How to run a mock recall for China-made stock
Choose a real batch and a fictional safety problem. Trace its factory records, stock locations and customer deliveries, test dispatch blocks and agreed contacts, then log missing evidence with owners and retest actions. Factory records can be gathered by the China-based staff of Cambridge China Bridge.
Set the exercise boundaries
This exercise covers non-food consumer stock. Choose a batch that has reached customers and remains in stock, preferably with split deliveries or warehouse transfers. Record the product, batch marking, fictional defect, included locations and exercise start time. Appoint an exercise lead, an observer and a person authorised to end the test and restore normal operations.
Agree the test with participating suppliers, warehouses and business customers. Mark every exercise message clearly as a test. Keep draft public notices unpublished and simulate authority notification unless participation has been arranged. If a genuine safety concern emerges, stop the exercise and follow our real product recall guide.
Trace the selected batch in both directions
UK product-safety guidance requires supplier records so product origins can be traced. Starting with the marking on an actual item, ask the factory to retrieve the production record, relevant component or material batches and packing records. Connect these to the purchase order, shipment, warehouse receipt and customer deliveries. Our batch traceability guide covers the underlying record structure.
Work backwards from a selected customer delivery as well. Reconcile receipts against current stock, net dispatches, returns and documented disposals, with transfers treated as movements rather than extra stock. Separate confirmed batch matches from assumptions. Record mixed cartons, relabelled goods, unmarked units and anonymous sales as gaps. Ask the factory to demonstrate why adjacent production runs are outside the fictional scope.
Prove that stock blocking works
Use an agreed test environment or a controlled live hold approved by the operations lead. Apply the batch block at each participating warehouse and sales channel. Attempt a controlled order allocation, pick and dispatch without releasing goods. Check reserved orders, stock awaiting transfer and returned goods awaiting resale. Save the system result and the warehouse acknowledgement.
Inspect the physical holding location and its label. Confirm that staff can distinguish the selected batch from saleable stock and that manual orders cannot bypass the hold. A request to block stock is not proof that it worked. Record any route that still permits movement, then confirm that exercise holds are removed only through the agreed release process.
Test contacts and message handling
Send clearly labelled test messages to agreed factory, warehouse and business-customer contacts through the channels you would use during an incident. Ask recipients to acknowledge receipt, identify the batch and explain who would act next. Test the deputy contact when the usual contact is unavailable. Record sent, delivered, acknowledged and action confirmed separately, including failed delivery and unanswered calls.
Use staff or consenting participants to test the consumer message and response route. Ask them to find the batch marking and explain the proposed return instructions. Check that the telephone or mailbox reaches someone who can handle the enquiry. For business customers, ask how they would trace onward deliveries; knowing your direct customer does not prove their buyers can be reached.
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Record gaps and retest the failed steps
Keep an exercise file containing the scenario, scope, record extracts, stock reconciliation, block evidence, contact results and decision log. Record actual start and completion times rather than an assumed response speed. For each gap, state what failed, which goods or customers remain uncertain, the evidence needed, the responsible person and the agreed completion date.
Retest failed steps using the amended records, settings or contact details. Keep unresolved gaps visible and distinguish a planned correction from a demonstrated correction. Use our supplier corrective action guide when missing factory records need follow-up. Close the exercise with a signed review of what worked, what remains open and whether normal stock movement has been restored.
Frequently asked questions
Which batch should I choose for a mock recall?
Choose a real batch with both remaining stock and customer deliveries. Include awkward routes such as split shipments, transfers or returns so the exercise tests the records you actually use.
Should I send mock recall notices to customers?
Use agreed business contacts and consenting test participants. Label messages clearly as an exercise and keep public notices unpublished. Avoid sending an alarming fictional recall to unsuspecting customers.
What if the factory cannot trace the batch?
Record the missing link and affected scope as unresolved. Request the source production and packing records, assign an owner and retest. Do not treat a supplier's assurance as proof of batch identity.
How do I know the mock recall worked?
Look for reconciled stock, demonstrated dispatch blocks, acknowledged contacts and evidence that failed steps passed a retest. Record unreachable buyers and unexplained stock rather than declaring an unsupported pass.