So what can you do to minimise the impact of CNY shutdowns on your import/export business?
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Confirm shut down schedules. Contact your manufacturers and shipping companies well in advance to determine cut-off dates for new orders.
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Order early. East West Manufacturing, a global contract manufacturing company, suggests that businesses should expect that no production or shipments will leave China during the end of January and businesses should also plan for reduced output until mid-March 2017.
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Keep a close eye on quality. According to China Importal, many workers simply never return to their job after the CNY festivities wrap up. That means manufacturers have to fill seats with new, often untrained, workers while trying to ramp up operations to work through the backlog of orders. Such circumstances may adversely affect the quality of the output, so be sure to maintain your brand’s standards.
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Move forward with non-production related concerns. You can still negotiate, conduct due diligence and compare prices during Chinese New Year. However, you may not want to place large deposits before or during CNY due to the unpredictability of staffing and shut-downs mentioned above.