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Third-party inspection and expediting in China.
SBCCO-China acts as the buyer’s representative inside China for companies purchasing their own equipment: factory audits before the order is placed, drawing and ITP review before steel is cut, in-process surveillance, expediting, pre-shipment inspection and data book compilation. Based in Shijiazhuang, in China since 2006. We do not have to be your supplier to be your eyes in the factory.
01 / The problem
An inspection report tells you what went wrong. We are there before it does.
A general inspection agency arrives at the hold point, works through a checklist and emails you a PDF. The report is accurate and, by then, largely useless: the plate is cut, the welder has been doing it the wrong way for a fortnight, and the delivery date has already moved. Nobody is going to unwind that for you.
We come at it from the other side of the desk. Everyone who does this work for you has spent a career buying heavy equipment, not auditing it — project and regional managers from NHI, Metso, Aker Solutions, Jacobs Engineering and Juli Group. They know which questions to ask before the purchase order is signed, which shop is overstating its capability, and what a “minor deviation” actually costs you in year three.
And we are permanent. We are not flying an inspector in for the day — we have been in Hebei since 2006, our owner has made more than 150 trips to these factories himself, we speak to the shop floor in Mandarin, and we go back next week.
02 / What you can buy
Six modules. Take one, take all six.
Most customers start with a factory audit on a shop they are about to place an order with, then add surveillance once they see what comes back. Each module is quoted as a fixed fee, not an open-ended day rate.
Factory audit
Before you place the orderCapability, equipment list, quality management system, workforce, past work of the same type, and references we actually call. You get an honest go or no-go, with the reasons written down. Most quality problems are decided here, not on the shop floor.
Drawing & ITP review
Before steel is cutOur engineers read your specification against the shop’s drawings and procedures, and we agree the Inspection & Test Plan — hold points, witness points, who signs what — in writing with the factory before fabrication starts.
In-process surveillance
During fabricationScheduled visits at agreed frequency or at hold points, with dated photographic reports, a running non-conformance log and disposition. Not a checklist: an engineer looking at the work.
Expediting & schedule recovery
When it starts to slipReporting a two-week slip is not a service. We go to the shop, establish why, and work the recovery — sub-supplier chasing, material substitution approvals, shift changes — then report original date, revised date and reason.
Pre-shipment inspection
Before it leavesDimensional verification, marking, surface protection and preservation, packing, lifting points, and supervision of container or flat-rack loading, with a full photographic record.
Data book compilation
Before you pay the balanceMaterial certificates, QC records, NDT reports, third-party certificates and as-built drawings assembled and checked per major item — so the documentation matches the equipment that actually shipped.
03 / The difference
What a general inspection agency is not set up to do.
This is not a criticism of SGS, TÜV Rheinland, Bureau Veritas or Intertek. They are certification bodies and they are good at it — we appoint them ourselves when a customer needs an accredited certificate. They are simply built for a different job.
| General inspection agency | SBCCO-China | |
|---|---|---|
| Who attends | Whichever inspector is free that week; today a pressure vessel, last week a textile mill | Named engineers who have bought and taken delivery of this class of equipment for twenty years |
| When they get involved | At the hold point you booked | Before the order — factory audit, drawing review, ITP agreed in writing |
| When the schedule slips | It appears in the next report | We go to the shop and work the recovery, then report what changed and why |
| Language on the shop floor | Through the factory’s own English speaker | Direct, in Mandarin, with the people holding the torch |
| Response time | Scheduled from a regional office | 48–72 hours nationwide; same day for most of Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Tianjin and Beijing |
| Accredited certificates | Issues them | Does not issue them — we appoint, brief and review the body that does |
| Fee basis | Man-day rate plus travel, open-ended | Fixed fee per visit or per order, agreed before we start |
04 / Conflict of interest
We will tell you if we have any relationship with the factory. In writing, before we accept.
We are also an equipment supplier. That is exactly why this matters. Before we accept an inspection assignment we disclose any commercial relationship we have with the shop in question — and if you would rather we did not inspect it, we will say so and help you appoint someone who has none. An inspection you cannot trust is worth less than no inspection at all.
What every report contains
Date, location, people present, scope of the visit, what was checked against which document, dated photographs, non-conformances with disposition and required action, and the effect on the schedule.
How fast you get it
Within one working day of the visit. Anything that stops production or affects your delivery date is telephoned the same day, not saved for the report.
Who you deal with
One named engineer for the assignment, in your time zone by email, and a USA-majority-owned company standing behind the work.
What it costs
A fixed fee per visit or per order, quoted after we understand the equipment and the shop’s location. No open-ended day rates and no travel surprises.
05 / Questions
What buyers ask before appointing us.
Will you inspect equipment we did not buy from you?
Yes. That is the whole point of this service. You place the order with your own factory; we act as your representative in China. We will disclose any commercial relationship we have with that factory before accepting the assignment.
Are you a certification body?
No, and we will not pretend to be. We are the buyer’s representative. Where you need an accredited third-party certificate we appoint, brief and review TÜV Rheinland, Bureau Veritas, ABS or Moody — and we attend with them.
What areas of China do you cover?
All of it. We are based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, so most shops in Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Tianjin and Beijing are a same-day visit. Elsewhere in China we are normally on site within 48 to 72 hours of a scheduled request.
What kind of equipment do you cover?
Heavy process and mineral processing equipment: pressure vessels and tanks, FRP and lined equipment, castings and forgings, crushers and mills, pumps and piping, valves and dampers, separation equipment and structural fabrication. We do not inspect consumer goods.
How do you charge?
A fixed fee per visit or per order, agreed before we start, based on the equipment, the scope and the location of the shop. Not an open-ended man-day rate.
Can you take over an order that is already going wrong?
Yes, and it is a common way customers start with us. Send the purchase order, the specification and the last progress report you received, and we will tell you what we think is actually happening before we quote.
Tell us which factory, and what you are worried about.
Send the purchase order, the specification and the shop’s name and city. We will come back with a scope, a fixed fee and the name of the engineer who would attend — and a disclosure if we have ever bought from that shop ourselves.