Vape Product Manufacturing Shutdown During the Chinese New Year and What to Do About It

The Chinese New Year (CNY) manufacturing shutdown is an issue that all businesses that third-party manufacture in China have to deal with. Which are most businesses in the world.

What it is is that manufacturing, transportation, and pretty much everything shuts down in China for two weeks to a month every year. In some cases, factories shut down for up to eight weeks (two months).

This year (2022), the official date for the start of the Chinese New Year is February 1st, but festivities usually start by the end of January. Meaning festivities have likely begun now. What this means is that by now, most factory employees have gone back to their native regions to spend time with their families.

It’s also a very traditional practice that Chinese people will take this time of the year to get married, which is also one of the reasons why manufacturing can be shut down for so long. We know, it doesn’t sound like a factory should shut down just because there are a few people missing, but imagine this happening on a mass scale; we mean millions of people traveling back home at a time in a country where distances can be as far as they are between countries.

This means that big factories’ workforce decreases by up to 80% or more. Smaller factories have an even harder time with it, to the point where their workforce is reduced to 0%. That means no operations at all.

Part of the reason why this happens is that factories are usually located in niche markets. Basically, a region will specialize in factories that make auto parts, another one in glass, and so forth. So, yes, there is a region in China that specializes in vape products and parts.

The thing is:

Most factory towns rely on outsourcing workforce from other regions. This workforce is in its majority young people that take times out of the year in between studies to work and make some money before getting married. Simply, the workforce is usually unreliable and ever-changing.

At the same time, the reality of it is that most factories that vape brands work with run smaller operations. This means that there is zero production and zero distribution.

But there is a way around it:

Most factories will plan in advance to meet the necessities of their clients before they leave on vacation for the CNY festivities. This means that manufacturing is ramped up during the months of October, November, and December. It also means that brands should place their orders for the months of January, February, and sometimes even March in advance.

In other words:

It’s extremely important for vape brands to stock up on products and equally important for your vape shop to stock up on their goods. Or negotiate a steady flow of items for the first three months of the new year in order to guarantee that you keep your shelves full for customers.

This in addition to the worldwide scarcity of metal containers poses a very important obstacle for the U.S. vape industry. So make sure you stock up and register as a VapeRanger wholesale customer to purchase products soon and at incredible prices.

On our side, we’re doing our best effort to have products for you in stock and don’t see anything too bad happening. But we also recommend that you stock up yourself and avoid any unwanted hassle.

It’s up to our suppliers to negotiate with their manufacturers before production deadlines hit (which they’ve already done), it’s up to us to make sure that we get a big chunk of that inventory, and it’s up to you to make sure that you do too.