Successful digital transformation solutions for wood industry enterprises

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Digital transformation provides competitive advantages for wood industry enterprises. Photo: N.H

Much hesitation remains

With 15 years of experience supporting enterprises in implementing management systems and digital transformation, Mr. Ha Tat Thang, Director of Techworld Solutions Vietnam LLC, observes that very few enterprises in the wood industry invest in digital transformation. The main reason for this situation is that most enterprises in this sector are small-scale and primarily engage in contract manufacturing.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh Vy, Production Management Director at Imity Company, also states that although they had planned digital transformation two years ago, the company has not yet dared to implement it. Besides the company's small scale, Ms. Vy hesitates due to the fact that many peer enterprises that have undertaken digital transformation ended up in an "uphill and downhill" situation without seeing success.

Explaining the failure of wood enterprises in digital transformation, Mr. Ha Tat Thang points out that most small enterprises have not yet standardized their operating procedures, and the lack of a clear direction and vision in digital transformation leads to a failure rate of up to 50%. In contrast, at large companies and multinational corporations, processes are standardized and a clear vision is established, setting specific requirements, so most are successful when digitizing their enterprise management systems.

Mr. Le Xuan Tan, Director of Happy Furniture LLC, also notes that impatience is one of the reasons leading to failure for wood industry enterprises when implementing digital transformation. Therefore, although it has been popular for 3-4 years, to date, not many wood enterprises have successfully implemented digital transformation. According to Mr. Tan, digital transformation is not just about buying software; it is a long journey that requires patience, and enterprises must determine their capabilities, resources, goals, and appropriate technology for each phase.

Mr. Tan also mentions that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all enterprises, as each factory has different circumstances and resources. For small enterprises, digital transformation can be achieved step by step. The first step is to assess the current situation to identify needs, what to do first, what to do next, and then find a consulting partner to implement the appropriate solution.

Experts also point out that the wood industry has specific characteristics in its multi-step production process, and each type of material and auxiliary material also has its unique features, alongside aesthetic and artistic factors. Therefore, digital transformation is also more complex and challenging.

The sooner, the better for digital transformation

Despite many difficulties, experts still emphasize that enterprises, whether large or small, should start digital transformation as soon as possible to create a competitive edge in the current context. According to Mr. Thang, with the development of technology, there are now many solutions suitable for different needs and financial capabilities. Normally, a digital transformation investment project takes about five years to recoup the investment, and an enterprise with about 1,000 workers will have an investment cost of about 10-15 billion VND.

Many success stories in reality have shown the benefits for enterprises when implementing digital transformation. Mr. Tran Anh Vu, Deputy Head of Logistics at AA Architecture Construction Joint Stock Company, mentions that since 2009, the company has begun digital transformation with SAP software (software that helps support the operation control process of enterprises) and continuously updates new versions. However, due to the unique characteristics of Vietnam's wood industry, besides applying SAP, the company also had to develop a team to write satellite software around the central software, SAP.

Mr. Tran Anh Vu states that the leadership of AA Architecture Construction Joint Stock Company is very determined and almost does not hesitate about the cost of digital transformation. Just investing in SAP alone, the company has spent about more than 40 billion VND, not to mention other surrounding solutions. However, this investment has shown many clear benefits, such as the ability to manage down to the construction site, manage each product, and create a push for work progress within the company. As a result, there are no longer situations of work congestion or loss of goods, and errors are minimized.

Mr. Ha Tat Thang also notes that previously, due to difficulties in the export market, wood enterprises' interest in digital transformation slowed down, but enterprises still allocated budgets to improve equipment and factory operations. But from the beginning of 2024 to now, the market situation has been improving, and the interest of enterprises in digital transformation has also developed.