How to read a factory audit score
Read a factory audit score against its own scoring scheme, category results, critical findings and supporting evidence. Ask how exclusions and unresolved findings affect the rating before comparing suppliers. Agree what must be corrected before approval. For help reviewing the report and following up in China, contact Cambridge China Bridge.
Ask for the scoring method before judging the total
Request the full report and the scoring instructions used for that audit, including their version. Ask what each rating means, how questions are weighted, how category results feed into the total and what triggers a critical finding. Establish whether the conclusion is the auditor's rating or the customer's acceptance decision.
Ask how unanswered questions, unavailable evidence and items marked not applicable affect the calculation. Do not convert a letter grade into a percentage or rank reports from different schemes by their headline results. If the methods differ, compare the underlying findings against a common buyer brief. Use our factory-audit checklist to define that brief.
Read category results against your production risks
Read the category breakdown before accepting the overall conclusion. Ask the issuer to explain how strong results elsewhere affect a weak category. For your order, identify the processes that determine whether the goods can be made consistently, then examine the findings for those processes.
For example, orderly document control would not resolve missing evidence that measuring equipment works correctly. Traceability findings matter differently when the factory assembles bought-in components than when it controls the material process itself. Record each relevant weakness, its consequence for your product and the evidence still needed.
Keep critical findings separate from the average
Ask whether a critical finding overrides the overall rating, caps it or appears separately. Request the scheme's definition and the exact finding, rather than assuming that every auditor uses the same severity labels. Agree your own approval blockers before ordering, such as an unverified production site or missing control of a process essential to your specification.
Keep capability findings separate from ethical findings. As our ethical-audit guide explains, SMETA is a continuous-improvement methodology rather than a certification. Where findings concern worker exploitation, government guidance stresses transparency and working with suppliers to help victims and prevent recurrence. Treat a favourable total as a reason to examine the report, not to dismiss a serious finding.
Check what evidence supports the rating
Trace important conclusions back to dated observations, identified records, photographs and interview findings where available. Ask which production lines, shifts, processes and subcontracted activities were covered, and what could not be examined. A management explanation should be distinguishable from something the auditor observed or verified.
Confirm the report names the site that will make your goods and identifies the auditor and visit date. Request clarification where a category rating conflicts with the narrative or lacks supporting evidence. Our audit and inspection report comparison explains why a capability rating does not release a finished batch.
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Turn the report into a recorded buying decision
Record whether you approve the supplier, approve subject to named actions or hold approval pending further evidence. For each open finding, name the responsible person, completion date, required evidence and who will verify closure. A promised improvement or a revised score alone should not close the issue. See our corrective-action closure guide.
For repeat audits, compare results only after checking that the method, scope and category treatment are consistent. Where they changed, explain the change alongside the findings rather than presenting the score movement as proof of improvement. Cambridge China Bridge can review the report with you and use its own staff in China to follow up agreed actions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good factory audit score?
There is no useful answer without the scoring method. Read the rating definition, category findings, critical issues and evidence, then apply your agreed supplier approval criteria.
Can I compare factory audit scores from different firms?
Check whether they used the same method, version, scope and exclusions. Otherwise compare the underlying findings against your buyer brief rather than ranking headline scores.
Can a factory pass with a critical finding?
Ask how that scheme treats critical findings. Then apply your own approval blockers. A favourable overall rating should not replace a decision on the unresolved issue.
Does a higher audit score prove improvement?
Check for changes in weighting, scope or exclusions first. Look for verified closure of earlier findings and evidence that the corrected process works in practice.