Ask for three documents and one live video call before you discuss price. The documents: a business licence whose scope names manufacturing, IEC 60335 test reports issued in the plant’s own legal name, and an ISO 9001 certificate listing the product you are buying. The call: uncut, camera walking from the raw-material rack to the packing line. That is how you tell a kitchen appliance factory from a trading office with a rented showroom.<\/p>\n
Every marketplace listing, and half the independent sites behind them, calls itself a kitchen appliance factory. Some are three rooms, a sample shelf and a person with a phone. That is no scandal \u2014 a good trader often beats a bad plant. The damage starts when a buyer pays factory assumptions against a trader’s service: that the tooling is theirs, that spares will exist in year three.<\/p>\n
One page, and the fastest filter: in the business-scope field you want production or manufacture of household electrical appliances \u2014 not trading, not “sales of”. Then compare the registered address against the address on the test report and on the ISO certificate. Three documents, one address: credible. Three addresses: you are being shown related companies, so find out which one signs the contract and which one makes the goods.<\/p>\n
Open the report to the applicant field. If it names a trading company or brand owner rather than the plant you are talking to, it still describes a real product \u2014 just not necessarily one this supplier makes. Check the model list, rated voltage and issue date. A 220\u2013240 V report says nothing about the 120 V version you asked to quote.<\/p>\n
Read the scope sentence, not the logo. “Design and manufacture of household electrical appliances” is a manufacturing certificate. “Sales of household appliances” is a distributor’s certificate with the same logo on it. Confirm the certification body is accredited: IAF CertSearch<\/a> shows whether a certificate sits under a recognised accreditation \u2014 the difference between an audited system and a bought PDF.<\/p>\n Book it on a working day and ask for one continuous shot. Have the camera hold on three things: an incoming-material rack with labels still on the cartons, a line with units in progress rather than a finished display, and the station where a serial number or date code is applied. Then have a worker pick up a unit and read the rating label aloud. A trader sends an edited factory film; a plant grumbles and then does it.<\/p>\n Finish with two questions no showroom can answer. What happens to a unit that fails the hipot test \u2014 where does it go, who signs it off? And which moulds on the tool rack are yours? A plant answers in specifics: a reject bin with a defined route, a tool number, a name. Our factory tour page<\/a> covers the nine stations to inspect on the day; this page is about whether there is a plant worth visiting.<\/p>\nThe one video call that settles it<\/h2>\n
Factory or trading office: seven signals side by side<\/h2>\n
| Signal<\/th>\n | Reads as a factory<\/th>\n | Reads as a trading office<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Address on the paperwork<\/td>\n | One address on licence, report and certificate<\/td>\n | An office floor, or a different address on each document<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Who answers technical questions<\/td>\n | An engineer on gasket material, tolerance, mould wear<\/td>\n | “I will check with our engineer” \u2014 a price comes back<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tooling<\/td>\n | Names the moulds, shows a tool room, knows which are paid off<\/td>\n | “We can open any mould”, no tool room, no tool numbers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change control<\/td>\n | Drawings carry revisions; changes arrive as a dated ECN<\/td>\n | Changes agreed in chat, never on paper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Range versus capability<\/td>\n | Narrow and deep: one or two categories done properly<\/td>\n | A catalogue spanning kettles, fans, ovens, power tools<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Certificate holder<\/td>\n | The plant is applicant or holder, or holds authorisation<\/td>\n | Holder is a third company nobody will name<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spare parts continuity<\/td>\n | Keeps spares for its own models, quotes part numbers<\/td>\n | “We can order it from the plant” \u2014 someone else’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nThe four records that prove the process is running<\/h2>\nCertificates describe a system; records show it running. Ask for redacted samples from the last three months, not templates.<\/p>\n First article inspection report<\/h3>\nDimensional and functional results on the first unit of a run, signed and dated, citing the drawing revision it was checked against. If it cites a revision two steps behind the drawing you approved, change control does not exist.<\/p>\n OQC record<\/h3>\nOutgoing inspection with AQL level, sample size, defect classification and the actual numbers filled in \u2014 plus where the rejected units went. What you want is a run where something failed and a disposition was written down: that is the only evidence the gate has teeth. See the routine on our quality control page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every pass\/fail measurement needs an instrument with a certificate traceable to a national standard, in date: hipot and insulation testers, power meters, torque drivers, thermocouples. Then the check that catches forgery \u2014 ask the camera to show the calibration sticker and read its serial number against the record. Labs such as Intertek<\/a> set out what traceability means in practice.<\/p>\n One 8D or CAPA from a real complaint: what failed, containment, root cause, verification that the fix worked. Trading offices collapse here, because there is no process to correct \u2014 only a promise to “tell the factory”. Read the root-cause line critically: “worker error, retrained” is a non-answer; “thermostat batch out of tolerance, supplier changed, incoming test added” is a system.<\/p>\n
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