Enterprises flexibly maintain production to retain partners

Eighteen percent of orders of European enterprises have moved out of Vietnam. Previously, many large FDI enterprises of Japan and South Korea had also informed Vietnamese enterprises producing supporting industrial products about moving some orders to neighboring countries. To avoid the risk of disruption in the domestic supply chain, Vietnamese enterprises have applied many solutions to maintain production.
Enterprises flexibly maintain production to retain partners ảnh 1 Producing electrical cables for export at Nissei Electric Company in Linh Trung 1 Export Processing Zone in Thu Duc City. (Photo: SGGP)
Actively connecting the supply

Mr. Do Phuoc Tong, Chairman of the Board of Members of Duy Khanh Engineering Co., Ltd., said that maintaining a stable source of raw materials is a vital solution for businesses.

On that basis, Duy Khanh Engineering Company has actively connected the supply and provisioned raw material supply for a longer time. Previously, the company only reserved raw materials for three months, now it has increased to six months, even had to overlap orders of raw materials to avoid risks. The company also has had to change the delivery method, splitting orders and delivering raw materials multiple times to be more proactive.

Currently, many enterprises are facing difficulties because workers do not agree to stay in the factory for the "3-on-site" production model. Not to mention that although many businesses strictly implement the "3-on-site" production model, there are still workers infected with Covid-19. Meanwhile, safety for production is a vital factor for enterprises, so to solve this difficulty, many enterprises have actively enhanced on-site medical care, such as purchasing backup oxygen ventilators and establishing communication lines with local medical staff, to handle arising situations promptly.

Even, many businesses have invested in on-site medical stations that are fully equipped with medical equipment and instruments, isolation rooms, and Covid-19 treatment medicines to quickly separate and treat F0 cases. The factory resumes operations immediately after being disinfected.

Caring and listening to the opinions of workers and their families to have a reasonable solution for organizing production is also the way that many businesses are doing to stabilize their staff.

Mr. Le Van Quang, CEO of Minh Phu Seafood Group, said that the experience of maintaining stable production of the company from May to now shows that pandemic prevention must be synchronized from the factory to the staff. All decisions are considered based on the actual situation of workers' families. And finally, the company must strictly control the source of contact from suppliers.

He added that besides disinfecting after each shift, the company's employees must comply strictly with the 5K regulation, and they are responsible for encouraging their families to follow. As for suppliers, drivers must have a negative Covid-19 test to deliver the goods to the company's factory. When arriving at the factory, the driver must sit in the cabin and only go out in the area designated by the company.

Seven-green solution

Mr. Nguyen Van Be, Chairman of the Hepza Business Association, said that many businesses had actively implemented the "7-green" solution, including green factories, green workers, green travel, green families, green suppliers, green vaccines, and green on-site medical stations. The achieved results were relatively positive.
Enterprises flexibly maintain production to retain partners ảnh 2 Producing garments for export at Phong Phu Joint Stock Company in Thu Duc City. (Photo: SGGP)
However, the fact that local authorities keep and expand green areas is a favorable condition or even a prerequisite for enterprises to resume production activities stably. Many enterprises said that the smooth resumption of operations mainly comes from meeting the accommodation needs of workers. Accordingly, workers can choose the "3-on-site" or "green travel" solution combined with "green families" living in "green areas". According to Mr. Nguyen Van Be, currently, some enterprises have not resumed production yet mostly because there are no green areas in the vicinity of their factories. Besides being proactive, businesses recommend building hospitals or treatment centers for F0 cases with mild or no symptoms in areas with a high concentration of workers, such as export processing zones and industrial parks. It will timely support enterprises to separate and treat F0 cases if any. Many businesses also acknowledged that living with Covid-19 is almost a certain thing. To live with Covid-19, synchronous infrastructure to receive and treat Covid-19 patients must be ready, which is especially necessary for small and medium-sized enterprises, which often do not have the financial capacity to fully equip workers with medical equipment for pandemic prevention. From another perspective, according to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of HCMC Finance and Investment State-owned Company (HFIC), the city is now ready with financial resources to support enterprises to innovate production. To adapt to the pandemic, enterprises must innovate technology, automate possible stages, apply digital technology in management to reduce the number of workers working concentratedly. Currently, HFIC has been striving to improve administrative procedures. Businesses that need a loan can contact the company. Moreover, businesses said that the city should accelerate the injection of the second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for people, prioritizing workers in the production, distribution, and logistics industries. The production interruption from May to now has caused many production supply chains to break. Many FDI enterprises have moved a part of their orders to neighboring countries. If this situation is not resolved quickly, domestic enterprises will face the risk of losing all their orders. It will be a great difficulty for domestic enterprises, affecting the global supply chain.
Nearly 60 percent of enterprises in EPZs - IZs have resumed production

Mr. Nguyen Van Be, Chairman of the Hepza Business Association, said that up to now, nearly 60 percent of enterprises had reactivated production, largely thanks to organizing the "7-green" solution. For instance, 110 out of 230 enterprises in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, 67 out of 85 enterprises in the Saigon High-tech Park, and 40 out of 65 enterprises in Linh Trung 1 and Linh Trung 2 export processing zones have resumed operations. Although the operating capacity of these enterprises is still limited, not as high as in normal conditions, it basically solves the backlog of orders that reach the delivery deadlines and cannot be extended.

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