Field notes
Questions worth asking on a second-source site visit
A practical list for buyers walking a potential backup plant — from changeovers to who covers night shifts.
Brochures rarely mention the Friday afternoon changeover that eats your emergency slot. On a second-source visit, ask who decides overtime, how many skilled operators cover your process, and what happens when their largest customer calls the same week you do.
Walk goods-in and goods-out. Look at quarantine space and label control. If your product needs allergen segregation or temperature checks, watch how those steps actually run, not how they are described in the audit pack.
Leave with named contacts and a trial SKU, not only a price list. Qualification without a trial is optimism in hi-vis.