After more than 30 years with the Viet Tiep Course and 10 years as chairman, Mr. Luong Van Thang found himself with a new challenge at Novo-Viet Tiep, where he considers himself younger, stronger willed with The goal is to bring Vietnamese products faster to the international market.
The strategic handshake that created NOVO Viet Tiep
How did you get into the copper accessories manufacturing industry (copper locks) and Viet Tiep?
– At that time, when we graduated from school, there was still a subsidized system and work assignments. Viet Tiep at that time owned a factory in Dong Anh and needed to recruit local people, so I joined.
On the first day I arrived, I was overwhelmed by the extremely modern automatic production line, which is the dream of an entire country, of Viet Tiep. It was a gift from Czechoslovakia to Hanoi through equipping a number of companies, including the Hanoi Lock (predecessor of the Viet Tiep Lock) symbolizing the friendship between the two countries. Currently, among the production facilities that Czechoslovakia gave to Vietnam at that time, only Viet Tiep Lock is still rising in the market, the remaining units have been wiped out.
From the pride of working in such a modern factory, we began to master the equipment, gradually falling in love with the profession without even knowing it. That was the starting point for my journey of nearly 40 years with the Viet Tiep Course.
When you became president of Viet Tiep Course, did you feel pressure because you lead an industry-leading company that has built a name for 50 years?
– When I accepted the position of President, the company was over 30 years old, and a many-year-old business is aging in thinking, working, and acting, so all problems start from rejuvenation. Just maintaining this business as it was received, and then how to develop it, innovating products, and taking care of social security for 1,000 people is also a very stressful task.
Is it the youthfulness of NOVO-VIET TIEP that attracted you to this joint venture after leaving the Viet Tiep Course?
– Not really. When creating NOVO-VIET TIEP, this was another big responsibility, because we saw that it was necessary to develop more multi-industries, not just focusing on lockable products. At that time, Viet Tiep Lock had strengths in market systems and technology and had to find ways to take advantage of and expand many other products. While looking for new products to make, NOVO and VIET TIEP “married” each other.
With this joint venture proposal, are you more excited or worried?
– Both are available. The pressure to invest capital to establish a joint venture to develop, move up, and be effective makes me worried. At that time, we brought Viet Tiep’s capital into this joint venture, so we had to think about the risk if we lost capital, what would our responsibility be, not to mention losing the opportunity, missing 5 years compared to what we calculated. That’s why we calculated very carefully before coming to this decision.
As for thinking, we are very excited and confident. Because they are reputable units and have a position in the market, they can take advantage of what they already have to quickly achieve results.
Through the eyes of an experienced person with many years of experience in the copper accessories manufacturing industry, what do you think are the advantages and biggest challenges of the newly established joint venture?
– The biggest advantage is two joint venture enterprises, one is a large reputable brand in the manufacturing industry, and the other is a national brand in the production of consumer goods. Second, both businesses have a truly passionate desire to rise and share the same goal of becoming the number-one brand in the field of valves, faucets, copper threads, and copper accessories.
Regarding challenges, I think the biggest challenge is that when the two parties first ‘get married’ to each other, just like a newly married couple, in the beginning, the two parties still have feelings for each other and do not have a deep understanding of each other. each other’s ways of doing things so they don’t ‘match’ each other. But based on goodwill, both sides are truly sincere with this joint venture relationship and have a high consensus to create the No. 1 prestigious Novo-Viet Tiep brand in Vietnam in tap valves and accessories. Due to the same situation, we quickly overcame this challenge to become in absolute harmony.
The youth and strength of an experienced president
What is the first goal that the Board of Directors sets for Novo-Viet Tiep? And after 2 years, how far has that goal been accomplished?
– The long-term goal is definitely to become a leading enterprise in this field in Vietnam and a strong exporter to major markets such as the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Korea…
Now is just the first step, we focus on building customers to invest in management systems to always maintain a modern, methodical enterprise. Next, the short-term goal is that in the first 3 years, we accept to invest in the system, invest in people, invest in the brand to carry out tasks such as increasing revenue, expanding markets, Finding customers, increasing output and from the 4th year it must be profitable. Despite business risks due to COVID-19, we have been able to maintain business operations and still have growth compared to the previous year, continuously exporting large orders to the UK, US, and Australian markets…
In many interviews, he often mentioned promoting the production of high-tech products. With Novo-Viet Tiep, do you keep this goal and how will you do it?
– Yes. Particularly at Novo-Viet Tiep, this goal is consistent and drastic, because to be the leader, we must promote the process of continuous innovation and be as strong as possible to create a difference in quality. quality, design, and maximum labor productivity to create outstanding advantages compared to society.
Novo – Viet Tiep’s international partners are all large markets and very different from Viet Tiep’s traditional partners. What has Novo-Viet Tiep done to succeed in those markets and what are the company’s future export goals?
– We always find a new path – that is Novo-Viet Tiep, we must build ourselves and stand on the shoulders of giants to rise. We try to do well in the initial steps towards the ultimate goal of being the leading enterprise in manufacturing faucet valves, gas valves, and copper accessories in Vietnam.
We are always strongly concerned about finding export markets and taking advantage of the opening possibilities of market agreements. The foreign customer base is extremely huge, so just a small portion of it is enough to make us a big business. Thinking is doing today, we not only conquer the goal of replacing imported goods but also stretch ourselves, bringing Vietnamese co-branded valves, faucets, and thread products beyond the border of the S-shaped strip of land to conquer. Successfully serving customers in the most demanding markets such as the US, UK, Japan, Australia, Korea…
How do you feel you have changed after 2 years with Novo-Viet Tiep?
– Younger (laughs). I feel younger. Working in a young company, I am the oldest person. Everyone here is in their twenties, I know I’m already your age. But I feel very young because I am forced to be active and withstand great challenges. I feel happy because of this.
In terms of will, we are more determined. We do not limit ourselves because of our age. Instead, we must eliminate the age gap to develop ourselves to successfully realize the vision of Novo-Viet Tiep./.
