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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam— For most factories in this region's growing furniture cluster, it's not easy to understand the needs of U.S. consumers. But with the help of U.S. manufacturers and importers, they are learning more quickly.
In most cases, the plants employ their own quality control specialists to make sure products are made to customer specifications. That involves memos, meetings and the study of product samples. But more often than not, plant people work directly with QC employees of U.S. importers.
Case goods importer Rivers Edge Furniture Co. has been sourcing from Vietnam for about six months and has eight QC employees there. They are highly trained Chinese staffers that work directly with Chinese management in four Vietnamese plants.
More could be hired if business increases, said Managing Partner Mark Stubstad. "We just found it's better to have our own people," he said. "If we have to switch production from one plant to another, we bring in our QC people from another plant in China."
In other cases, companies contract with QC agencies or specialists that help oversee production.
That's the case at Primo Designs, which sources from two factories in Vietnam. Its sourcing agency has about 27 people handling QC in Vietnam. Primo uses two of those people, one assigned to each factory. They are Chinese trained in styles and standards for the U.S. market.
The challenge of samples
Many Vietnamese production workers no little about those standards. "It's spotty at best," said Primo Designs President David Ballard of the quality coming out of Vietnam. "(The Vietnamese) have a lot to learn."
The toughest part is getting samples done. From there, Ballard said, production mainly involves fine tuning. "The basics of case production are pretty well understood," he said, adding that Vietnamese workers are very good at hand carving.
Overall, Ballard said he's pleased with the quality coming out of his plants. He attributes that to the experience of its Taiwanese-trained QC people, some of whom have worked with companies such as Sligh and Hooker.
Linda Stephenson, a vice president of product development and sourcing for The Bombay Company, also is pleased with the quality coming from Vietnam. The big retailer set up shop here in January 2001, and has had more time than most to hone product from its four main sources, she said.
Today, Bombay has Vietnamese QC inspectors assigned to each plant. Stephenson said Vietnam is strong in both carving and finishing, but said there is some room for improvement in construction, particularly bentwood construction.
In many cases, companies have built in mechanisms to improve quality. For instance, Green River Wood & Lumber, a Taiwanese-owned company, controls moisture with a combination of drying kilns and climate-controlled rooms that protect wood parts.
"Most timber we buy from the outside, and we require a moisture content between 8% and 11% coming in," said Michael Chen, vice president of Green River Group. "At each stage of the operation, there's a special room to hold the content for work in progress. During rainy season, (moisture) can spike to 18% to 20% if you don't take care of it."
A matter of control
Green River also makes "98% of our components, everything except veneer, so we control our own quality," he said.
AA Corp. also takes steps to control moisture, with a special room to test for moisture content after the kiln drying process.
Ferguson Copeland, which will build a dedicated plant in a joint venture with AA Corp., has three QC people working on products already in production at AA Corp.
President and CEO Darrell Ferguson believes Vietnam has some hurdles to clear in quality, including moisture control and product geared to Western tastes. His company still finishes product in Morganton, N.C.
"The challenge is to treat (Vietnam) as a start-up country and put together the system and the equipment and all the things that make for a quality factory," Ferguson said. "We are attempting to set up a plant in Vietnam that would be very much like a plant we would set up in Morganton."
Communications between QC staff and plant workers can be a challenge. Ferguson Copeland's QC people are Filipinos who speak English. Because many Vietnamese speak some English, that helps to a great extent. But many factories rely on interpreters or hire Chinese line management that speak some Vietnamese. (See stories, page 24.)
Ultimately, companies such as Rivers Edge would like to hire more Vietnamese for QC. But until they get a little more experience, they don't expect that to happen on a large scale anytime soon.
| Acknowledgements | ||
| Case Goods Editor Powell Slaughter contributed to this report. | ||
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