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Supply Chains are Feeling the Pain

The impacts of COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, are already being felt across the world and in the vape industry. Current estimates of businesses with suppliers based in China are around 5 Million.  With this many companies reliant on China we are almost guaranteed to see some delay in shipments of many different kinds of products.

Around 90% of the world’s vaping and e-cigarette hardware manufacturers are based not far from where this virus originated. Shenzen, China is the home to around 1000 factories that manufacture some of our most favorite mods, tanks, and vapor accessories. Wuhan is about six hours North East of Shenzen. The timing for this virus could not have been worse for manufacturers of vaping products. 

New Year, New Virus

January 25th was Lunar New Year in China and this holiday always causes slowdowns at factories. A week or two before the holiday workers return to their homes, many far away from the factories, and manufacturing slows to a halt. Workers do not begin to arrive back to the factories until early February and do not resume full operations until the end of February.  A few weeks ago, CNN reported that “China is struggling to get back to work after the coronavirus lockdown.” Around 160 million people usually travel back to their workplaces after the New Year. These workers are now facing local government restrictions, facial mask shortages, and supply chain disruption, all factors that could cause a delay in their return.

Most distributors and companies that order from these companies have a plan in place for this yearly holiday and will place orders of popular products before the shutdown. Sometimes very popular products run out of stock, but most companies can count on the fact to have a restock by the end of February. But now with this virus rampaging across China, it is yet to be seen how long it will take for these companies to get back up to full speed.

What About Zamplebox?

Every vaper’s worst nightmare is running out of e-liquid! Fortunately, most e-liquid is manufactured outside of China. But that doesn’t necessarily mean not to worry about the coronavirus affecting your favorite e-liquid company or manufacturer. The ingredients that make up the liquid itself may be safe, but let us not forget about our bottles! Most e-liquid bottles are made in, yes, you’ve guessed it China! While we have not heard of any, “coronapocalypse bottle shortage madness” yet. This is something to seriously consider when you place your next order of vape stuff! But this may not be the only threat to you enjoying a delicious bottle of your favorite e-liquid. We have to remember our favorite government officials, the kind mailmen, and women that deliver these sweet vape mods and juice directly to our doors.

Rain, sleet, snow… and coronavirus?

It really takes a lot to slow down the U.S. Postal Service. The mail service is very well known to be able to get you your package no matter the weather. But the mailmen and women that make the deliveries are a key piece in the machine that gets our products from us to you. If current precautions do not help stop the spread of COVID-19, it is a real possibility that one of the first services we see stopped is the postal service. Many businesses are already giving their employees the option to work from home in hopes to prevent further spread of this virus. Mail people come into contact with tons of pieces of mail that have passed between many different hands. This, along with the daily contact of people they speak with along their route, it would be hard to argue that these mail workers would not want to risk that much exposure.

More about the Coronavirus and Prevention Measures Below:

Fatality Rate by Age:

Center for Disease Control Recommendations