Chinese New Year Imminent, So Forget About Orders, Support For At Least A Week

January 17, 2020 by Dave Haynes

If your technology comes from China or Taiwan – and it is VERY likely at least some of your digital signage components started there – the next few weeks will be interesting because of Chinese New Year, which is about to start.

All major businesses in China and Taiwan pretty much shut down for at least seven days, including the factories and by extension, repair depots.

Production might be disrupted for some manufacturers for as much as three weeks, according to a LinkedIn post by tech CEO Case Engelen.

Based in China and Taiwan, he explains:

  1. All manufacturing projects are put on hold.
  2. Component manufacturers and distributors also go on vacations.
  3. No manufacturing components orders ship out of China or Taiwan during CNY.
  4. The information flow is cut during the CNY holiday. No one will pick up the phone if you call.
  5. You might experience serious production slowdowns 1 or 2 weeks before CNY holiday, this is because many workers leave factories early to go back home.
  6. Before CNY holiday, you might experience an increase in quality issues. As factories and its suppliers are getting ready for the big holiday; they rush to finish as many orders as possible before too many workers leave for the holiday, and before all businesses in China and Taiwan officially close.
  7. After CNY holiday, you might also experience an increase in quality issues. This happens because up to a third of the factory workers don’t go back to their jobs. As a result, many inexperienced workers are promoted or hired. This phenomenon is not limited to assembly line workers, it can even extend to managers and key firmware and design engineers.

If you have been doing business with China and Taiwan for some time, you know this. But if you are new to that, or a solutions provider or end-user wondering about delays or a lack of communications, this is why.

Experienced companies know about the New Year and plan accordingly, stocking up of components and finished goods ahead of time.

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