Five real questions from hotel, school, university and office furniture buyers, answered on this date and archived here once the next day's set went live.
A pre-shipment inspection is a check of the finished goods — either by the buyer's own representative or a hired third party — before the order leaves the factory, checking for defects, correct quantity and conformity to the approved sample, with photo documentation as the record. For a large bulk order, especially one going to a distant city, this catches problems while they're still cheap to fix at the factory rather than after a costly delivery.
A pre-order factory visit assesses general capability, and a delivery-point inspection catches transit damage — neither actually confirms the production batch matches the sample that was approved. A mid-production visit, or a photo/video update requested from the supplier partway through the run, is the specific checkpoint that verifies finish, dimensions and hardware are tracking to spec while correction is still realistic.
Three to five vendors is a practical range for a bulk institutional order — enough to see genuine price and capability variation without the comparison process becoming unmanageable. Send the identical written specification to all of them so the comparison is actually apples-to-apples rather than distorted by inconsistent scopes.
This should be agreed in writing before production starts, not negotiated after the fact — typical remedies include rework at the supplier's cost, a price adjustment, or rejection of the non-conforming portion of the order. Referencing a specific, signed and dated sample-approval record makes a mismatch claim far easier to support than relying on a general description of what was expected.
Yes — an approved sample without a signed, dated record is difficult to reference later if a dispute arises over whether the delivered batch actually matches what was approved. A simple signed approval sheet, ideally with a retained physical or photographed reference sample, protects both sides and is common practice for any order large enough to justify a sample stage in the first place.