By: Trinh Long Dien, Vietnam Country Manager, Honeywell Scanning & MobilityCEIC data on Vietnam recently highlighted a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.42 percent in 2013 to a value of $158.9 billion, with this projected to rise to $203.7 billion by 2018. This strengthening GDP has also been spurred by a $21.6 billion 2013 foreign direct investment (FDI), which increased at a rate of 54.5% year-on-year.
In order to meet and capitalise on this increasing demand it is vital that Vietnamese manufacturers find ways to increase production and delivery efficiencies. In order to achieve this their systems must have real-time visibility and traceability.
Honeywell Scanning & Mobility recently conducted an exit survey as part of a manufacturing seminar held in Hanoi, which revealed the key challenge faced by 68 percent of Vietnamese manufacturers is a lack of modern and efficient technologies and processes. This means that manufacturing in Vietnam is largely still relying on manual paper-based workflows that don’t support real-time visibility or traceability.
However, the good news for Vietnamese manufacturing is that 44 percent of respondents also predicted their manufacturing business is ‘likely’ to invest in process automation solutions and 39 percent ‘very likely’ to. When deciding which technologies to invest in, Vietnamese manufacturers need to focus on modern technologies that offer a good return on investment in terms of efficiency and productivity now and into the future. They can also look to technologies widely adopted and proven in many other high growth markets. This article sets out two stand-out options to be considered.
2D barcodes
The roll-out of government and industry standards focused on the need for product traceability throughout the supply chain have led to the proliferation of 2D barcodes in global manufacturing. They are becoming increasingly favoured due to their heightened data capacity, as 2D symbols can support freestanding systems driven entirely by information carried on a label, with no need for database decoding. In the case of freestanding systems a portable data file may be useful for Vietnamese manufacturers that need information to be physically associated with an individual item.
2D symbols, which cannot be read by laser scanners, are especially useful in manufacturing environments that have significant restrictions on the storage space available, as they can be used in an area of less than two centimetres square. For Vietnamese manufacturers who have limited space, the ability for 2D symbols to be printed and placed in a smaller space makes them more appropriate for use in these environments.
2D scanners also offer much more flexibility when compared to alternatives, as they can read a range of traditional barcodes, as well as 2D symbols, colour barcodes and QR codes. The range of available barcodes is expanding and it is important that the imaging solutions deployed by manufacturers in Vietnam, are capable of adapting when these new barcoding systems enter operations. Another major benefit of 2D scan engines is that they can read a barcode in any orientation, which not only increases the scan rate, but also reduces RSI as the operator does not have to twist their wrist around to scan the barcode.
Direct Part Mark (DPM) 2D tags are another option that would allow Vietnamese manufacturers to imprint data-matrix symbols directly on to a product or part. The data-matrix symbols can be made of square dots that are extremely durable in withstanding the harshest manufacturing environments.
RFID
For manufacturing operators in Vietnam who manage large fleets of high-value assets, such as in automotive manufacturing, finding a barcode is often time consuming or not possible. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) has become a particularly popular alternative in the automotive industry due to its ability to recognise multiple items simultaneously regardless of orientation and without the need for manual scanning. Asia region automotive manufacturers successfully using the technology including Honda Thailand and Volkswagen China. These automotive companies use RFID to track and manage vehicles as they are received at their unloading bay. RFID has helped them eliminate supply chain errors and delays.
Vietnamese manufacturers that require sequencing or build-to-order production rely on item-level identification to ensure the right components are added to assemblies. RFID can also be very useful here, as when integrated with material handling and production control systems, RFID tags can route items to the appropriate assembly, testing or packaging locations.
Additionally, RFID technology’s ability to track and trace individual parts or orders throughout the supply chain benefits Vietnamese manufacturers that must trace the genealogy of their products or provide lifetime identification. In the aviation industry, for example, if positive identification and lifetime service records (including data on the manufacturer and production process) aren’t available for a part, it can’t fly.
2D Bar Code or RFID?
Manufacturers deciding which data capture solution to invest in must assess which solution best meets their overall business needs and facilitates the most efficient and productive real-time understanding of their business.
Extensively implemented in many other high growth regions, 2D barcode and RFID technologies have been proven to be very effective solutions in improving manufacturing productivity and visibility. Honeywell Scanning & Mobility offers a broad suite of 2D barcode and RFID scanning solutions that can help manufacturers drive productivity and profit gains throughout their business.
