Know what your product actually costs, and whether your supplier is real, before you wire the deposit.
Before you commit, the full system needs to make sense: cost, supplier, components, timing, and logistics.
Tooling, decoration, packaging, freight, duty, quality control, and yield may sit outside the headline quote.
The company quoting you may be an intermediary, or may not be the right manufacturer for your product, volume, or quality requirements.
Packaging and other parts have separate MOQs, lead times, and shipping routes that must line up with production.
Yield, tolerances, lead times, payment terms, and responsibilities need to be confirmed before money moves.
The audit checks the full plan before you commit the deposit.
Tooling, packaging, freight, duty, QC, and yield in one sellable-unit cost.
Supplier identity, capabilities, volume fit, key risks, and alternatives.
Packaging/component cost, MOQ, lead time, sourcing route, and production fit.
Approvals-to-delivery schedule, dependencies, and launch-critical timing.
Top risks, recommended fixes, and a clear proceed / change / wait decision.
Terms, specs, and responsibilities to lock in before money moves.
A questionnaire covering product, target volume, pricing, suppliers, quotes, packaging, and launch timing.
A 60-minute review of the plan, assumptions, open questions, and decisions that need to be made.
Supplier checks and quote validation across components, packaging, tooling, freight, and duty.
The landed cost model, production timeline, key risks, and recommended actions are built.
A 60-minute walkthrough of all five deliverables, the deposit checklist, and final questions.
We took a custom physical product from concept to finished inventory ourselves: sourcing components, screening suppliers, selecting a manufacturer, and coordinating cross-border logistics. We also paid for the mistakes this audit is designed to catch: changed yield, poor freight decisions, and optimistic timing.
No factory commission, markup, or referral fee.
Illustrative example only: 5,000 units quoted at $6.00 each — a $30,000 first order.
| What was missed or misunderstood | Potential added cost |
|---|---|
| $15,000 tooling charge spread over 5,000 units instead of the assumed 30,000 | +$12,500 |
| 5–25% intermediary markup embedded in supplier pricing | +$1,500–7,500 |
| Decoration omitted from quote at $0.60/unit | +$3,000 |
| Air freight required to protect launch timing at $1.50/unit | +$7,500 |
| Sellable yield 10% below estimate: 4,500 good units instead of 5,000 | ~+$3,000 |
| Illustrative exposure if all five occur | ~$30,500 |
| The Production Audit | $2,500 once |
If the audit does not identify at least $2,500 in unbudgeted cost, mispriced risk, or a material supplier issue, you do not pay.
Send a note with your product, target volume, and where you are with suppliers or quotes, and we'll confirm within a day or two whether the audit is a fit.
Email hello@theproductionaudit.com →