How LQC Ramps Up Production and Shipping for Peak Lunar New Year Holiday
Lunar New Year is the second busiest time of the year for Luong Quoi Coconut's coconut production and ocean transportation activities. It is just behind the third quarter period, when is the ramp-up time for holiday shopping season in the North America and Europe markets.
Luong Quoi Coconut (LQC) is Vietnam's largest organic and all-natural coconut product manufacturer with three key business segments: private label, CocoGoodsCo brand, and bulk.Vietnam is one of the Asian countries that observe Lunar New Year as a national holiday. Like Christmas in Western countries, the holiday is the greatest time of the year for family gatherings, making good food, and giving each other the best wishes of luck and prosperity for a new year to come.
Vietnam's Lunar New Year or the Tết holiday usually takes longer than Christmas in Western countries. It lasts about 10 – 14 days, which significantly impacts businesses that have sourcing and production operations in the country.
The Vietnam logistics system significantly reduces capacity during the time-off. To avoid this expected disruption, most businesses begin increasing production and shipping activities to boost inventory levels moving in the supply chain and reduce lead time. Having inventory on the ocean instead of no action is a great way to tackle holiday idle time.
Here are two critical areas LQC international team (LQC, Inc.) focuses on to successfully fulfill high business demand for coconut product inventory. The main goal is to complete loading orders on container vessels for ocean transportation before Vietnam's closing time.
Production
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Review purchase orders and product quantity ordered on each production line.
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Review production schedule and ship time requested by customers.
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When the regular two-shift operations cannot accommodate the time needed for completing all orders, the production team adds the third shift to the schedule.
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Because coconut products are increasingly popular and consumed globally, their demand to make holiday food increases exponentially. Some production lines at LQC's factory run all three shifts daily to finish the holiday orders.
Ocean Transportation
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Unlike the pre-Covid time, the global supply chain faces many lingering challenges in 2020 and 2021, including lack of empty containers, booking shortage, port congestions, and high cost of transportation.
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LQC, Inc. has found it challenging to get container space meeting the expected departure time. Products sit in LQC's factory warehouses from 2 – 4 weeks before loading into an empty container.
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For that reason, as soon as we can estimate the cargo ready date at the factory, the team sends booking requests to forwarders. That would help our ocean forwarders put in booking requests with steamship lines early to minimize late time due to booking shortages.
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Diversifying logistics partners is a strategy we use to tackle the situation of limited space and rising ocean freight rates.
With over 24 years of experience manufacturing and exporting coconut products worldwide, LQC understands how important on-time and in-full order fulfillment is to our business partners' success. By constantly pivoting our strategy and adapting to new market conditions, we are committed to the best service level for our customers.
If you're interested in LQC private label capabilities, please email info@cocogoodsco.com for more information.
