Enterprises are seeking solutions to improve product designs and manufacturing capabilities

​(News Portal – Dong Nai) - Manufacturing, especially in industries and fields applying modern technology, is growing exponentially in Vietnam as well as Dong Nai province. However, according to many business owners, they are still having difficulty designing and manufacturing their products and depending on outsourcing to foreign partners. One of the problems is finding skilled workforce to meet these requirements. 

Dong Nai Wood Association is currently promoting cooperation with universities to train human resources in the field of product design. 

Talented human resources in general, especially in the design and manufacturing stages of products, are lacking, forcing businesses and training units to strengthen links and supply human resources toward production needs.

Weak in product design and manufacturing

Currently, Vietnam is trying to be self-reliant and increase the localization rate of manufacturing industries but there are still multiple obstacles to overcome. In particular, limited labor skills and productivity are one of the major barriers in forming autonomous domestic supply chains.

Deputy Director of the Department of Industry (Ministry of Industry and Trade) Pham Tuan Anh said that the path of autonomy in the mechanical and product manufacturing industry is an inevitable direction if Vietnam wants to increase the position of the manufacturing industry. However, businesses are facing limitations, such as fierce competition from imported products, lack of market research and the competitiveness of domestic businesses is not strong enough. Domestic and FDI enterprises are dependent on many production stages with high added value that are located abroad, such as computer products, electronic products, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, chemicals, rubber, transportation vehicles and spare parts....

In fact, in the past, Vietnam focused on attracting FDI enterprises to increase the value of domestic industrial production and at the same time encouraged technology transfer. It can be said that this goal has not been achieved. For many reasons, including great incentives for FDI compared to the domestic sector, businesses therefore lack the motivation to grow and join the production supply chain. Meanwhile, the Resolution of the 13th Congress (2021) has determined the goal that by 2025 the proportion of processing and manufacturing industry will reach 25% of GDP and set the task of restructuring industry and improving the level of technological capacity, promoting the transition to digital technology, improving the autonomy of the economy, thereby being able to participate deeply and effectively in global value chains.

For businesses, according to Mr. Nguyen Hoa An, Director of An Phat Technical Co., Ltd. (Bien Hoa City), specializing in manufacturing supporting industrial products, the company has been having difficult in recruiting qualified workers. Even though many workers have degrees, businesses still have to retrain them and in the long run, employee engagement is also problematic because there will be other units soliciting their personnel. This is a difficult problem that many businesses need to urgently solve.

Connecting human resource training between schools and businesses

The collaboration between businesses and training units is a pressing issue today. For example, in the field of wood production and export, although Dong Nai province has the second highest wood export value in the country, most of it is currently produced according to processing orders for foreign countries, most of the products do not have its own design and brand. Therefore, in recent years, Dong Nai Wood Association has been trying to support businesses to increase the added value of products by investing in technology and human resources. The Association has also implemented a cooperation program with the Vietnam National University of Forestry at Dong Nai (Trang Bom district) to achieve this goal in both the immediate and long term, especially in human resources to be in charge of the product design phase. Chairman of Dong Nai Wood Association Le Xuan Quan believed collaboration with training units is a condition for the industry to promote its value and develop more sustainably in the future.

An institution that has many years of collaboration with businesses is Lilama 2 International Technology College (Long Thanh District). Ten years ago, the school joined hands with Germany to train lecturers in the field of automatic technology, mechatronics, robotics technology, industrial welding, metal cutting, refrigeration... to serve the retraining of students. The school has since expanded cooperation with many leading partners in high-tech industry such as German corporations Bosch, Mercedes - Benz...

Similarly, according to Dr. Nguyen Tien Manh, Rector of College of Technology and Management Sonadezi, the school always focuses on cooperating with businesses in training and finding jobs for students. The school is currently training human resources for around 60 large enterprises to in various industries, mostly for industries that are human resources intensive. At the same time, the college also regularly collaborates with businesses to bring students to practice, study, and experience right at the factories and research departments of businesses to create conditions for students to meet the needs of businesses immediately after graduation. ​