Home > Daily Necessities > Industry competence helps Gerber establish itself in Vietnam

Gerber Technology has a strong presence in Vietnam with an office in the country since 2007. The reputation that it enjoys in the country is of a company that has systems which are user-friendly and very durable. Gerber also offers strong technical support, including pre-sales consultant, training, commissioning, on-site service, and a large inventory of consumable parts – which are critical points in any decision-making process. Ngo Huy Duong, General Manager, Gerber Scientific International (Vietnam) Co. Ltd. has been with the brand for the last 22 years, ever since it was with a local distributor and is now heading the country’s operations based on his in-depth knowledge of the industry and the technology. In an exclusive one-on-one with Team Apparel , Ngo Huy Duong shared what makes Gerber a preferred brand in Vietnam…

With utmost confidence in the Gerber brand and the value that it stands for, Ngo Huy Duong proudly shares that when the trade embargo was lifted in 1993, post reunification of the country in 1975, Gerber was among the first to show faith in the industry and appointed a distributor. “Though Gerber was a global brand with a good reputation, it was not easy to make local manufacturers understand why they needed the technology and after a few months of struggle, we sold our first machine in 1994,” shares Ngo Huy Duong. Responsive service and best in class technology ensured many repeat orders for the company.

One of the biggest reasons behind opening an office in Vietnam was to be nearer to the customer when Vietnam entered the WTO and Gerber headquarters could sense a good business growth potential. Today the company is not only servicing the apparel and footwear industry, but the furniture industry step, which is a fast growing industry, and is also increasingly looking at Gerber for support in planning the cutting. “The automobile industry is not much developed in Vietnam so there is less real potential as of today, but we have the solutions and are prepared to service whichever industry shows interest,” says Ngo Huy Duong.

The biggest sector for the brand is of course garmenting, which is increasingly turning to technology for growth.

One of the biggest garment exporters from Vietnam, Viet Tien Garment Joint Stock Corporation was the first local company to utilize Gerber Technology’s AccuMark system – a powerful design, grading and marker making software specifically designed for the apparel industry. Over the past decade, Viet Tien and their subsidiary have been acquiring more and more automated equipment, and now its nationwide units and subsidiaries utilize a total of 32 Gerber AccuMark pattern design, grading, marker making and 3D design simulation workstations, 10 digitizers, 30 plotters, three Gerber automated spreading systems, and two GERBERcutter systems. “Gerber’s vast experience, combined with its in-deep training and technology transfer, full maintenance, and customer service offerings, has added to the manufacturing edge of the company, allowing Viet Tien to achieve outstanding productivity,” says Ngo Huy Duong.

Despite these successes, the company is still challenged by the mindset of the industry, mostly 100 per cent Vietnamese-owned factories, who look at such high-end technologies as heavy cost with low ROI’s as most companies do not even know how to optimize the systems and not as an investment for the future. “The foreign- owned companies are more open to discussing their needs and investing in such systems. These companies are more professional and are more financially strong,” says Ngo Huy Duong. In fact the divide between the attitude of the foreign- owned factories and the local companies is an area that most technology providers have not been able to fill. “We constantly hold workshops and demonstrate our systems for the industry to understand why they should invest, but much more needs to be done,” admits Ngo Huy Duong. As of today, there are around 300 end-users of various Gerber systems, with one-third of them as CAM end-users.

At present, the company has offices in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, in fact the head office is in Hanoi capital where 11 people are deployed to interact with the industry. However, the office in Ho Chi Minh City is much bigger with 20 people as it serves as the training and demonstration centre. “We have a very strong inventory of spare parts and no factory needs to stop work because of any maintenance or breakage issues. Furthermore, our technicians, trained at the Gerber headquarters, are fully equipped to address all needs of the customer,” says Ngo Huy Duong proudly. Around two-third of the customer base of Gerber is in and around HCM and the company is highly aware of the growing prospects of the region in the new global dynamics in apparel manufacturing.

Significantly, Gerber has four Advance Technology Centres (ATC) around the world – USA, Belgium, China and HCM (Vietnam), which reinforces the importance of Vietnam in the growth strategy of the company. “The ATC gives us the benefit of organic training and regular seminars which is an added support to the industry,” says Ngo Huy Duong. The focus at the ATC is on application. “It is important to train the operators who run the machine otherwise the investment is not optimized,” argues Ngo Huy Duong.

In the past few years, Gerber admits that there has been a slight dip in its popularity due to new competition coming in, but it is confident that the head-start that they have in the industry along with the goodwill created will stabilize the market in their favour. “We have been directly serving our customers for nearly a decade and they know what we can deliver. But we are putting in extra efforts on service and support to cement the relation we enjoy in the industry,” concludes Ngo Huy Duong.

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