By Patrick Avenell
Next Monday (23 January 2012) is the start of the Chinese New Year festivities, the most important cultural festival in the world’s biggest country.
Whilst this celebration is a time of great joy for our neighbours to the north, it is a period that provides headaches for local appliance companies, which are heavily reliant on China for their manufacturing.
Although the Chinese New Year is an annual event, is it not a structured calendar entry, as with the Western New Year. The traditional Chinese calendar is lunar based, meaning the dates fluctuate yearly, similar to the Easter holiday.
So while Chinese New Year has an annual effect on manufacturing, it is rare for that effect to be felt so early in the calendar year. In fact, this is the earliest Chinese New Year since 2004.
In China, the New Year celebration is marked by a family reunion dinner, with family members from all over the country returning to their home towns for two weeks of specially prepared meals, fasting and prayer.
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During this time, the factories shut down, meaning that two weeks of production is lost. This is normally realised as an understandable inconvenience by Australian importers. The early timing of this year’s celebration, however, coincides with the traditional manufacturing period for Mother’s Day products.
The appliances popular at Mother’s Day, such as small kitchen appliances, coffee machines and personal care units, are predominantly manufactured in China. To overcome this obstacle, product managers have had to be cognisant of this timing.
“We plan well ahead of Chinese New Year to make sure it doesn’t affect our manufacturing,” said the manager of one of Australia’s leading small appliance brands.
“You need to get your orders in early, as Chinese New Year is very different to New Years in Australia. Whereas we hit-the-ground running in the New Year, often Chinese factory workers will use the New Year to find work closer to home, leading to a lot of employee turnover.
“This means you lose two weeks during the celebration, and then another month while the new workers are being recruited and trained.”
The next symbol in the Chinese New Year cycle is the Dragon. The last time the Chinese Year matched the rugby league premiers was in 1964, when the St George Dragons won the competition. In the AFL, Richmond was the last winner to match the Chinese New Year, when it won the old VFL in 1974 – the Year of the Tiger.
The team at Current.com.au wishes a Happy Chinese New Year to all our readers.