In mid-September 2023, the Da Nang Department of Industry and Trade, the national Department of Industry under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade) and Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group) inked a memorandum of understanding ‘Developing smart factories for Vietnamese businesses in Da Nang and the Central Viet Nam’. After 3 months of participating in the project, businesses selected to develop smart factories have made initial improvements and optimised their operating systems.

Engineers work at the Trungnam EMS Company, the Hi-tech Park, Hoa Vang District, Da Nang. Photo: M.Q

Operating in the field of manufacturing industrial packaging paper, cartons and color boxes, the Tan Long Packaging Co., Ltd. located in Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang previously invested in a lot of machinery but its operation effectiveness has not been high yet.

According to Samsung Group's assessment, the company's colour box production line is only at 0.9/5 on the smart factory scale given by Samsung.

After 12 weeks with 3 project activities (surveying the current state of the business and collecting related data; consulting support for smart factory development and future management), a data management system Smart intelligence at the company has been formed, helping to collect real-time data, transfer information to software to synthesize and make recommendations to optimise operations, eliminating as much manual labour as possible in the intermediate stage.

Based on reports compiled from the central control room system with detailed data, engineers can easily grasp the production situation and coordinate with departments to deploy flexible, timely and optimal production.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, the Director of Tan Long Packaging Co., Ltd. said that experts trained a number of company specialists to understand how to pose problems and build essential items to build smart factories for other production lines.

The plan completion rate at the company before applying the smart data management system was about 38-45%, but till date, this number has increased to 85%. Thus, from the initial level of 0.9 points, the company has outstandingly climbed to 2.8/5 points, exceeding 0.3 points compared to the original target of the project.

The company is, for the time being, digitising and managing data on software and systems, most importantly helping company leaders manage and eliminate unusual errors that cause great damage at production stages.

Another enterprise participating in the project is Trung Nam Electronics Manufacturing Services Joint Stock Company (Trungnam EMS at the Da Nang Hi-tech Park, Hoa Vang District with the production field of assembling electronic components. According to the initial smart factory standard test results, the company scored 1/5 points and needs to improve its information system, transportation operations and equipment management.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Huy, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trungnam EMS Company, said that the company's electronic components manufacturing and assembly factory has improved control and management of input and output of materials and products, especially controlling product quality, helping increase the company's reputation with customers. The factory is increasing production to meet orders for a corporation in the United States and striving to become part of Samsung Group's potential hardware supply chain. From 1 point, the company has raised it to 1.6/5 points.

It is known that the Smart Factory Development project, jointly developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. and the departments of Industry and Trade in provinces and cities, has been implemented from February 2022 with the goal of supporting the development of the ‘smart factories’ model in 50 businesses and trained 100 Vietnamese experts in the field of smart factory consulting.

After 2 years of implementation, the number of experts and businesses receiving training and consultancy from this project has exceeded the initial target, with 123 experts and 52 businesses nationwide.

Workers are seen at the Tan Long Packaging Company Limited, Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang. Photo: M.Q

In particular, Da Nang is the first locality in the central region to participate in the project with 2 businesses. Businesses are advised by Samsung to build a safe production environment, screen and arrange equipment and tools, set up management tables in Excel, reduce processing time, and optimize location arrangements to make factory layout and warehouse rearrangement more intuitive.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Mai, Deputy Director of the Da Nang  Department of Industry and Trade, before participating in the project, businesses still collected and managed data locally, and process operation information was updated slowly, greatly affecting the speed and efficiency of decision making of managers.

When participating in the project, businesses have been trained and guided to plan strategies as well as build a thorough roadmap towards "smart factories", a management system consisting of controlled processes redesigned to optimize and ensure the smooth and continuous flow of operational information.

From the effectiveness of the project, the Da Nang Department of Industry and Trade has proposed that Samsung Group increase the number of Da Nang businesses joining this programme in 2024 and the following years.

At the same time, it is a need to support the building of a consulting force at selected businesses and a number of outside experts to gradually help the city have a team of consulting experts strong enough to proactively support businesses in the future when the project ends.

Reporting by MAI QUE - Translating by A.THU