Find a manufacturer in China you can trust, and know who's actually making your product
For founders, product brands and parts buyers ready to build in China or Vietnam. The factories can make it well. The risk is not knowing who's really behind the quote, and having nobody to hold to account when a batch arrives wrong. We find the factory, check it in person and show you what we found before you pay for tooling.
Whether they can build it isn't the risk. Not knowing who they are is.
- 01
Who actually makes it?
A trading company can sell you a factory it doesn't own. You can't manage a plant you can't name.
- 02
Whose name is on the paperwork?
Supplier documents can be out of date or issued to another company. Check each one with whoever issued it.
- 03
Who answers when it goes wrong?
With only an overseas contract, you have little recourse. We contract through legal entities in Sweden, the US and China, so you do.
How to vet a manufacturer in China: five checks before you commit
Stop after any check. And if the supplier you already use passes, we'll tell you to keep them.
1. Licence and export history
We confirm the company exists, what it's licensed to make, and that it's the manufacturer, not a trading company.
2. Factory audit on site
Our bilingual delivery managers in Ningbo check staff size, machines, working conditions, worker safety, social responsibility, process control and management structure.
3. Samples against your drawing
We inspect samples on critical dimensions and materials before any money goes to production.
4. Capacity, lead times, tooling
We confirm the line can hold your volume, plan around Chinese New Year and Golden Week, and put tooling ownership in writing.
5. References and past work
We check what they've built and whether it matches what they're quoting you.
A vetted factory is where the build starts, not where it ends
Want us to run the search and manage the supplier? Read about our China sourcing agent service.
Design not production-ready yet? See how we go from CAD to product, with DFM review before tooling.
Need a factory to build under your brand? Compare OEM, ODM and white-label.
Want parts, assembly, packaging and shipping from one partner? See contract and turnkey manufacturing.
Worried about batch quality? Read how we run assembly and quality control.
Launch date already promised to backers? See the Fast-Track programme.
148 components. 72 suppliers. 6 countries. Delivered on time.
A client needed an assembly line built from scratch for a 148-component product. We selected, vetted and managed 72 suppliers across six countries. One point of contact. Delivered on time.
Your ship date depends on your slowest supplier. We vetted and managed all 72. Delivered on time.
Prototype to 5,000 units shipped: 200+ components across 18 suppliers, assembly line set up, QC and logistics managed.
What to ask before you trust a factory
To find a manufacturer in China, start from your specification, not a search box. Define materials, tolerances, volume and target price. Shortlist factories that already run your process, such as die casting, stamping or injection moulding. Then verify the licence, audit the site, inspect samples and confirm tooling ownership before you commit. We can do it all, or check a shortlist you've already built.
A factory owns the machines and makes your product. A trading company resells from factories it doesn't own, so you don't know who builds your product or who controls quality. We tell them apart by checking the business licence and export history and by visiting the site. A trading company can be fine, but you should know which one you're dealing with.
Our China factory audit checks staff size, machines, working conditions, worker safety, social responsibility, process control and management structure. Our bilingual delivery managers, based in Ningbo, do it on site. We also confirm the licences and documents are current and belong to the company you're actually contracting with.
You can connect with Chinese manufacturers through B2B marketplaces, trade fairs or referrals, and most will reply in English. The harder part is making your requirements mean the same to a factory owner as they do to you: which tolerance matters, which material can't be swapped. That gap in expectations, more than language, is what our Ningbo team closes.
China has the deeper component supply chain. Vietnam can make sense for some products, especially for managing tariff risk. But moving complex production takes time, and many Vietnamese factories still rely on inputs made in China. We work in both and advise on the split based on your product, volume and target market.
Sourcing Allies signs an NDA on every project, shares files only with vetted suppliers and limits who sees them. We contract through legal entities in Sweden, the US and China, so you have a Western counterparty to hold to account if something goes wrong.
Not always. If you're buying one simple or commodity part at the lowest price, a sourcing partner adds cost without much benefit, and we'll tell you so. We add the most value where several suppliers, custom processes or assembly have to come together, and you need someone accountable on the ground.
Know who's making your product before you pay for tooling
Send us your drawings, or the supplier you've already shortlisted. We'll tell you what we'd check, what it involves and whether you need us at all.
A drawing, a sketch or a paragraph is enough to start.