and manage. That is why the checklist is written to be usable against us as well — the same questions appear in the same order on our own supplier verification page, along with what we hold, what our partners hold, and what we will not do.
If your current supplier passes these checks, you do not need us. If you cannot get the answers, that is usually the answer.
Frequently asked questions
Is the checklist really free, and do I have to give you my details?
It is free and the download is direct — no form, no email required. The form above is for a different thing: having the checks run against your own product lines, which needs the specification, the verification scope and the pricing structure and therefore needs a way to reply to you. Both paths are deliberate, and neither is a condition of the other.
What does the checklist not cover?
It does not cover product design, cost engineering or regulatory classification for a specific market, because those depend on the product and the destination. It also cannot establish batch consistency, real spare capacity or yield, since those only become visible across a second and third order — Section B names them so that you know what is missing rather than assuming the list is complete.
Can I use it to compare two suppliers?
That is what the scorecard is for. Section A is scored out of five, Section C out of seven, and Sections B and D are recorded as counts. Comparing two candidates on those four numbers is more reliable than comparing two impressions, because it forces the same questions to be answered on the same basis.
Who is the checklist written for?
Buyers placing a first or second production order, distributors and importers building a supply line, and brands reviewing a supplier they already have. It assumes you have a product or a reference sample and are deciding between candidates rather than starting from a blank page.
Does a passing score mean the supplier is safe to use?
No, and we would be careful about any document that claimed otherwise. The checklist makes the answers testable and the missing evidence visible; it does not certify anyone. What it does is move the conversation from assurance to records, which is the only shift that survives contact with a second order.
If you are briefing a project rather than vetting a supplier, use the RFQ and specification template to state what you need before asking for a price.