Guides / Choosing a Factory

How to Vet a Factory in Vietnam: A Buyer's Checklist

October 26, 2026

Most sourcing problems in Vietnam start before the first order. The buyer picked a supplier from a website, a marketplace listing or a trade show card, and never checked what was behind it. A vetting pass takes a few days and costs far less than a failed first shipment.

These are the seven checks we run before a factory goes on a shortlist.

1. Check the business registration

Ask for the business registration certificate. It shows the legal name, the registered address, the owner and the registered business activities. Vietnam has a national business registration portal where a company can be looked up by name or tax code.

Check three things: the name matches the one on the quote, the address matches where you are told the factory is, and the registered activities include manufacturing. A company registered only for trading or import-export may still be a good partner, but you should know that you are dealing with a trader.

2. Ask for a machine list, not a brochure

A brochure says “CNC machining, injection molding, assembly”. A machine list says which machines, how many, which brand and model, and the year. Ask for it in a spreadsheet.

Then match the list to your part. A part with tight bores needs the right spindle, travel and inspection tools. A molded part needs a press in the right tonnage range. If the list does not cover your process, the factory will subcontract it.

3. See the floor

A site visit settles most questions. If you cannot travel, ask for a live video walk, not a recorded one. Ask the person to show the machine that would run your part, the inspection area and the finished-goods store.

Look for what a trading company cannot fake: machines running, operators at them, tooling on the shelves, parts from other buyers in process.

4. Check capacity honestly

A factory at full load will say yes and deliver late. Ask for the current utilization of the machines that would run your job, the shift pattern and the lead time on a comparable order. A factory that tells you it is busy and offers a later start date is usually safer than one that promises everything.

5. Call two references

Ask for two current buyers in your region or industry, and call them. Ask what went wrong in the last year and how the factory handled it. Every factory has had a problem. What matters is whether it was fixed without being chased.

6. Verify certificates with the issuer

A photo of a certificate proves little. Check that the certificate is current, that the scope covers the process you need, and that the name and address on it match the factory. Certificates can usually be checked with the certification body that issued them. Do not assume a certificate exists because a site mentions it.

7. Judge the sample, then the first batch

Order a sample from the real production line, not a prototype shop. Measure it against the drawing. Then agree an inspection plan for the first batch before it ships: a check before production, one during, and a pre-shipment inspection using AQL sampling.

What to do next

If you do not have the time to run these checks across several suppliers, this is the work a sourcing partner does for you. We run these checks in person and put two or three audited factories on your shortlist.

Read next: how Vietnam sourcing runs from brief to shipment.

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