When volume matters, the question is not only who can make the product but how much of the work stays inside the plant. A manufacturer that subcontracts a critical step shifts the risk to a company you may never meet. This page is about screening a group of candidate manufacturers for stated capacity and visible subcontracting, and the result is a comparison matrix with a source log and a note of what could not be established.
We break the product into its production steps and read each candidate's own pages, equipment lists, certificates and listings for who performs each one. A step described as in-house, a step mentioned as handled by partners and a step not mentioned at all are recorded differently. Capacity figures such as area, headcount, line numbers or output are noted with their source and date when shown, and compared only where they describe the same thing.
Public figures are stated by the companies and may be out of date. They are used to place candidates in relation to each other and your volume, not to confirm that a plant can deliver it.
Evidence of spare line capacity and expansion statements is compared, and the report notes which claims are undated.
Subcontracting is read with more weight, because a peak order is a point at which a plant may pass work to others.
Single sites and single machines on a step are read as dependencies, and the matrix shows where two candidates share a visible subcontractor, so far as the sources show.
From your specification: for example forming, finishing, assembly, testing and packing, so each candidate is read against the same list.
In-house stated, outsourced stated, or not stated, each with where it was read.
Area, workforce, equipment count or stated output, only as the company gives them, with their unit and date.
Steps that depend on an outside party, or that sit with one machine or one site, are listed as questions to put to the maker.
Research reports what can be established from public and provided sources. It is not a guarantee about a counterparty's future conduct and not legal advice.
No. Capacity is stated by the company and cannot be confirmed from a desk. We prepare the questions to test it.
Not by itself. The screen only shows where it appears so you can decide how much it matters.
The scope is agreed in the brief. The matrix covers the candidates that matched your criteria in the sources reviewed.
No obligation. We read your request and reply with a straight answer.
Tell us what you need to find out and by when. We confirm scope before any work starts.
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