Time to read: 2 min

Fictiv’s Monthly Supply Chain Update series gives you insight into the logistics challenges, transit times, and related manufacturing issues we’re currently facing.

Chinese, or Lunar, New Year is approaching, and the holiday is a big deal across Asia. Every year Chinese New Year seriously disrupts production, so we wanted to share what we know about the coming holiday so that you can be ready.

Why Chinese New Year Disrupts Manufacturing Production

The official Chinese holiday runs from January 31st – February 6th. During this time, people leave the industrial cities of coastal China en masse to return to their hometowns for the holiday — 1.5 billion trips occur during Chinese New Year. So, factories throughout China stop production for all or part of the holiday. 

Our Overseas Production Plan

In order to continue to reliably deliver your orders on time, we will have an overseas production holiday (meaning we will not manufacture or ship goods from overseas) from January 24- February 8. We formulated this strategy to accommodate both the slow down and ramping up periods for our manufacturing partners’ production capacity in China and work within the constraints of international shipping capacity. After all, our priority is providing you with a committed lead time that we can stand behind and deliver so you don’t have any surprises.

Our Domestic Production Plan

Of course, we expect domestic manufacturing to operate normally during that window. And we’ve significantly expanded our capacity within our network of CN partners this year to make sure that we can still get you what you need with a reliable lead time no matter when you place an order.

However, for folks needing overseas production, the time to order is now! 

Key Takeaways

  • Chinese New Year creates a long block of downtime for overseas manufacturers
  • You need to get your international orders in within the next few weeks to avoid that downtime — especially injection molding orders since we don’t have a domestic injection molding offering and injection molding generally has longer lead times than our other offerings
  • Our domestic 3D printing and CNC machining partners will be unaffected by the holiday
  • Upload your project today and celebrate (instead of bemoan) Chinese New Year with us!