When conducting the initial on-site survey, it is important to ascertain the potential supplier  level of interest in the client's program. CMC's survey agenda begins with a brief presentation of the client's products, a market/industry description, and overview of production/service requirements. Supplier site management is also allocated time to present its current capabilities and future plans.

CMC spends most of its survey time on the shop-floor and in functional areas for first-hand auditing of those operating processes and performance measures that will be most important to the programs success. Auditing other processes is performed as needed to validate performance data, relevancy and reliability of information systems. These may include order entry procedures, inventory and supplier management practices, selected production and quality control systems, configuration management and customer returns.

Clients can participate in the on-site survey to the extent they prefer. After reviewing contractor qualification ratings, CMC recommends those electronics contract manufacturers most suitable for requests for proposals and additional in-depth due-diligence.