A good agent sends you a written update with photos at least once a week while your order is in production. On top of that, you should hear straight away whenever something threatens the date, the quantity or the quality.
We send a weekly update with photos on every order, from the agreed production plan until the lot is ready for inspection. The rhythm matters less than the content, so here is what each update should contain.
What a useful update contains
- The planned date for each production stage and where the order actually stands against it.
- Photos of your goods on the line or in storage, not stock pictures of the factory.
- Any change to raw materials, packing materials or subcontracted steps since the last update.
- Open questions the factory needs you to answer, with the date by which they need an answer.
- The next milestone and the date of the next update.
When weekly is not enough
Some moments need more than a weekly note. The start of production is one, because that is when the first goods show whether the approved sample is being matched. Packing is another, because marking, labels and carton counts are hard to fix once the goods are boxed.
Problems also need their own message. If raw material arrives late, a machine breaks down or the factory wants to change a component, you should hear about it the same day. You should not discover it in the next scheduled report.
Short orders or simple products may need fewer reports. A long, complex order may need a check at every stage. Agree the rhythm at the start, and write it into the agreement with your agent.
Signs that updates are not real
An update is only worth something if it comes from someone who has seen the goods. Watch for photos that repeat from week to week, pictures that show the factory but never your product, and reports that say "on schedule" without a date.
Ask for photos that show your own marking, labels or batch codes. Ask what the factory said in its own words, and when the agent last visited. These questions are easy to answer for an agent who is on the ground, and hard for one who is relaying messages. The same logic applies to checking that your agent takes nothing from factories: evidence beats assurances.
What to do with each update
Updates only help if someone reads them. Check each one against the production plan, and reply to any open question by the date it gives. A factory waiting on your decision about a label or a carton size will often keep working on its own guess, and that guess may be wrong.
Keep the updates together with the contract and the approved sample record. If the lot later fails inspection or arrives with a problem, the updates show when an issue first appeared and who knew about it. That history makes it far easier to agree who should put it right.
Next step
Weekly updates are step seven of our ten-step process, and they end with the inspection before loading. To see how this would work for your order, book a free sourcing review.