Rack factory Bor Yueh badly damaged in Vietnam riots

AUBURN, Wash. (BRAIN) — Last week’s riots near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, so badly damaged Bor Yueh International, which manufactures bike racks for Tubus and RackTime, that it is shut down for now, said Ortlieb USA president Jeff Scully. Ortlieb imports and distributes both Tubas and RackTime products and sells them through Quality Bicycle Products and REI.

Scully said he had a 40-foot container that was to have been shipped out just before the riots, but he is unable to confirm through his broker whether the container is en route to the U.S. The rioters also partially destroyed a warehouse that contained Bor Yueh products as well as products for other companies.

In a message from Tubus, which owns RackTime, the company said it uses just-in-time delivery for its production materials. The company will combine its production materials and try to restart the factory as soon as possible. Currently, Bor Yueh is reinstalling some IT equipment.

Ditmar Slik at Tubus told Scully that the company will focus on producing products for its OE customers first before starting to fill its wholesale pipeline for shipments to distributors. It will also consider moving some production to other facilities, he told Scully in an email. “We will work under pressure to fulfill all outstanding orders on time,” Slik said.

The problem is more severe for Europe, where many bikes come spec’d with fenders and racks, said Scully. So it’s important for Tubus to get its OE orders filled so European bike sales won’t be affected.

Demand for racks has been especially strong in the U.S., Scully said, and there are none in the pipeline at the moment based on the information he has received today. “I’m trying to learn more, but you can imagine how difficult that is right now,” he said.

From his contacts with Bor Yueh executives, rioters stole computers, smashed monitors and destroyed manufacturing control equipment. Fires later brought down part of the factory’s roof. Bor Yueh specializes in aluminum manufacturing and had built the plant to produce Tubus and RackTime products.

Tubus is a German company and owns both brands. A pair of aluminum RackTime front and rear racks retails for approximately $50 to $60. Tubus racks, on the other hand, are made of stainless-steel or titanium and are generally twice as costly.