BUYER FIELD GUIDE / SUPPLIER EVIDENCE
Factory Capability Questions for China Sourcing
Direct answer: A factory capability question is more useful when it is anchored to a specific product, process, volume, material, quality, or delivery requirement.
What this guide helps clarify
Broad questions invite broad answers. This guide helps the buyer turn the current product or order requirement into questions that can be compared, clarified, and followed up with useful evidence.
Work through the current record in order
- Start with the product requirement. State the current product feature, material, process, tolerance, package, or order context.
- Ask about the relevant process. Request an explanation of how the supplier approaches the specific requirement rather than asking for a general assurance.
- Request supporting context. Where relevant, ask what record, example, image, reference, or follow-up may help clarify the answer.
- Compare the next response. Keep answers aligned to the same product question before treating them as comparable.
BUYER RECORD / KEEP THESE POINTS CONNECTED
Current product question, supplier answer, evidence or example supplied, open point, comparison note, and next question.
What a careful next step looks like
Keep the current reference and the question together. Record what is known, what needs another check, and who needs to respond or approve before the next move. That is more useful than treating a partial answer as final certainty.
Continue the buyer route
This guide connects to the Supplier Verification workspace when the question needs local coordination or a more structured next record.
SUPPLIER EVIDENCE & COMPARISON
Make the current question easier to carry forward.
Supplier information is more useful when the buyer can distinguish what was stated, what was shown, what was observed, and what still needs another source. The record should connect the current supplier question to the product or order it is meant to inform.
Current supplier question
What identity, capability, document, comparison, communication, or follow-up point is actually under review?
Evidence source
Which message, document, image, visit note, or public source supports the point, and when was it shared?
Decision edge
What still needs a response, comparison, specialist check, buyer approval, or follow-up record?
Common ways this record loses clarity
- A broad supplier claim is treated as a product-specific answer without a clear source.
- A document, factory observation, or message is separated from the supplier and product question it was meant to inform.
- Different suppliers are compared against different product, quantity, timing, or packaging assumptions.
Before you move to the next stage
Before moving forward, make sure the supplier identity, current product context, evidence source, open point, and next review owner are visible in one record.