One page, twenty questions, and the answers that separate a manufacturing partner from a price with a logo. Send it before the sample, not after the deposit.
2026-09-10 · 8 min read · Sourcing guide
Factory visits and video calls reward the prepared. The questions below are grouped into five layers — capability, quality, compliance, commercial and project support — because a supplier can be strong in one layer and fail you in another. Ask them all on first serious contact, ask for documents wherever the question implies one, and score the answers the same way for every candidate so your comparison means something. A slow, documented answer beats a fast, warm one. AURELUX uses this same list when evaluating partner factories for its network as a cluster sourcing partner; treat every number quoted here as an illustrative working term, not an industry law.
| # | Question | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| 1 | Do you manufacture this category yourself, or organize it? | A direct answer, plus a walk or video of the actual floor for the actual product. |
| 2 | Which product families are your strength, and which do you outsource? | Named strengths and named boundaries — no factory is excellent at everything. |
| 3 | What is your monthly output for this category? | A number tied to a product and line, not "we are very large". |
| 4 | Which brands do you currently export to or produce for? | Regions and buyer types, with references you may contact. |
| 5 | What is your ODM depth — drawings, tooling, finishes? | A described process with a sampling timeline (14-21 days for custom chandeliers is the working norm; illustrative). |
| Quality | ||
| 6 | Which LED and driver brands do you fit, per price tier? | Named component brands per tier, with a substitution policy. |
| 7 | What is your binning and color-consistency policy? | A stated SDCM window applied across production runs, not just samples. |
| 8 | Which in-house tests do you run per batch? | Integrating sphere, burn-in, hi-pot and IP tests described as routine, with records. |
| 9 | What is your AQL standard for pre-shipment inspection? | A stated AQL level and sampling plan, and openness to third-party inspection. |
| 10 | What warranty do you offer and what does it cover? | 2-5 years by product line with coverage in writing — parts, terms and claims process. |
| Compliance | ||
| 11 | Which certifications do you hold for my destination market? | Certificate numbers, not images — verifiable in the issuing database. |
| 12 | Who holds the certificate — you or the component maker? | An honest split: fixtures under the factory's certificate, drivers under the brand's. |
| 13 | Can you support EPREL / SABER / destination registrations? | A described registration workflow with who pays and typical timing. |
| 14 | How do you handle a regulation change mid-order? | A change-management answer: notify, re-test, document, never "it will be fine". |
| Commercial | ||
| 15 | What are your MOQ and trial-order terms? | Sample 1-5 pcs, trial 100-200 pcs, bulk 500 pcs+ for standard product (illustrative norms). |
| 16 | What are your payment terms and quote validity? | T/T 30% + 70% against B/L copy, L/C at sight for bulk; quotes valid 30 days (illustrative). |
| 17 | What is your lead time after deposit, and what moves it? | 25-40 days after deposit for bulk with the bottlenecks named (illustrative). |
| Project support | ||
| 18 | Can you provide IES/LDT files and Dialux support? | Files per SKU, and a described layout-support workflow. |
| 19 | How do you pack mixed-SKU project containers? | Consolidation experience, flat-pack engineering, per-carton labeling against the packing list. |
| 20 | What happens when something fails in the field? | A claims workflow with evidence requirements, spare parts and freight responsibility stated. |
The universal yes. Every capability claimed, no boundary admitted, every certificate "available". Real factories specialize and say so; the universal yes predicts a broker fronting someone else's production. The missing document. Questions 8 through 13 all have document answers; a supplier who answers in adjectives where documents exist is telling you which layer will fail later. The shifting scope. Ask question 2 twice — once early, once after samples — and note drift. Suppliers quietly expand their claimed range when they sense a large order, and the outsourced part is where your consistency dies.
Also weight the layers by program type. For a decorative hotel program, layers one and five dominate (ODM depth, packing, claims). For an EU-bound office line, compliance (11-14) is the gate: EPREL registration status and flicker documentation are pass/fail. For a solar or industrial tender, quality layer 6-10 decides the total cost, not the unit price.
Score each candidate 0-2 per question (no answer / partial / documented), and treat the five layers as gates rather than averages: a supplier weak in your program's critical layer is out regardless of its total score. Then validate the written answers against physical evidence — samples in hand, one certificate number resolved in a database, an inspection report from the trial order. The trial order (100-200 pcs; illustrative) is itself a question: how the supplier handles a small, real, inspectable order predicts the bulk order better than any call.
This list pairs with the verification checklist in how to verify a Chinese lighting supplier, the field context in our Guzhen market guide, and the wholesale commercial frame on our wholesalers page. For the documentation side of compliance questions, see the certifications center.
The twenty questions are a chassis; real programs bolt on context. For a decorative hotel program, extend the capability and project layers: ask who sources and grades the crystal or stone, what the sample-approval range is for natural materials, how flat-pack packaging is drop-tested, and what the spares and touch-up kit includes per carton. The factory questions that matter are craft questions, and the answers are samples, not sentences. For a solar or industrial tender, weight the quality and compliance layers: battery chemistry and cycle ratings, controller specification, surge protection levels, and the component substitution policy — plus a written BOM lock, because solar programs die by silent component swaps between sample and shipment.
For an EU-bound smart or commercial line, the compliance layer expands into documentation depth: DALI-2 or D4i evidence for controls-capable product, flicker and stroboscopic metrics, EPREL registration status per model, and the factory's change-notification procedure when a driver or LED package is revised — because in regulated markets, an undocumented revision can invalidate the file your import depends on. One habit makes all three adaptations manageable: when you extend the list for a program type, send the extended version to every candidate identically. The comparison you are building is between suppliers, and it only works when the questions are constants. The compliance documents referenced here are mapped per destination on our certifications page.
The evidence checklist to run before the wire transfer leaves your account.
From site survey to container loading — the project-side companion to this list.
Cost and lead time compared — which questions to weight for each buying mode.
How professional buyers work the lighting capital — districts, audits and export routes.
Product schedule, certificate numbers, inspection standards and FOB terms — within 24 hours of your item list.