At the age of 64, Director Nguyen Van Tri still quickly adjusts the precision mechanical equipment for tens of billions of dong at the factory in District 7 (HCMC). This mechanical workshop used to make molds to produce hundreds of millions of Colgate brushes, which were sold worldwide.
But not only brush mold, Lap Phuc Co., Ltd also specializes in precision mechanics, making molds for many products and product details of brands such as Tesla, GM (General Motors), Suzuki, Panasonic, Sanyo...
Mouth-to-mouth, hands-on, Mr. Nguyen Van Tri, General Director of Lap Phuc Co., Ltd. quickly adjusted the precision mechanical equipment worth tens of billions of dong/machine at the factory in District 7 (HCMC). At the age of 64, he shows no signs of fatigue, his eyes showing great passion for the profession. Every day, he still works at the workshop, observing and instructing mechanics when needed.
More than 30 years ago, Mr. Tri was an employee of the Southern Agricultural Machinery Company (Vikino), which was one of the leading mechanical units in the southern region at that time. While working here, he learned the meticulous work process of the Japanese. In addition, he actively accumulated knowledge through self-study in books. Gradually, from a technician, he was appointed as the manager of the enterprise's production workshop.
By 1994, Vikino Company reduced the staff, he took the initiative to resign, make room for the younger generation and decided to start a business at the age of 35. Mr. Tri chose to be a model, because he had accumulated knowledge for a long time related to mechanics.
However, experience is not enough, he said, need high-tech machines to apply to production and improve competitiveness. High-tech design will be the heart of precision mechanics. That's why since the company was established, he went to Taiwan (China) to buy CNC milling machines from your country to use. This was one of the most modern milling machines in Vietnam at that time, helping mechanics understand digital, measure, and cut accurately in three-dimensional space.
To own the above milling machine, he had to borrow a lot of money from family and friends. He accepted to sell the house of 80 m2 in front of Hoa Hung Street (District 10) to accumulate money to buy a machine. “Actually, I sold my house only enough to buy a quarter of a machine. But, if you see a large amount of money without investing, the company cannot make the progress it is today," he said.
In order for the product to meet and join the global large value chain of large European and American corporations, is the whole journey of efforts from the General Director as well as his associates at Lap Phuc Company.
One of the company's first major partners was the Colgate Company. 13 years ago, the multinational Colgate-Palmolive (USA) set very high standards for brush production. To understand better, hold a brush in your hand and look closely. Few people know that the brush is made up of two halves put together. The line between the two halves is a line thinner than a strand of hair, running from the brush handle all the way up to the brush head, it's almost non-existent.
The partner set a requirement that the Colgate brush head should be smooth, the thin line on the top should not ripple, no sharpness, no harm to consumers when putting the brush in the mouth to brush. This requirement is to protect the health and safety of consumers.
With the above difficult problem, Mr. Tri said, the company had to manufacture two halves of the brush mold, so that when reassembled there is almost no staggered accuracy, absolute asymptotic accuracy, and the line between the two brush pieces is not clearly visible on the final product.
In addition, Colgate also asked Lap Phuc company to make molds to squeeze out 1 brushes at a time. Single precision mold is difficult, now, the company has to make 24 molds to press the product exactly in the same span.
To solve the problem, each new brush mold is made, the worker has to microscopically look at the mold hundreds of times to check for errors at the factory, before sending it to the American partner for acceptance. If not satisfied, the partner returns the goods, asking for correction is normal.
After 1 year, finally, Mr. Tri's company has created satisfactory mold products for customers. Many mechanical units used to participate in the production of brush molds for Colgate but gave up midway. 13 years ago, Lap Phuc was the only enterprise in Vietnam to successfully implement this project. From the above precise molds, Colgate-Palmolive Vietnam Company in My Phuoc III Industrial Park (Binh Duong), has produced about 250 million brush products/year, sold globally.
After a successful project for Colgate, American customers introduced themselves to each other about the identity of a precision mechanical engineering specialist in Vietnam. From here, Lap Phuc Company gradually participates in the large global value chain of Suzuki, Panasonic, Sanyo or Omron… Four years ago, the company started making precise molds for famous car manufacturers such as Tesla, GM (General Motors).
“On cars with many details, partners often give difficult parts to Vietnamese people to make such as damping molds, electric vehicle battery boxes… The mold must be done correctly, otherwise, when pressing the product, the car will crack after a few hours. Not to mention, the details must take into account the ability to withstand the sun and rain, there are highly detailed molds that are larger than people, "the General Director shared.
For products that have been manufactured by the enterprise, Mr. Tri said that each precision mold has its own difficulty, the company likes to accept difficult details because of its high economic efficiency. In addition to difficulty, the higher the difficulty, the more interesting it is for engineers in the mechanical profession and earns respect from customers.
He cited, the American partner used to follow Lap Phuc Company for 8 years. Every year, they send people to visit the factory to see the progress of Vietnamese enterprises, and then decide to place an order.
Specifically, on the mouth of the stainless steel cage of the Whirlpool washing machine, there is a round plastic frame detail, which helps to keep the machine balance when rotating the water centrifuge cage. If the mold is not made properly, when drying, the washing machine will vibrate. This is a part with a mold on a difficult level. This project of Whirlpool Household Appliance Corporation (USA) has 5 molds. The intermediary partner is A1 Group (a famous unit specializing in precision mechanics, based in the US), setting Lap Phuc company to make 4 products, they make 1 product.
At first, the US side did not believe that the Vietnamese company could do the job. When Mr. Tri went to meet a partner, the leader of your business only politely received, shook hands and left. Five years later, when Lap Phuc Company produced 5 molds of Whirlpool washing machine components that met the requirements, he returned to A4 Group to work, the management of the partner business showed a different attitude. They hugged Mr. Tri and called him "colleagues", paying respect. Lap Phuc Company has helped intermediary partners win orders of large global production chains.
“In the past 30 years, we have not had any luck when it comes to winning contracts,” Tri affirmed, adding that part of the success was achieved by the business having to reinvest large amounts of money in machinery and equipment.
Referring to the direction of the business in the future, he said, the business wants to be the outsourcing unit of large global mechanical corporations. That is, Lap Phuc Company becomes the key mold workshop, international machining specialist, providing precision mechanical products.
Currently, contracts come to the unit through international mechanical corporations as intermediaries (mostly contracts come from the US). Mr. Tri said that there is no successor in the field of precision mechanics in the US. 100% of American mold companies have emigrated from Germany, the owners are German-Americans. These companies have been established for 2-3 generations, skilled workers have reached retirement age. Up to now, young Americans do not want to follow the line and follow the heavy mechanical profession.
Therefore, American mechanical corporations will mainly accept jobs and then transfer them to outsourcing companies like Lap Phuc to perform production. In the future, the American mechanical enterprise will act as the general agent for international product warranty. With the above cooperation method, even during the epidemic season, orders are still stable, and 220 employees of Lap Phuc Company are never short of work. Along with that, when cooperating through intermediaries, Vietnamese mechanical companies do not have to face direct competition with domestic or international mechanical enterprises.
