A new supplier offers the same component at a price that is hard to refuse. The samples pass testing. Six months later, a batch fails in the field, and the supplier's "factory" turns out to be a trading office buying from whoever is cheapest that week. Meanwhile, copies of your own products are appearing in export markets, made to your specifications by someone who once worked on your production line.
Manufacturers depend on long chains of suppliers, distributors and people they cannot watch directly. Our manufacturing investigation services help protect those chains: verifying suppliers, tracing counterfeits, investigating theft and leaks, and uncovering procurement fraud. As an international investigation firm headquartered in Dubai and backed by the 30+ years of GREVESGROUP®, we support manufacturers in more than 100 countries.
Investigation Challenges in Manufacturing
- Supplier risk: traders posing as factories, hidden subcontracting and suppliers linked to sanctioned or high-risk parties
- Counterfeit products and parts sold under your brand, often from the same regions as your own suppliers
- Trade secret and design theft by former staff, partners or contract manufacturers
- Procurement fraud, including kickbacks, bid rigging and fake vendors
- Inventory and plant theft, including scrap, raw materials and finished goods
- Distributor diversion of stock into unauthorised markets
- Compliance exposure from forced labour, environmental or bribery issues in the supply chain
Our Investigation Services for Manufacturers
Due Diligence
Our supplier due diligence confirms that a supplier is who it claims to be: registration, ownership, factory location, production capacity, subcontracting, litigation and reputation. Factory verification visits check that production actually happens where declared. We also run due diligence on distributors, joint venture partners and acquisition targets.
IP Investigation
Our counterfeit parts investigations and trade secret theft investigations trace copied products, moulds, designs and technical know-how to the people and factories using them. Evidence is prepared for enforcement, customs action and litigation.
Brand Protection
We monitor online marketplaces, trade platforms and physical markets for fake products and look-alike packaging, conduct test purchases and support raids and seizures against counterfeit producers and distributors.
Corporate Investigation
When losses point to insiders, our corporate investigators examine procurement fraud, collusion with suppliers, conflicts of interest, inventory theft and scrap fraud. We combine document review, supplier network analysis and interviews to identify responsibility.
Background Check
We screen plant managers, procurement heads, R&D staff and anyone with access to sensitive processes or supplier relationships, verifying employment history, directorships and potential conflicts.
Private Investigation
Our investigators conduct lawful commercial surveillance and enquiries to verify whether former employees are breaching non-compete or confidentiality obligations, and whether stock is leaving through unofficial channels.
Claim Investigation
We support insurers and manufacturers on fire, machinery breakdown, stock loss and product liability claims, verifying the cause and extent of loss.
Process Service
Actions against infringers, defaulting distributors and suppliers abroad require proper service. We serve claims, injunctions and judgments internationally with court-ready proof.
Supply Chain Investigation
Modern supply chains hide risk in their lower tiers. A supply chain investigation follows materials and components beyond your direct supplier, identifying subcontractors, raw material sources and intermediaries. This matters for quality, for IP protection and increasingly for compliance with laws on forced labour, sanctions and responsible sourcing. Our in-country investigators visit sites, speak to local sources and verify what audit questionnaires cannot.
Protecting Technical Know-How
For many manufacturers, the most valuable asset is not the factory but what happens inside it: formulations, tooling, process settings, supplier specifications and customer pricing. That knowledge walks out of the door with people. Contract manufacturers learn your process and later sell the same product under their own label. Former engineers take drawings to a competitor. Distributors share your pricing with rivals.
Investigating these cases needs care. We establish what information was taken, how and by whom, and where it is now being used, through lawful research, market enquiries and field verification. The findings support injunctions, damages claims and changes to your contracts and access controls, so the same leak does not happen twice.
Distributor and Channel Investigations
Authorised distributors sometimes sell your products into markets they are not allowed to serve, undercutting other partners and damaging your pricing. Using batch codes, serial numbers and market purchases, our investigators trace diverted stock back to the distributor responsible, giving you the evidence to enforce your agreements.
Typical Engagements
The scenarios below are illustrative examples of the kind of work we carry out in this sector.
Supplier verification
A European buyer plans to move production of a key component to a new Asian supplier. Our visit finds the supplier outsources to a smaller workshop with no quality controls. The buyer requires production at the audited site as a contract condition.
Copied products
An industrial brand finds cheaper copies of its pumps in African markets. We trace the distributor to an importer, and the importer to a factory run by a former contract manufacturer, supporting legal action.
Procurement kickbacks
A manufacturer's spend with one packaging vendor has doubled. We find that the vendor's owner is related to a purchasing manager, and document the arrangement for disciplinary and legal action.
How We Work with Manufacturers
We work with procurement, legal, compliance, security and brand teams. Some clients instruct us for single supplier checks or incidents; others run ongoing supplier verification or anti-counterfeiting programmes with agreed priorities by product and region. Every engagement starts with an NDA, a clear scope and agreed reporting points.
Diverted stock. A consumer electronics maker sees its products sold below list price in a market where it has an exclusive distributor. Market purchases and serial number tracing show the stock came from a distributor in a neighbouring country, which is then held to its contract.
Manufacturing Sectors We Support
Our work covers automotive and auto parts, industrial machinery, electrical and electronics, chemicals and lubricants, building materials, packaging, textiles and apparel, food processing, consumer goods and medical devices. Each has its own pattern of risk, from counterfeit brake pads to diverted lubricants and copied electrical fittings, and we tailor the investigation to it.
What You Receive
Reports with verified supplier and counterparty profiles, site visit findings with photographs, supply chain maps, evidence packs for enforcement and clear recommendations.
Why Manufacturers Choose Risk Investigators
On-site verification
In-country investigators visit factories and markets, not just databases.
IP enforcement experience
GREVESGROUP® has more than 30 years of supporting enforcement against counterfeiters.
Global coverage
Suppliers, distributors and infringers in more than 100 countries.
Commercial focus
Findings designed for procurement, legal and management decisions.
Supply chain depth
We look beyond tier-one suppliers to the workshops, traders and raw material sources behind them.
Evidence that holds up
Lawful methods and careful documentation, so findings can support contracts, disciplinary action and litigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is supplier due diligence?
It is an investigation of a supplier before or during a relationship, covering registration, ownership, real production capacity, subcontracting, litigation, reputation and compliance risks such as sanctions or bribery.
Can you verify whether a supplier really owns its factory?
Yes. Our investigators visit the declared site, check production activity and ownership records, and identify undisclosed subcontracting.
How do you investigate counterfeit parts?
We start with the fake product, conduct test purchases, trace the sellers and distributors, and follow the chain to the manufacturer, gathering evidence for enforcement.
Can you investigate trade secret theft by a former employee?
Yes. We investigate whether confidential information has been taken and where it is being used, working with your lawyers to gather lawful evidence.
Do you investigate procurement fraud?
Yes. We investigate fake vendors, kickbacks, bid rigging and conflicts of interest between staff and suppliers.
Can you help with supply chain compliance checks?
Yes. We investigate lower-tier suppliers and sources to identify sanctions, bribery, forced labour and other compliance risks.
Can you trace grey market or diverted stock?
Yes. Using batch codes, serial numbers, test purchases and supply chain enquiries, we identify where diversion happens and which distributor or partner is responsible.
Do you visit factories in other countries?
Yes. Our in-country investigators carry out discreet or announced site visits to verify production activity, capacity, ownership and subcontracting, with photographs and observations included in the report.