Has your Chinese factory resumed production?
Verify your order on the working line: check attendance at critical processes, materials received and allocated, and accepted output from the restarted shift. Ask for a delivery plan tied to those records, with outstanding dependencies made explicit. Local checks can be arranged through Cambridge China Bridge.
Define what resumed production means for your order
Treat a reopening message as a prompt to investigate. Ask the factory to identify your order, production site, line, current operation and unfinished work. Separate stock completed before the holiday from goods produced since reopening. For holiday planning, use our factory closure guide; the checks here address whether your order can now move.
Request a live walkthrough during the scheduled production shift. Ask the person filming to show your work order beside the goods and follow them through the relevant processes. Record when and where the check happened. A dated photograph helps identify a batch, but does not establish that the line can sustain production.
Check attendance where it controls output
Ask for planned and actual staffing by critical process and shift, rather than a factory-wide return-to-work total. Cover the operations your product depends on, including machine setting, skilled assembly, finishing, testing and packing. Request role-level attendance records with personal details removed, then compare them with the people working during the walkthrough.
Identify absent specialists, replacement operators and the supervisor responsible for checking their work. Ask to see output and defect records from the staffed shift, including queues before and after the bottleneck. Base capacity on accepted goods passing that bottleneck. Our production capacity guide explains the broader capacity check.
Trace materials beyond the factory's purchase orders
Ask for a material readiness list against the approved BOM, including components, finishes, labels and packaging. Distinguish material received and accepted, material reserved for your order, goods in transit and purchases awaiting supplier confirmation. Match warehouse labels and receiving records to the specified grade, batch and usable quantity. Ask whether any stock shown is already committed elsewhere.
For missing items, request the upstream supplier's confirmation of production status, dispatch arrangements and the remaining dependency. Include outsourced processing such as plating or printing. A purchase order alone does not establish availability. Refer any proposed replacement to our material substitution guide before approving its use.
Check goods made after the restart
Ask the factory to identify samples produced after reopening on the intended line, using the intended materials and operators. Compare them with the approved sample and specification. Request the associated setup checks, inspection results, defects and rework records. Use our first-article inspection guide to brief the product checks.
Observe a continuing production run and reconcile goods started, accepted, rejected and awaiting rework with the shift records. Separate saleable output from unfinished work. If an operation fails, ask for the corrective action and fresh results before treating that operation as ready.
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Make the delivery promise traceable
Request a revised order plan showing accepted stock, remaining work, demonstrated output, material arrival dependencies, inspection, packing and collection. Ask where your order sits behind other commitments and who owns each unresolved action. Label the promised milestone clearly: ready for inspection, ready for collection, departure or arrival at your premises.
Accept a firm commitment only when the records support the remaining work and the relevant transport arrangements have been confirmed. Otherwise record a conditional forecast, its unresolved dependencies and the evidence needed to confirm it. Agree when the factory will report progress and what triggers replanning. Cambridge China Bridge's own staff in China can support checks at the factory.
Frequently asked questions
Does a factory reopening message prove production has resumed?
Ask to see your order moving through its critical processes during a working shift, supported by material records and accepted output. An office reopening message provides none of that evidence.
What attendance records should I ask a factory for?
Request planned and actual staffing by critical process and shift, with personal details removed. Check whether setters, skilled operators, inspectors and packing staff are present and working on your order.
How do I check that raw materials are really available?
Match the approved BOM to receiving records, warehouse labels and stock allocated to your order. For missing items, request upstream production and dispatch confirmation, including outsourced processing.
When can I trust the first post-holiday delivery date?
When accepted output, remaining work, allocated materials, inspection and transport arrangements support it. Keep the date conditional while a critical dependency remains unverified.