Two checks that answer different questions: whether a supplier can make your product, and whether one particular batch is acceptable.
Different questions
An audit looks at the organisation: whether the factory exists as described, what it can produce, how it controls quality and whether its systems match its claims. An inspection looks at a defined quantity of finished goods against an agreed standard.
- Audit: can this supplier make it, repeatedly
- Inspection: is this batch acceptable, now
- Neither answers the other's question
Different timing
An audit belongs before you commit, when the finding can still change which supplier you choose. An inspection belongs at production milestones on an order that is already placed. Running an audit after the deposit is paid removes most of its leverage.
- Audit before supplier selection or a first large order
- Inspection during and at the end of production
- Re-audit when the supplier changes site or ownership
Different failure they prevent
An inspection catches a bad batch. An audit catches a supplier who was never able to make your product to specification, or who subcontracts it elsewhere without telling you. A clean inspection on an unaudited supplier says nothing about the next order.
- Inspection prevents shipping a defective lot
- Audit prevents choosing an unsuitable supplier
- Undisclosed subcontracting is an audit finding, not an inspection finding
Authoritative references
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