Toyota Vietnam, An Phat Holdings team up to increase localization rate
Toyota Vietnam, An Phat Holdings team up to increase localization rate
Toyota Vietnam’s board of directors on April 4 visited Hanoi Plastics JSC (HPC), a subsidiary of An Phat Holdings, to bolster the mutual cooperation in increasing the localization rate.
The visit is part of the automaker’s program to support HPC with manufacturing management and operations. Under the program, HPC has completed Dandori (quick mold assembly and fitting) and Tei-Tei (for conducting manufacturing activities on a continuous line of machines with categorized plastic), in accordance with Toyota’s global manufacturing principles to achieve scientific and cost-effective operations.
The meeting is among activities of the automaker to support local suppliers to improve the localization rate and thus boost the growth of the local supporting industries.
Addressing the meeting, a representative of An Phat Holdings and HPC presented business achievements of the plastics firm.
After more than one year of conducting Dandori and Tei-Tei, HPC has made the enormous investment in technology to enhance its manufacturing chains, as well as strictly followed Toyota’s new policies on manufacturing management.
The plastics firm, as a result, saw its mold maintenance efficiency rising by 25%, while the time needed for mold assembly was reduced to 15 minutes from 100 minutes in 2018. Moreover, it managed to optimize the manufacturing management, with the plant’s productivity increasing by 10%.
Meanwhile, Toyota over the past one year had assigned Japanese experts to work at HPC, helping the firm’s employees in manufacturing activities to generate fruitful results. Also, the presence of the Japanese experts is among multiple cooperation activities between Toyota Vietnam and An Phat Holdings to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese suppliers and raise the localization rate.
Toru Kinoshita, general director of Toyota Vietnam, at the meeting hailed the efforts and willingness of HPC to renovate operations. He also noted significant changes at HPC compared with the year-ago period.
The dramatic changes were attributed to HPC’s determination and high commitment to investment and operations since it joined the An Phat Holdings platform.
In response, the chairman of the board of directors at HPC, Bui Minh Hai, pledged to keep enhancing operations and accompanying Toyota Vietnam on the path of increasing the localization rate.
Earlier, a Toyota Vietnam representative, at a recent meeting gathering leaders of Toyota Vietnam and An Phat Holdings, said that the automaker expected An Phat to become its strategic partner in increasing the localization rate for locally-manufactured Toyota vehicles from 30% to 45%, as well as its main plastic supplier.
Toyota Vietnam and HPC have maintained the good cooperative relationship for almost one decade, with the former being one of the biggest customers of HPC at present. The number of orders between the two companies amounted to 30 last year from only one in 2010, and is expected to rise significantly this year as An Phat Holdings looks to boost the manufacturing of plastic components industry.
Joining An Phat Holdings in late 2018, HPC focuses on manufacturing engineering plastic accessories and mainly serves customers in the auto, motorbike, and electronics industries such as Toyota, Honda, Piaggio, Vinfast, LG, Panasonic.
An Phat Holdings after having approved HPC as its new subsidiary has conducted wide-ranging renovation activities to develop HPC into a leading supplier in the local plastic components industry.
Alongside HPC, An Trung Industries Company, another subsidiary of An Phat Holdings, has inked a deal to supply mobile phone accessories for Samsung.
An Phat is also collaborating with the country’s largest property developer, Vingroup, to establish a firm specializing in auto parts, named Vinfast-An Phat (VAPA) in Hai Phong City.
The success of HPC, An Trung company, and VAPA has clearly demonstrated the right strategies of An Phat Holdings in penetrating supporting industries in 2018.