Our Quality Control Checklist Before a First Order with a New Factory

In a recent article we described the office tape we had to throw away after switching manufacturer. Several people asked what we do differently now.

Here is the checklist we run on any new factory before we place a first order. None of it is exotic. It is simply the discipline that stops a “cheaper” supplier turning into an expensive mistake — and it maps directly to the preventive quality-management approach we use across every sourcing programme.

1. Verify before you sample

Business licence, export history, and the certifications relevant to the category — for example FSC for paper, GRS for recycled materials, ISO 9001 for quality management. If a factory is slow to produce paperwork while it is still trying to win your business, it will not get faster once you are a customer.

2. Test the real production run, not the golden sample

First samples are always the factory’s best work. We ask for a pre-production sample pulled from an actual line, and we test it against the incumbent product — not against the brochure.

3. Write the specification down, in their language

Material, weight, dimensions, tolerances, packaging, and labelling. Most quality failures are not sabotage. They are a specification that was assumed rather than agreed and documented.

4. Inspect before it ships, not after it lands

A pre-shipment inspection on the first order is non-negotiable. Catching a defect in the factory costs a conversation. Catching it in your European warehouse costs the whole batch.

5. Start small

The first order is a trial order. You are buying proof of consistency, not just product.

6. Keep the incumbent warm

Never switch one hundred per cent on day one. Run the new supplier alongside the proven one until they have earned the volume.

Why this matters

Quality assurance cannot rely on a single inspection stage. It has to be integrated across supplier qualification, pre-production validation, in-line monitoring, final inspection, and batch traceability. For procurement teams managing private-label or own-brand ranges, this is what protects brand integrity and customer trust — and it is far more cost-effective than corrective action after the fact.

The tape cost us a batch. The checklist is what came out of it, and it has saved us far more than it ever cost.

You can see our full quality-control and compliance framework here: Quality Control, Compliance & Certifications.