New Year delays

New Year delays.

China and other areas here in Asia are getting set for the New Year holiday beginning in early February. This means things are a rush to get out the door before the end of the month, causing major port problems at many places, and of course a line up at major receiving ports. The holiday varies from a few days to some taking 2 weeks. This means that things will not start up until in Mid February, causing some possible delays in goods needed in March. Planning around this holiday is a nightmare. With consumers having more money, Asian travel will increase throughout the area. Hotel rooms will be filled—and prices will be higher. Even if you are visiting on business areas that are not directly celebrating this New Year holiday, costs, rooms, and flights will be higher.

On another subject, many companies use a global/regional policy for sourcing. As companies grew here in Asia, so did various small corporate indirect buying offices. As companies look for further cost reductions, they are consolidating some of the small indirect buying areas into larger regional ones, looking to leverage the indirect corporate overhead spend and reducing that particular supplier base. One great area for savings has been the sourcing of marketing spend by marketing commodity managers, especially for consumer products sold in Asia. Cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, autos, and other product areas are looking to focus marketing materials and services sourcing to a smaller regional supply base.