[CamperBob2]

Good points, and another one worth mentioning: watch out for the case where the single unit or small quantity of sample product you order when evaluating a new supplier turns out to be of much, much better quality than the bulk order you eventually place.

[kweks]

Very good point; typically if you inspect the factories and only work with ISO9001 factories, you can ask to see their random selection / testing procedures that are in place. And, as you say, asking to see the policy is one thing, asking to see the records of the last random test they made is another :D