Check customer quality approval before changing production site
- Topic
- Relocation decisions
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Last reviewed
On this page
Ask the commercial and quality leads to review customer requirements before assuming output from the new site will be accepted on the old basis. A customer may have an agreed notification, evidence or approval process for relevant changes. The actual documents decide what needs checking; there is no single approval rule for every manufacturer.
Start with the customers and products that the business intends to retain. Use contracts, agreed specifications and applicable quality arrangements, with legal or specialist advice where their meaning is uncertain.
Distinguish three different requests
A notification tells the customer about a proposed change. An evidence request asks for information or assessment. An approval requirement asks for an authorised decision. Do not mark all three complete when an email has merely been sent.
Use an enquiry register like this fictional example:
| Customer/product | Actual requirement to check | Evidence or discussion | Current position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repeat component A | Contract review needed | Commercial lead locating current terms | Unresolved |
| Assembly B | Quality arrangement refers to changes | Ask the authorised customer contact what applies | Enquiry sent; answer awaited |
| Service part C | Customer requests sample evaluation | Agree scope through the quality lead | Proposed activity; no acceptance recorded |
The register should point to the controlling documents and correspondence. It should not rewrite them into an owner's interpretation that loses important conditions.
Plan backwards from the needed decision
Ask what the customer needs to see, who can provide it and who is authorised to respond. If the required evidence depends on work at the destination, show that dependency in the move plan. Do not insert a convenient approval date before the evidence can exist.
In a fictional example, the team assumes a customer will accept the changed arrangement after seeing photographs of the premises. The quality lead establishes that the customer wants to discuss the proposed process and evidence first. The move plan must now show the unresolved acceptance question and the evidence still needed.
Keep the new-site readiness decision separate. A technically functioning operation does not automatically settle a customer's contractual or quality decision. Equally, customer agreement does not replace technical or regulatory requirements.
Update the future offering when the answer changes it
The product-range plan should identify any retained family affected by an outstanding customer decision. If the proposed move cannot support an agreed requirement, put the issue back to the authorised commercial and technical decision-makers. Do not quietly assume the product will disappear from future orders.
Check the destination's permitted activities through the relevant advisers as well. Customer and property permissions answer different questions.
Record decisions with their scope and conditions. Tell the people planning orders which version of the arrangement they can rely on. A narrow acceptance for one product should not become a blanket statement about every customer.
Where the accepted future scope releases machinery, UK Auction Group can receive the surplus enquiry. Explain any availability condition still tied to customer or process decisions, without sharing confidential customer documents unnecessarily.
See Relocation decisions for the wider move brief.
Sources
This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.