PU Sealant Manufacturer Audit Checklist

A factory audit should answer one question: can this supplier repeat the product you approved, batch after batch, with documents that survive your customer’s review? The questionnaire below is deliberately narrower than a general social-compliance audit. It focuses on the evidence a technical buyer can check.

1. Legal entity and scope

Start with the name on the business licence, the production address and the name on the TDS. They should match. Ask which products are made at that site and which are traded from another factory. A supplier that cannot separate its own production from resale is not automatically unsuitable, but the scope of the audit changes.

Record the legal entity, address, production site, contact person and the products covered by the audit. If the quotation comes from one company and the certificate from another, stop and ask why before comparing price.

2. Process control

Ask for the process route for the model you intend to buy: raw-material intake, mixing, filling, curing or conditioning, labelling and release. Then ask which parameters are recorded at each step and who can release a batch.

Useful evidence:

• a batch record with the actual values, not only a signature;
• filling records that link cartridges or sausages to the batch;
• calibration records for the balance, viscometer, tensile tester and oven;
• a deviation record showing what happens when a result is out of specification.

A factory that can explain a deviation is more credible than one that claims every batch is perfect. The question is whether the deviation was contained and whether the customer was informed.

3. Test methods and QC

For each headline property, ask: what method, what sample preparation, what conditioning, and what is the acceptance range? A tensile number without a method cannot be compared with another supplier. A skin time measured at a different temperature is not the same test.

The minimum technical file should include the property, standard, typical value and method. For a batch, ask for the measured result and the specification limit. If the measured result is outside the limit, the batch should not be released as conforming.

4. Batch traceability

Pick a carton from the warehouse and ask the factory to trace it back to the batch record. Then pick a batch record and ask which cartons it produced. If either direction fails, the certificate cannot be tied to the goods you will receive.

A retained sample from the batch is useful, but only if it is stored under the same conditions and can be identified. A sample with no batch number is a demonstration, not a retention sample.

5. Capacity and packaging

Ask for the practical output per shift, the minimum order per format, the changeover time between colours or labels, and the packaging line that will run your order. A factory can be technically capable and still be unable to deliver a small private-label order on the requested date.

Check that the carton, label, batch code and language on the pack match the market. A label approval on a PDF is not the same as a physical pack approval.

6. Commercial and change control

Ask what happens if a raw material changes, a test result drifts or a label needs correction after production. A written change-control procedure is more useful than a promise that “nothing will change”.

Audit scorecard

Area	Evidence to request	Red flag
Legal entity	Licence, TDS, certificate names	Names do not match
Process	Batch record, filling record	Values missing or copied
QC	Method, conditioning, limits	Headline number without method
Traceability	Carton → batch → record	Certificate cannot be linked to goods
Capacity	Shift output, MOQ, changeover	Promise without a schedule
Change control	Written procedure, notification	“It will be the same” only

What to do with the result

Score each area as pass, conditional or fail. A fail on traceability or test method is more serious than a missing brochure. Ask for a corrective action with a date, then verify it on the next batch rather than accepting a verbal assurance.

The audit is not a substitute for a sample test on your substrate. It tells you whether the factory can control the process; the sample tells you whether the product fits the job.

The practical position

A supplier who can produce a batch record, a method and a retained sample is easier to qualify than one who only has a glossy catalogue. That evidence costs the factory real work, which is why it is a better signal than a lower quote.