Empowering manufacturers with real-time data-driven insights

Vietnam is trying to become a global manufacturing hub. What do you think the country needs to do to realise this?

Christanto Suryadarma, sales vice president for Southeast Asia, South Korea and Channel APJeC, Zebra Technologies

To compete in today's market, manufacturers need improved quality, faster cycle times, and increased visibility and flexibility, all while meeting regulatory compliance. In 2023, Vietnam was ranked 46/132 in the Global Innovation Index and second among 37 lower middle-income group economies.

While Vietnam has come a long way on its digital transformation journey, there are still some gaps to close before they can truly become a global manufacturing hub. To achieve this, technology and innovation will play a key role in improving Vietnamese manufacturers' productivity, product quality, and competitiveness to get them up to the desired level.

This is where Zebra's manufacturing solutions come into the picture, by enabling manufacturers with greater visibility to make decisions quickly and decisively, which translates to greater accuracy, cost savings, and better overall business results.

With the rapid growth of digital transformation, manufactures are leveraging emerging technologies to power real-time visibility and data-driven insights. Could you share some examples?

There are many stages of digital transformation, from introducing the foundational barcodes, scanners, and mobile computers, to the more advanced and sophisticated solutions like RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). There truly is not a one-size-fits-all solution because every business challenge is unique, and it depends on which stage of automation the business is currently at.

Naturally, the more advanced solutions require greater capital investment, but it is important for manufacturers to understand the need to “think big and start small.” By equipping themselves with the right technology, it can improve their productivity through increased efficiency, greater accuracy, and enhanced cost-savings, which ultimately translates to better business results.

It is also important that manufacturers not simply choose the cheapest solutions available. Instead, they should consider the total cost of ownership, which includes aftersales support when the devices are down, the overall security and support for patches, and whether it is from a reputable brand that comes with years of experience.

A great example would be BE Switchcraft, which is a leading manufacturer of customised electrical switchboards from Australia. Each of their switchboards is tailored to the customers' requirements based on the needs of their respective building projects, which makes it a critical component.

BE Switchcraft needs to constantly update its customers on their switchboards' manufacturing progress. As its business grew rapidly, the company's manual tracking process could no longer keep up with the increased workload.

It needed to enhance its existing tracking process with automation to make updates timelier and more accurate. As such, Zebra's RFID solution was adopted to enable real-time visibility of its manufacturing process and financial data to help better meet its customers' expectations.

For manufacturers, mitigation of supply chain disruptions is crucial. How can real-time visibility and data-driven insights support them?

Regardless of the type of manufacturer, they all crave better connectivity between their assets, materials, and staff within the four walls of their manufacturing plants.

When trying to locate a product or the source of a potential manufacturing problem, time is not always on the side of the manufacturer. Zebra's track and trace solutions make traceability easy for anyone to achieve.

With sensors, readers, and scanning technology, it is simple to create a complete record of every product as it moves through every step of your manufacturing facility. Zebra's portfolio of track and trace solutions even includes the family of fixed industrial scanners that enable automatic track and trace of every part and package and machine vision solutions of smart cameras designed to enhance manufacturers' operations from simple track and trace to complex quality inspection checks.

To achieve true visibility, manufacturers must consider the traceability of their products throughout the entire supply chain. Besides coping with the case of inventory shortage that may result in lost sales, traceability is imperative to maintaining product safety and lessening the impact of recalls, especially for those who manufacture perishables like food or pharmaceuticals.

How can Zebra help manufacturers in Vietnam to increase operational efficiency and competitiveness?

Zebra has been empowering the front line of businesses, including manufacturers, for more than 50 years. We work closely with more than 10,000 partners across over 185 countries, to better understand the needs of our customers before offering them tailored solutions that cater to their needs.

We invest up to 10 per cent of our annual revenue in research and development ($519 million in 2023), and we have also expanded our product portfolio through several strategic acquisitions in recent years.

Zebra works closely with its extensive channel partner network to deliver industry-tailored solutions that truly cater to the varying challenges faced by our end customers. By introducing the right solutions, manufacturers in Vietnam will be able to streamline their operations, optimise workflows, and make better business decisions leading to improved results.

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