The local garment and textile companies across Vietnam have always been less receptive to technology and innovation. However, over the recent years, there has been a gradual shift in their approach and lots of local manufacturers have now started understanding the relevance of technology. When Team Apparel Resources recently met a couple of authorised distributors of technology in Vietnam, they said in unison that there is some distance still to be covered.
“The difficult part is to convince the companies to use technology; not many are still open to adopting technology,” averred Nguyen Tan Thanh, President (Eng. MBA), Nhat Tin Technology Joint Stock Company. Nhat Tin has been an authorised distributor of total and smart CAD/CAM solutions in Vietnam since 2005. The company has been distributing best of the machines of globally renowned companies like Algotex, FK Group, Zund, Sulfet, Gemini CAD, Lectra, Romans CAD, and Sinajet.
However, most of the local garment manufacturers are not very keen to adopt the latest technology unless they have some reputed and successful companies to be considered as models. Thanh added, “We have to cite instances of reputed local firms, and tell how these firms have attained unprecedented success by using the new technology.” There is no better way than this to persuade the companies.
Two of the major customers of Nhat Tin Technology JSC – Garmex International and Viet Tien Garment JSC – are local companies that have invested significantly in complete cutting room solutions. These are good cases to convince many other local companies to go for technology.
What makes Thanh happy is that the number of enquiries for automatic cutting solution is increasing, which in itself is positive. Agreeing to what Thanh said, Transon, Director, WinDa (Bullmer) stated, “There has been a surge in the investment in advanced technology in both 2017 and 2018. Currently, Bullmer has 80 to 90 installations and we plan to add another 20 to 30 installations in the next one year.”
WinDa Technology Limited is a high-technology company in the textile and apparel industry that specialises in developing innovative apparel CAD/CAM/ERP System.
So, how do they persuade? Transon added that at WinDa, they try to create awareness among companies to adopt technology; that is the first step. Corroborating further, Thanh said, “In addition to doing a seminar (back in 2013), we bring customers to Garmex factory and then show them the benefits of the new technology. We also take the local companies to exhibitions and show them and explain about all the latest available technologies.”
Making the companies understand the importance of technology and also being a good guiding force for those companies is what defines a good distributor. Companies need to be also told about the right type of investment in which machines would produce better results.
Substantiating further, Thanh mentioned, “Right investment in right machines is also an extension of persuading companies to embrace technology. If the Romans CAD is for shoes, then Gemini CAD is for apparels. Also, Gemini is the best in Vietnam after Lectra and Gerber. It all depends on customer needs and we introduce the best machines to them. Similarly, there are different cutters for apparels, shoes and packaging and again we guide them to use the best. Zund is a world-class cutter and involves cost; not everyone can afford that.”
If there is active involvement of local apparel and textile firms in Vietnam for adopting technology, the economy of the nation will witness a surge in the years to come. Nhat Tin Technology JSC believes that at this pace, there will be a boom in the next two years. “Vietnam today has a problem of labour shortage and it is only going to increase. Therefore, it will not be easy for Vietnam to achieve the target of US $ 200 billion by 2035. This makes it all the more important for the local garment and textile companies in the country to move towards automation faster,” said Transon.
WinDa has been in Vietnam for 11 years now and has 400 to 500 customers in Vietnam alone. Transon says that special product service is essential for the success of any organisation and WinDa has a very good service team to ensure it is given to every customer – a good enough reason to justify the fast growth of WinDa in Vietnam.
At Nhat Tin, they provide complete training to their staff so that they can offer the customers excellent customer service and training. Going above and beyond, customer service is what delights a customer today and at Nhat Tin and WinDa, they are putting all the efforts to make the companies realise the relevance of technology in today’s competitive world.
