A video walkdown answers the question a website cannot: is there a production floor behind the quotation? Twenty minutes on a call and the lowest tier of paperwork resellers drops out immediately; exposing a prepared intermediary takes the ownership stops below. This is the route Beiyu walks for buyers who ask, and the same six stops work on any titanium supplier you are vetting.
The screen you are running is structural: a live walkdown that follows your requests in real time cannot be staged from a stock folder, because you choose where the camera points next.
The six stops of a titanium video walkdown
| Stop | Ask to see | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Material in process | Work-in-progress with visible marking, and ask the camera to hold on a heat number | Traceability lives on the floor, not just in documents |
| 2. The process you are buying | The actual line: grinding for ground bar, ring rolling for rings, tube mill for tube | The quoted route physically exists; ask the supplier to walk the specific line your order would run on, not a general tour |
| 3. Inspection stations | Ultrasonic tank, eddy current heads, straightness plate, measurement bench in one continuous shot | The inspection scope on the quote is equipment, not adjectives |
| 4. A live measurement | Micrometer on a bar you pick, reading shown to camera | Dimensional control on demand |
| 5. Packing and marking | Bundle tags being stamped or attached, crates before closing | The marking chain your receiving side depends on |
| 6. The order file | A prior certificate package with identifiers covered | Document structure matches what you will receive |
On the in-house question Beiyu answers directly: its own titanium mill in Baoji, and the walkdown is scheduled on whichever line your enquiry concerns. Note the separate point that the same walkdown should test: process ownership and certificate holdership are different questions, and a supplier should be able to answer both without hedging.
The three stops that catch a prepared intermediary
A borrowed workshop can pass the six stops above. These three it cannot:
| Stop | Ask for | Why it cannot be staged |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Ownership | Gate signage, reception and the business licence on the wall, matched to the works named on the certificate, not only the seller on the proforma, since exporter and producing works are often two legal names | A borrowed floor carries a name that connects to neither document |
| 8. Live record retrieval | Read a heat number off any tag you choose and have the batch record pulled up on screen share | A visitor has no system access |
| 9. Liveness | A number you dictate written on paper and held to camera, plus the calibration label and date on the micrometer or UT unit | Proves live footage and maintained equipment in one shot |
What should you ask while the camera rolls?
| Question | A mill’s answer sounds like | A reseller’s answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Which methods produce your certificate values? | One line naming the methods the standard cites, such as E8 for tension and E539 for XRF | “Our lab handles that” |
| Show me where this order would run | Camera walks to the line | Scheduling excuses |
| Hold the camera on any bundle tag | Tag shows heat number matching the batch record | Tags absent or generic |
| Can third-party inspection witness at these stations? | Yes, written into the order | Resistance or rebooking |
What a walkdown cannot replace
Video confirms existence and process reality; it does not measure oxygen content or tensile strength. Material verification still runs on the document chain and, where the application calls for it, a check analysis on delivered product per ASTM B348 clause 5.3. Use the walkdown to decide whether the supplier is worth that effort, then run the paper checks in the counterfeit titanium buyer checks on what arrives. The full pre-order routine sits in how to vet a titanium supplier before ordering.
Specification detail with sources
The stations named in stop 3 are Beiyu’s published inspection routine, part of its production capability for finished bar: ultrasonic, eddy current, surface optical, infrared laser diameter and straightness checks at 100 percent coverage on the bar finishing line, with ultrasonic run as immersion method against a 1.2 mm flat-bottom hole reference at Class A1 per AMS-STD-2154 or GB/T 5193. The marking chain in stop 5 follows ASTM B348 clause 16.1, which also allows the same information marked on the box in place of a tag, the detail walked through in the export documents guide. In Beiyu’s practice a walkdown is scheduled within normal working hours on the line relevant to the enquiry, and prior certificate examples are shown with heat numbers and order identifiers covered.
Scope note: the walkdown demonstrates process and equipment; acceptance of material remains governed by the standard named on the order and the certificate chain, not by what a camera shows.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a video audit take? Twenty to thirty minutes covers the six stops. Longer sessions add detail, not certainty; the structural signal comes from whether the supplier can walk the route at all.
Live call or recorded video? Live. The value is choosing where the camera goes next; a recorded tour is marketing.
What if the supplier says the workshop is confidential? Reasonable mills protect other customers’ identifiable material and cover order identifiers, and still show process, stations and marking. A refusal to show anything at all is itself the answer.
Does a good walkdown replace third-party inspection? No. It decides whether to proceed; TPI at the works and the document chain govern acceptance, and both can be written into the order.
Who is on camera and on what platform? An engineer who can answer process questions, with an English-speaking coordinator, over Teams, Zoom or WeChat as you prefer. A European morning is a Chinese afternoon, so same-day scheduling works. Recording is allowed, your QA team is welcome on the call, and an NDA can be signed first if your process requires one.
What do I get afterwards for my supplier file? A dated written summary of the walkdown, the stops covered and the answers given, in a form you can file in an ISO 9001 style approved-supplier record. Ask for it when booking and it arrives with the quotation.
Can I request a walkdown before sending any RFQ? The productive order is RFQ first, walkdown while the quotation is open: then the camera can stand on the exact line your material would run.
Book the walkdown with your RFQ open
Send grade, standard, dimensions, quantity and certificate requirement to the Beiyu RFQ page and ask for a video walkdown on the relevant line. Reviewed by Penn Ma, 15 years in titanium mill product export. Last reviewed: 2026-08-29.