New trends in digital transformation for businesses

Many companies have adopted intelligent, modern production processes. Photo: General Electric Hai Phong Factory

Digital transformation enhances value for businesses

Over recent years, Ba Huan Joint Stock Company has successfully exported products under the Ba Huan brand to markets and major partners in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. This success is partly due to the company's collaboration with a leading Vietnamese technology group to implement a comprehensive 3F (Feed – Farm – Food) management system from farm to distribution chain, with a total investment of up to 1,500 billion VND. Consequently, the company's products have met the stringent and rigorous international market standards.

In a recent discussion, Ms. Pham Thi Huan, Chairwoman of the Company, clearly stated that the process of digital transformation and the application of modern management technology have brought effective production and business outcomes for the Company, enhancing the value of connections between the agricultural sector and the country's overall economy. Ms. Huan further emphasized that digital transformation aims not only at increasing revenue and profit but also at enhancing competitiveness and adding value to Vietnamese agricultural products.

Aware of this, businesses across various industries have actively embraced digital transformation. The "Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development" report, published by the University of Commerce in early April, indicates that most sectors have been and are implementing digital transformation. For example, in the textile industry, 100 companies have transformed their production processes digitally in 2023; in the processing and manufacturing industry, smaller companies are able to adapt quickly, leading many businesses to adopt strategic orientations that adapt to changes in the business environment...

According to a 2023 report by the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam's Innovation Index ranked 46th, an improvement of two places from 2022 according to the World Intellectual Property Organization's rankings. Since 2018, Vietnam has consistently been in the top 50 leading countries. However, experts note that innovation and digital transformation in our country are not yet fully sustainable, particularly within the manufacturing sector.

Finding suitable options

Commenting on the state of digital transformation, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thuc, Deputy Director in charge of operations at the Enterprise Informatics Institute (VCCI), noted that manufacturing businesses face many challenges in effectively implementing digital transformation. These include financial and budgetary challenges to altering processes, systems, and personnel to accommodate digital transformation; this is coupled with the need to select technologies that suit the business, especially as many new digital economic models have been rapidly evolving and strongly developing.

According to a report by the University of Commerce, numerous new technologies applied in the digital transformation process—including artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT)—have significantly altered business operations, leading to increased profits and opening up new opportunities for development.

For instance, industrial enterprises can integrate technologies like AI, machine learning, and automation into production and business management. Digital transformation has driven factories to transition to smart factory models, enabling machine-to-machine (M2M) communications based on the IoT platform to enhance automation capabilities, improve connectivity, communication, and monitoring of the production process within factories. For example, the General Electric Hai Phong factory has implemented modern management software, and parameters are statistically analyzed to help engineers monitor the system's operational status, boosting efficiency by 25% and productivity by 15%.

Agricultural enterprises utilize sensors and IoT to gather data on weather, land, and crops, combined with Big Data and Analytics to automate monitoring, analysis, and issue critical alerts aimed at increasing productivity, minimizing risks, and reducing resource wastage. Notably, modern farms like those of the TH True Milk Group and Vinamilk Company use technology to monitor diseases, consumption volumes, and trace origins...

Clearly, each enterprise will have its own unique digital transformation process and technology applications depending on its current state. Therefore, to implement these requirements effectively, Dr. Tran Quy, Director of the Vietnam Digital Economic Development Institute, believes that digital transformation is genuinely a revolutionary change that cannot be achieved without deep understanding. Moreover, experts also emphasize the need to perfect mechanisms, policies, as well as digital infrastructure, platforms, and human resources to meet the demands of new technologies from the market.