Anyone Can Claim a Factory. Here Is What Cannot Be Faked.

Every second supplier email says "we are a factory". Some are. You cannot tell from the brochure, so do not read the brochure. Ask for these three, inside a week.

1. A photo that would be awkward to stage

Stock photos are clean. Real plants are not: coils mid-run, offcuts on the floor, this week's orders on the board. Ask for the line with today's date visible. Thirty seconds for an honest plant; a photoshop session for an office.

2. An open door

We accept third-party inspection, and we say so before you ask. Send your own inspector, or SGS. The address on our ISO certificate is where they will arrive: Bazhou, Langfang, Hebei.

3. A live walk-through

Fifteen minutes on video beats fifty PDFs. Walk from the office to the line without cutting the camera, then read out a coil label — grade, coating weight, date.

The question that ends it fast

> "Can I see the line running this week?"

A date means a plant. Conditions that keep multiplying mean a shopfront.

One line, 32 people, 15,000 tonnes a year, 2-tonne minimum. Small — but you can see all of it this week.

*— Yueyang Technology, Bazhou, Hebei. Write to us — David Hu, General Manager.*