Sourcing Note 11 · Sourcing Method

The first unit off the line is the only honest one

6 Oct 2026 Market: Global Factory Audit · QC & Inspection

The sealed sample was made on a calm afternoon. The production line is the real test.

The first unit off the line is the only honest one, and most buyers never see it.

A factory runs your order on a machine that has already warmed up, with the settings the operator actually uses, on the board that is in the rack that morning. The sealed sample on the PO was made by a technician on a calm afternoon. So before I release a deposit I ask for the first article: the first carcass cut from the production run, not a bench copy.

What I check on it:

  1. Panel thickness at three points with a caliper, against the number on the drawing.
  2. Edge banding peeled at one corner to see if it is PUR or EVA, because the PO line rarely says which.
  3. The hinge cup position measured from the layout line, not just counted.
  4. The board stamp photographed, matched to the grade on the quote.

Send me the first-article photos from your last order and I will mark the four lines a workshop can quietly change.