| Quality Management | ISO 9001 quality management certification | Certificate must be valid, cover the relevant manufacturing scope, and be issued by an accredited certification body. | Certificate validity commonly covers a three-year cycle with surveillance audits. | Current certificate, registration number, scope, expiry date, and certification-body verification link. | Expired certificate, unclear scope, or unverifiable registration details. |
| Environmental Compliance | RoHS and REACH material compliance | Materials and coatings should comply with the destination-market requirements and the latest applicable substance restrictions. | Common evidence includes a material declaration and laboratory test report for restricted substances. | Third-party test report, coating declaration, material certificate, and controlled-substance statement. | Generic compliance statement without product-level documentation. |
| Material Traceability | Grade, thickness, and heat or batch traceability | Every production lot should be traceable to an approved material specification and incoming inspection record. | Typical sheet-metal materials include carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and galvanized steel. | Mill test certificate, incoming inspection report, batch code, and approved material list. | Material substitutions made without written approval. |
| Sample Quality | Dimensional accuracy and fit | Critical dimensions must meet the approved drawing tolerances; fit must be confirmed on the mating component. | For many fabricated parts, general tolerances are often controlled around ±0.10 to ±0.30 mm, depending on process and drawing requirements. | Inspection report, calibrated measuring-tool records, marked drawing, and fit-test photos or video. | Samples approved only by visual inspection. |
| Surface Finish | Coating, plating, deburring, and appearance | No sharp edges, unacceptable burrs, exposed base metal, blistering, cracking, or visible coating defects. | Powder coating, electroplating, anodizing, and painted finishes should be specified by color, thickness, gloss, and test method. | Approved golden sample, coating specification, adhesion test result, and appearance standard. | No written surface standard or uncontrolled subcontracted finishing. |
| Tooling and Prototype | Prototype method and tooling ownership | The supplier should define whether the part will be laser cut, bent, stamped, spun, or produced with dedicated tooling. | Prototype lead time is commonly about 7–15 working days for straightforward fabricated parts, excluding complex tooling. | Process plan, prototype schedule, tooling quotation, ownership terms, and revision-control procedure. | Tooling fees are quoted without service life, maintenance, or ownership terms. |
| Pricing Transparency | Unit-price structure and cost assumptions | Quotation should identify material, labor, tooling, finishing, packaging, inspection, and shipping assumptions. | For repeat orders, pricing is normally more reliable after drawing review, material confirmation, quantity definition, and finish approval. | Itemized quotation, validity period, minimum order quantity, payment terms, Incoterm, and tooling charges. | Unusually low price with excluded finishing, inspection, or packaging costs. |
| Production Capacity | Monthly output and available process capacity | Capacity must be demonstrated for the same material, dimensions, process route, and quality requirements as the project. | A credible capacity statement should include equipment quantity, operating shifts, current utilization, and planned delivery volume. | Equipment list, production schedule, anonymized capacity records, bottleneck analysis, and contingency plan. | Capacity stated only as a large monthly number without process-level evidence. |
| Delivery Performance | Lead time and on-time delivery control | Supplier should provide separate timelines for engineering review, sampling, tooling, production, inspection, and shipment. | Repeat-production lead time often falls within approximately 15–30 working days, depending on quantity, finish, and tooling. | Documented production schedule, historical on-time-delivery KPI, escalation contact, and recovery plan. | No committed ship date or no method for handling late delivery. |
| Inspection System | Incoming, in-process, and final inspection | Inspection must cover critical dimensions, appearance, material, quantity, packaging, and agreed sampling criteria. | Inspection equipment should be calibrated and suitable for the required accuracy and part size. | Control plan, inspection checklist, calibration certificates, nonconformance procedure, and final inspection report. | Inspection records are created only after a customer complaint. |
| Packaging and Export | Protection during storage and international transport | Packaging should prevent corrosion, scratches, deformation, mixing, and moisture damage during the agreed transport route. | Packaging design should reflect part weight, surface sensitivity, stacking limits, and container or pallet requirements. | Packaging specification, carton or pallet dimensions, labels, photos of packed goods, and export documentation sample. | Parts are packed in bulk without separators or corrosion protection. |
| Supplier Selection Result | Final weighted assessment | Select suppliers that pass mandatory compliance checks before comparing price and capacity. | Suggested weighting: quality and compliance 30%, sample performance 25%, price 20%, capacity and delivery 15%, communication 10%. | Completed audit checklist, approved sample, quotation comparison, risk register, and corrective-action record. | Supplier chosen solely on the lowest quoted unit price. |
