Supplier due diligence
Use this checklist to turn manufacturer, performance, project, and service claims into documents and acceptance criteria that can be verified before purchase.
Before placing an order, verify the legal supplier identity, quoted model, technical capability, certificates, references, and delivery responsibilities.
Evidence hierarchy
Verify the legal contracting entity, registered address, payment beneficiary, manufacturing or integration location, authorized signatory, export authority, warranty provider, and relationship between the website, seller, and factory.
Require a numbered data sheet, process basis, P&ID, layout, material and instrument lists, utility schedule, control narrative, standards list, process guarantee, exclusions, and revision history tied to the quotation.
Agree the FAT protocol, calibrated instruments, test medium, pass criteria, documentation package, packing, installation boundary, commissioning, validation support, training, spares, warranty, response times, and final signoff.
Claim verification
| “Manufacturer” | Verify the legal entity, factory address, equipment ownership, production process, quality records, serial-number control, and whether fabrication is subcontracted. |
|---|---|
| “Sanitary design” | Request the applicable standard, material certificates, surface-finish requirement, weld and passivation records, drainability and dead-leg review, elastomer list, and cleanability acceptance. |
| “Guaranteed capacity” | Define the exact product, inlet and outlet conditions, stable run duration, acceptable turndown, utilities, product loss, cleaning allowance, filler interface, and remedy if the guarantee is missed. |
| “Completed projects” | Request a relevant anonymized evidence pack or permitted reference covering product, capacity, delivered scope, commissioning date, documented acceptance, and the supplier's actual role. |
| “Commissioning support” | State days, location, language, travel cost, prerequisites, responsibility for utilities and product, process-validation boundary, training deliverables, remote access, and post-startup response. |
Buyer package
Buyer questions
Credibility should be supported by a verifiable legal identity, model-specific technical documents, hygienic-construction evidence, a process guarantee, controls and utility schedules, an agreed FAT protocol, and clear delivery and service responsibilities.
Ask for references relevant to the product, capacity, process and package, then verify what equipment was supplied, when it entered service, which results are documented, and whether the reference customer permits contact.
Yes. FAT scope should clarify inspection items, temperature-control checks, PLC logic review, documentation, packing confirmation, and what evidence will be provided before shipment.
Product type, formula notes, viscosity, particles, target output, package format, utility conditions, cleaning requirements, automation preference, installation location, and responsibility boundaries support a comparable quotation.