A dramatic change in market trends and the "fourth industrial revolution" are forcing Vietnamese enterprises to gradually apply new technologies to production.(Photo: VNA)
Using the technology, businesses can increase their value. Many Vietnamesecompanies have started to invest in machines with modern technology to automatemany production stages to increase productivity, improve quality and save timeand money.
According to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO),leather footwear has been a key industry in Vietnam for many years, creatingjobs for more than one million workers nationwide.
The export turnover of leather and footwear reached more than 16 billion USD lastyear. Turnover is expected to reach 17 billion USD this year, a year-on-year increaseof more than 10 percent.
The world trend is changing and the new industrial revolution has made adramatic change in terms of labour productivity and science and technology.
Low labour cost is no longer an advantage, it is gradually moving to knowledgeeconomy.
According to leather workers, many big companies in Vietnam have invested inmachines, moving to automation.
Viet A Chau Investment Development Corporation in HCM City is investing intechnology to meet development requirements.
The corporation has invested in scanners and 3D printers to serve moulding. Theinvestment has helped businesses reduce time to 10 days for moulding -and tosignificantly reduce delivery time.
Thai Binh Shoes has been equipped with a large amount of new machinery forsample development and production. They include programmable sewing machines,computerised embroidery machines and laser cutting machines to automateproduction stages.
This helps the company reduce costs, increase labour productivity and reduceworker risks in several production stages.
According to experts, while the labour productivity of domestic enterprises isonly four to six pairs of shoes per person per day, those of foreign-investedenterprises has reached 16-18 pairs a day and is expected to increase to 20pairs next year.
This difference has cost domestic enterprises big losses compared to foreignenterprises in terms of export turnover and added value. Bnews.vn quotedPhan Thi Thanh Xuan, the footwear association’s secretary, as saying that modernmanagement methods and technology would solve the problem of labourproductivity and the growth of the footwear industry.
This investment required a lot of capital, but it would improve productivityand improve product quality, she said.
Nguyen Duc Thuan, association chairman, said that it was important to improvethe quality of human resources as well as strengthening the application ofscience and technology in production.
Despite the high export turnover, the value of the footwear industry is stilllow, accounting for only 20-25 percent of the value chain.
Limitation on research and development has been a difficult problem forVietnamese enterprises. Only by taking the initiative in research anddevelopment, Vietnamese enterprises can increase their value over the wholevalue chain.
Recently, the Italian Trade Agency and the shoemakers’ association inauguratedthe Italy-Vietnam Footwear Technology Centre at the Lefaso Centre in thesouthern province of Binh Duong.
Italy will assist Vietnamese companies improve product quality throughtechnology transfer, consultancy and training of human resource.
The centre is equipped with modern machinery and equipment imported directlyfrom Italy and other European countries, allowing small and medium-sizedenterprises in the leather-footwear industry to approach, research and developnew products.-VNA
