Should I keep stock for customer replacements?
Yes, if waiting for replenishment would leave you unable to resolve customer faults promptly. Choose complete units or tested spare parts to suit the repair route, then size the reserve around fault evidence and the time until replenishment is ready to use. Review it before reordering with Cambridge China Bridge.
Separate replacement stock from stock for sale
Before releasing the batch for sale, decide which variants need a reserve and record the reason. Keep replacement stock separately identified in your warehouse system so ordinary orders cannot consume it unnoticed. Distinguish it from retained inspection samples and goods awaiting investigation. Include the reserve when planning your purchase through our guide to forecasting your first order quantity.
If you sell to UK consumers, their right to free repairs or a replacement does not depend on having a warranty or guarantee. Plan replacement stock alongside money for refunds and handling costs. Treat the reserve as a way to support customer service, rather than a reason to promise the same remedy for every complaint.
Choose complete units, spare parts or a mixture
Hold complete units where diagnosis is difficult, repair facilities are unavailable, or fitting a part would leave the customer waiting while you arrange labour and testing. Compare the whole service cost: storage, dispatch, collecting the faulty item, diagnosis, repair and whether the returned unit can be used again.
Hold parts where the fault can be identified reliably and a tested repair route exists. Include fitting materials and access to a suitable repairer where needed. A mixture can cover immediate exchanges and repairable faults. Use our spare parts and after-sales support guide for compatibility and factory support arrangements.
Set a provisional reserve from fault evidence
Ask for fault records from the same model and construction, then compare them with your sample tests and batch inspection findings. Record where the evidence comes from and whether it reflects actual customer use. Inspection rejects are not a forecast of failures after sale. If customer-use evidence is missing, write down your planning assumptions and make the reserve provisional.
As sales develop, relate confirmed faults to units sold and their time in use, separately by variant and failure type. Estimate the replacement units and parts those faults would consume while replenishment is unavailable. Keep unresolved cases visible and allow for uncertainty without labelling every return a manufacturing defect. Our customer returns investigation guide explains how to establish causes.
Cover the full replenishment gap
Ask the factory what happens between your request and usable replacement stock reaching your warehouse: availability confirmation, production, checks, packing, transport, clearance and receipt. Check whether parts are held ready or made only with another production run. Use the expected replenishment route for planning; keep emergency courier supply as a separately checked option.
Set a replenishment trigger that leaves enough usable stock to cover expected demand during that gap, plus an allowance for uncertainty and outstanding cases. Count only stock available for the affected variant and revision. Record each issue against the customer case and review the balance as faults arrive. Do not dispatch suspect reserve stock merely because it is available.
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Review the reserve before a repeat order
Compare your assumptions with actual replacement issues, successful repairs, repeat failures, unused parts and the replenishment time experienced. Check whether goods have been in use long enough to reveal the faults you were concerned about. Increase, reduce or change the reserve by variant and failure type; low early demand alone does not prove that support stock is unnecessary. For supplier relationship decisions, see keeping or replacing a Chinese supplier.
Separate demand for supporting the original batch from the reserve for revised goods. Check what existing units and parts can still support, and record any changes using our guide to controlling repeat-order changes. Confirm how a factory fix will be checked before reducing the reserve. Cambridge China Bridge’s staff in China can coordinate the evidence review and revised supply arrangements with the factory.
Frequently asked questions
How much replacement stock should I keep?
Estimate demand during the full replenishment gap using model-specific fault evidence, sales and time in use. Allow for uncertainty and open cases. Without customer-use evidence, make the reserve provisional and review it as cases arrive.
Should I keep whole products or spare parts?
Choose whole products where diagnosis or repair would delay resolution. Choose tested parts where faults are identifiable and a suitable repair route exists. Compare the full service cost; a mixture may suit different failures.
Can I sell unused replacement stock?
Review outstanding cases, products still in use and replenishment availability before releasing it. Check condition and compatibility, record the decision and leave enough support stock for the demand you still expect.
Do factory replacement units count as my reserve?
Treat promised factory units as future supply. Count them as usable reserve only after receipt and checks. Agree the model, revision, packing, dispatch arrangements and responsibility for transport costs.