Ship60 Joins the C-Talk Vietnam Supply Chain Discussion

Ship60 Attended the C-Talk Vietnam Supply Chain Forum, a leading event bringing together industry experts to discuss the latest trends in logistics and supply chain management.

The global economic landscape has been turbulent, with supply chain disruptions severely impacting businesses, leading to significant revenue declines year after year. To create a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing among top leaders in the manufacturing and retail sectors, the C-Talk Vietnam Supply Chain event took place on June 27th, 2023. The event successfully brought together speakers, experts, and over 70 high-level leaders from retail, manufacturing, e-commerce, and logistics companies under the theme “Optimizing Resources – Rebuilding Supply Chains in the Digital Age.” The focus was on extracting real-world lessons from companies implementing technology in retail, manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain management to ensure inventory accuracy, optimize delivery routes, and manage warehousing.

Ship60’s Founder/CEO, Mr.Phung Khac Huy, participated in the panel discussion alongside leaders from Tiki (Mr.Nguyen Chi Tho, Senior Director at TikiNOW Logistics), Daikin Vietnam (Mrs.Vu Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of Finance and Accounting), and FPT (Mr.Nguyen Tan Hung, AI Sales Director for Southern Region at FPT Smart Cloud; Mr.Duong Viet Tung, COO at akaBot). The panel provided a comprehensive overview of the Vietnamese logistics market and shared insights on best practices for optimizing supply chain operations.

The Growing Trend of Smart Technology and Automation in Logistics and Supply Chains

The panel discussion, featuring high-level leaders from Tiki, Daikin Vietnam, and technology solution providers like FPT and Ship60, explored the key aspects of implementing technology platforms, automation, and AI in customer communication and addressing their needs. The speakers emphasized the importance of a “continuous incremental improvement” approach when implementing technologies in logistics and supply chain management. It’s crucial to ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to operate these technologies seamlessly alongside robots and AI systems.

Mr.Phung Khac Huy kicked off the discussion by highlighting the challenges within the Vietnamese logistics industry: “The inefficiency of the Vietnamese logistics sector stems from traditional models used by major transportation companies, affecting operational speed. Furthermore, there’s a lack of technology adoption, a foundation that global leading transportation companies rely on to optimize their entire operational processes.”

The panel also discussed the importance of optimizing each step of operations using technology. Nguyen Chi Tho, Senior Director at TikiNOW Logistics, shared, “In general, supply chain operations and logistics involve many smaller processes, and businesses need to prioritize and optimize them for maximum efficiency. Even optimizing a process by just 500 VND can generate significant gains and benefits for the company.”

Experts from FPT akaBot highlighted the importance of aligning technology choices with business development strategies. They stressed that CTOs and CIOs should use their overall business strategy to guide technology strategy, dividing investments into phases. Especially since the supply chain involves a wide range of activities and processes, from production and warehouse management to transportation and sales.

For small and medium-sized companies or pure manufacturing businesses, the focus should be on technologies like RPA for automating manual and repetitive tasks like data entry, tracking import/export invoices, and using IoT or RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) to enhance product tracking and quality control.

Fragmented Supply Chains: Challenges or Opportunities?

Mr.Duong Viet Tung emphasized that companies should initially test cloud-based software solutions for their ease of use, setup, and operation without impacting IT infrastructure. FPT akaBot successfully implemented a cloud-based software automation solution for Daikin Vietnam in processing input invoices, combining RPA core technology with AI & OCR to automate over 40,000 input invoices per year. This resulted in a 75% reduction in processing time and a 99.9% reduction in invoice-related risks. This streamlined financial and invoice management demonstrates that even seemingly simple, small processes can lead to significant operational efficiency. The result for Daikin Vietnam? A 240% growth in nine years (2013-2022).

The event successfully concluded, providing valuable insights for industry leaders, with key takeaways:

• Embrace Continuous Improvement: Continuously improving processes through technology adoption is crucial for businesses.
• Invest in People and Technology: A skilled workforce capable of adapting to and managing technological advancements is essential for successful implementation and optimization.
• Optimize Step by Step: Even small efficiency improvements in individual processes can significantly impact overall profitability.

The speakers collectively emphasized the “continuous incremental improvement” approach to implementing technology in logistics and supply chains. Ensuring a skilled workforce capable of operating technology and collaborating effectively with robots and AI is critical for success.