Chinese New Year causes major production delays in anything sourced from the largest continent. So to prevent anything going awry, it’s best to know how to handle it early on.
Here’s what you need to know to avoid any Chinese New Year delays for your business.
What is Chinese New Year?
If you live in a western country, then your experience with Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) may be minimal.
In short, it’s exactly what it sounds like, celebrating the new year of the Chinese calendar.
In practice, it is the biggest holiday on the calendar in countries that celebrate it, including the manufacturing powerhouses of mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Indonesia. Chinese New Year is something that needs to be experienced, and in western terms, the scale of the holiday is on the level of Christmas. Food, drinks, parties, people, gifts, and long vacations.
It’s the one time of year where you can guarantee that people living in these countries take time off—except if they run a hotel.
Places are simply closed. That certainly includes any place that manufactures anything.
And in this case, packaging.
So what does this mean for you if the largest manufacturing places in the world are closed for a month?
Chinese New Year Dates and What to Know
Because the Chinese calendar is different from the western Gregorian calendar, the dates are never the same.
Chinese New Year occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20. It starts with a new moon and ends with the next full moon, so the holiday is 15 days in full. But although this is the official span of Chinese New Year, the dates that affect manufacturing and shipping stretch on both sides.
With people going on vacation, and often going back to their hometowns, manufacturing starts slowing down a couple weeks before the start of the holiday. And afterwards, it can take a few weeks for things to ramp back up due to people slowly coming back, or switching jobs and companies needing to hire new workers that have to get up to speed.
Ultimately you should expect about a month of little to no production.
Factor In Shipping Delays Too
Likewise, with manufacturing shut down, shipping also stops. Because of this, everyone working with an overseas supplier is trying to get last minute orders in before shipping shuts down, so there’s an overload of shipments to go out and your items could get caught in the congestion.
After starting production again, there’s also a backload of orders that factories need to handle and then need to be shipped out. So on the backside of Chinese New Year, there’s also shipping delays.
Chinese New Year Timelines
The timeline looks something like this:
- Two weeks before Chinese New Year: Manufacturing slows down, shipping is inundated with orders before the shutdown.
- Chinese New Year: Everything is closed for two weeks. Some factories could be closed for even longer.
- The two weeks after Chinese New Year: Manufacturing starts back up, slowed by new employees and a backlog of orders. Shipping starts back up as products and packaging move out. Shipping is overloaded because of the backlog.
All in all, you’re looking at six weeks to two months of slowed or stopped manufacturing and shipping. And the only way to prepare for it is to plan ahead.
How to Prepare for Chinese New Year Delays
In the event of an early Chinese New Year, you may not need too many extra products or packaging from your overseas supplier. With Christmas having just ended, customers will likely be hunkered down for the winter and working back the money they spent on their own holidays.
But if Chinese New Year occurs later, say February 19, or you have a new product launch or an event that needs packaging, then you may have to start planning for the shutdown as early as June.
That’s right. June.
Depending on the quantities you need or if you’re creating something new that needs time to work out the kinks, then you’ll want plenty of leeway to make sure that whatever it is you’re ordering will be delivered on time.
Additionally, if you wait too long to start planning for Chinese New Year, then the Christmas rush can get in the way.
While June is the extreme end of the planning phase, it doesn’t hurt to start talking to your overseas supplier now to avoid hiccups for your business.
Stocking up on supplies early is the best way to handle this shutdown.
Communication, Logistics, Design, and So Much More
Communicating with your overseas supplier may also be a bit of a hassle. With language barriers and competing orders, it can be difficult to know that your orders are on track to make that cross-ocean trek.
That’s why Zenpack offers logistics services in addition to packaging design and supply. Headquartered in the US and with four founders hailing from Taiwan, we’re perfectly positioned to communicate what you need and make sure that your packaging is getting out on time.
And because Chinese New Year is part of our heritage, we know when to start planning and help our customers get in early. From alerting you early to the process, to placing orders and helping with any warehousing that’s needed, we make sure you have what you need come February.
As a packaging design studio, we’re proud of the awards we’ve won. But logistics is the behind-the-scenes work. And it’s what keeps our customers always at the ready.
If you have fully designed packaging, we can still help coordinate its smooth manufacturing and delivery from China. And if you need it designed, too, then of course we can handle that. Chinese New Year or not, our customers always have top-notch packaging ready to send out. Give us a call and see how we can help you.
