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The public Chinese Lunar New Year holiday is coming up in February 2021. It is a welcome and well deserved break for Chinese workers. However, it is also a notoriously stressful time for the global manufacturing industry.  Although it is still a couple months away, we want to make sure our customers are informed so that they can adjust their build schedules ahead of time and avoid potential delays. Here's what to expect this year and how you can prepare.

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What to expect

• Our overseas suppliers will be closed February 9 through February 18 and will no longer be able to accept new orders for shipment before their closures after February 4. Depending on demand nearing the time, that date could be sooner.
• We've heard that the Chinese government may require people who leave the province that they work in to quarantine for 14 days when they return. This could add more time to the reopening of many factories by several weeks, similar to what we saw last year.
• Closures of our overseas suppliers will be accounted for in the quoting algorithm both in terms of available lead times and pricing.
• Due to the uncertainty of the situation we will be suspending our lead time guarantee during this period.

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How you can prepare

• Place your orders as soon as possible. We recommend placing time sensitive orders by the week of January 18 at the latest. The more time before Chinese New Year you are able to place your order, the less likely it will be to experience delays.  Based upon what we saw last year, it's possible we could see delays up until the end of March.
• Notify us of time sensitive orders ahead of time. Due to the increased pressure and demand put on our suppliers during this time there is a chance the even if you put an order through the week before factories closures, it may be delayed until after the holiday.
• If you are looking for a faster lead time during the holiday period than what our quoting algorithm is showing please get in touch. Our US board facilities remain open to help with all your quick turn needs, but also experience a surge in demand during this time.
• We are open to batching out your board needs over this multiple month period. If this is something you are interested in exploring, please get in touch with our team.

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We apologize in advance for this inconvenience. We hope that together through advanced planning and cooperation we can help prevent some of the stress that typically presents itself during this period.

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