Factory vetting process step — final approval and onboarding
In brief: Final approval and onboarding at a Bangladesh buying house is the gate where a factory either enters the active network or does not. At Bengal Origin Co. the factory file holds 22 documents from prior vetting steps, and approval requires clearing all five points: certificates verified, bank solvency under six months, wages paid by the 7th, named finishing facility, signed subcontracting prohibition.
22 docs
On File At Approval
The factory file Bengal Origin Co. reviews before any onboarding decision.
5 / 5
Checklist Clearance
All five approval points must clear — partial passes are rejected.
6 mo.
Solvency Window
Bank solvency certificate must be dated within the last six months.
The 2022 supply chain failure that closed my European book was, in the end, an onboarding failure. The factory had been audited, the documents looked acceptable, and the protocols I now treat as non-negotiable were either missing or handled verbally. Final approval and onboarding is the step where I commit a factory to the active network — or send the file back to fix specific gaps. I do not negotiate the gates.
What does final approval and onboarding mean at a Bangladesh buying house?
Final approval is step five of the vetting process. Steps one to four build the factory file: introductions and shortlisting, on-site inspection, certificate verification, and the financial vetting work covered in how Bengal Origin Co. vets factories financially. By the time a file reaches approval, it contains 22 documents — audit reports, certificates, bank correspondence, wage registers, utility bills, ownership records, finishing facility agreements, and signed compliance undertakings.
Onboarding is what happens after approval clears: the factory is added to the active network, assigned a backup partner at 30% confirmed capacity, and scheduled into the quarterly financial monitoring cycle. The two steps run together, but approval is the binary decision. A factory either passes review or it does not. Onboarding is the operational consequence of the approval verdict, not a separate negotiation.
What does the 5-point approval checklist actually check?
I review every file at this stage against five gates. The gates are short on purpose — long checklists invite partial credit, and partial credit is what destroyed my 2022 book.
- All certificates current and verified. BSCI, Sedex SMETA, OEKO-TEX, GOTS where applicable, LEED where claimed. Verified means I have contacted the issuing body or platform directly, not accepted the PDF the factory sent.
- Bank solvency certificate dated within six months. Older than six months and the document is informational, not operational.
- Three months of wage payment evidence at the 7th-or-earlier mark. Payroll dates, not bank totals. Drift past the 7th is the earliest warning of cash stress.
- Named finishing facility documented. Washing, printing, embroidery, packaging. Each named, each separately verifiable. Finishing subcontracted to unnamed facilities is the most common REACH compliance gap I see.
- Written subcontracting prohibition signed. One-page clause, signed by the factory's commercial director, attached to the partnership agreement. A verbal understanding under financial pressure is worth nothing.
Why is conditional onboarding rejected at Bengal Origin Co.?
The instinct to onboard conditionally — "we will start with one trial order while the bank letter is finalised" — is exactly the instinct that builds future delivery failures into the network on day one. I learned this the hard way. In 2022 I had a factory that cleared four of what would now be five gates. The fifth was the bank solvency check, which I had not yet codified as a hard requirement. The factory lost its credit line mid-production. The full account is at the 2022 supply chain failure that built Bengal Origin Co..
A partial pass is a no. The factory either fixes the gap and re-enters review, or the file closes. I have closed files on factories I personally believed would be good operational partners — because the discipline of the gate matters more than my judgement on any individual case.
What does the approval file look like compared to standard practice?
Most buying houses do not publish their approval criteria. The comparison below is what I see when I review files from competing buying houses on behalf of European brands switching partners.
| Approval gate | Common buying-house practice | Bengal Origin Co. practice |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate verification | PDF accepted from factory | Direct confirmation from issuing body |
| Bank solvency | Not requested, or one-off | Refreshed every six months |
| Wage timing | Not reviewed | Three months of payroll dates on file |
| Finishing facility | Assumed to be in-house | Named facility, separately verified |
| Subcontracting | Verbal understanding | Signed prohibition per factory |
| File size at approval | 6-10 documents | 22 documents |
Source: Bengal Origin Co. compliance reviews of seven European brand engagements switching buying houses, 2024-2026.
What happens after onboarding?
Onboarding moves the factory into the active network and triggers four operational consequences. First, the factory enters the quarterly financial monitoring cycle — bank solvency refresh every six months, wage timing review every quarter, utility payment status check every quarter. Second, a backup factory is designated and confirmed at 30% capacity in the same product category. Third, the factory's certificate expiry dates are loaded into the calendar so renewals are tracked from our side, not theirs. Fourth, the subcontracting prohibition becomes a per-order clause attached to every purchase order, not just the partnership agreement. The 22-document file becomes a living document — older versions archived, current versions kept available for the 48-hour CSDDD documentation response window.
The 5-point approval checklist
All certificates current and independently verified
Bank solvency certificate dated within six months
Three months of wages paid by the 7th
Named finishing facility documented in writing
Subcontracting prohibition signed per factory
Full 22-document file assembled before review
Certificate lapsed last month, renewal in progress
Bank letter coming next week, trust us
Wages were late once, the rest is fine
Finishing arrangement is flexible per order
Subcontracting handled by verbal understanding
Documents partial, the rest can follow onboarding
What This Means for European Brands
When you evaluate a Bangladesh buying house, ask for the written approval checklist before you ask anything else. If the house cannot send you the gates it uses to admit factories to its network, the network has no gates. That is the difference between an audited supplier list and a vetted one. Final approval and onboarding is where the protocols meet the partnership. If you want to see the gates in advance of a trial order, I am happy to walk you through ours — and the first trial order itself is covered in how to structure a first Bangladesh trial order.
If you are evaluating a Bangladesh buying house and want to see the approval checklist before you place a trial order, I am happy to walk through how Bengal Origin Co. handles the five gates in practice.
Request a Factory Credential Pack →