Compliance kit

The clauses you need before you place production in China

Most first programmes do not fail on capability. They fail on a quality agreement that never said who approves a concession, or a manufacturing agreement that never said who owns the tooling when the relationship ends. This kit is the set of clauses that closes those gaps.

What is in it

Five sections, written as usable clauses with the commentary kept separate — so your legal team can lift the text without lifting our opinion.

Section 1

Manufacturing agreement

Scope, part family and the approval each part hangs on
Drawing and specification control, including revision discipline
Tooling ownership, marking, storage and return on termination
Exclusivity — what is granted, for how long, and over which parts
Confidentiality, and what happens to data after the term ends

Section 2

Quality agreement

First article: when it is required, to which standard, who approves
In-process control and the sampling actually used
Nonconformance, concession and deviation routing
Change control — process, material, sub-tier and facility
Traceability granularity: heat, lot, process card, operator, serial

Section 3

Release document flow

Which document each approval basis can produce
Who signs, and what evidence that signature stands on
The record set that must exist before the signature is given
What to do when the receiving authority asks for more

Section 4

Recall and liability

Manufacturing defect and design defect — where the line sits
Notification windows, in hours, for containment decisions
Cost allocation for containment, rework and freight
Corrective action and how the closure is verified

Section 5

Supplier onboarding pack

The twelve documents to collect before the first purchase order
Audit rights: notice, scope, access to sub-tiers
What a desk audit can establish, and what it cannot
A one-page checklist for the first programme meeting

A page from the kit, published in full

Section 3 is the one people ask about first, so here is its core table rather than a description of it.

Release document flow — build to print
Document	Issued by	Signed by	What it establishes
Purchase order	Customer	Customer	The commercial instruction, including the revision
Drawing issue	Customer	Customer	The design data the part is built to
Process traveller	Manufacturing partner	Operator, per operation	That each step was performed as routed
Material certificate	Mill or stockist	Material supplier	What the material is, and which heat
First article report	Manufacturing partner	Customer quality	That the process produces conforming parts
Certificate of conformity	Manufacturing partner	Manufacturing partner	That the units conform to the revision shipped
Release document	Customer, under its approval	Customer	That the part is released for installation
Packing list	Manufacturing partner	Manufacturing partner	What is in the box, against which serials

Read the last-but-one row again. The release document is issued by the customer, under the customer’s approval. A manufacturing partner that offers to sign it for you is offering something it cannot lawfully give, and that is the single fastest way to disqualify a supplier.

How it is delivered

The contents are public. The full document set is sent after a short exchange, because half of its value is knowing which parts apply to your programme.

Editable documents, not a PDF brochure
Clause commentary separated from clause text
A one-page checklist for the first programme meeting

It is a working template set, not legal advice
Your counsel reviews it, as with any cross-border agreement
Quoted per programme; there is no published price

Request the full set

Two minutes of context is enough for us to send the right version.