Once mentioning the pumps, kitchen utensils or portable devices, many will recall Sena. This name has made many think of a foreigner but this is a truly Vietnamese brand name. The ViB Forum has an interview with Ms Vu Thuy Hanh, deputy director of Sena Vietnam, on the path to develop Sena trademark.
As a construction engineer, which momentum has brought you to mechanical business and production, especially pumps?
In 2000, my husband’s Asia Production - Trading Company imported pumps from South Korea and Italia and sold very well in Vietnam. The demand in Vietnam was very high but there was no local producer. When I put forward the pump production plan, most people thought that this plan was impractical because the production of this equipment demanded high precision, synchronous technology and production line but the local supply was very short.
However, Vietnam could make what foreigners could do, I thought. Then, from peculiar desire, I visited pump production plants in South Korea, Japan, Italia, Germany and other countries to explore technologies. In 2003, we began building our plant and imported production lines from Japan to manufacture Sena-trademarked pumps.
So far, we are running three production lines with a yearly output of 120,000 pumps. We cannot satisfy all orders from local traders and foreign importers. To increase the productivity and production capacity, the company will put into operation a pump and mechanical production factory in Quoc Oai District, Ha Tay Province, which are capable of making 260,000 products a year.
Business is always a wide playing field for anyone to test their strength but to reach the final goal, they possess stuff and decisiveness. I did not know whether I was venturous or not when I quitted an easy job from a State-run company to set up my own company. The today success is the prerequisite for Sena to have firmer steps in the market.
From Sena, how do you think about successful trademark?
The success of a trademark is the vitality of a business. When we renamed Asia Production and Trade Company to Sena Vietnam Co., we defined to position the trademark in the heart of the consumers. The naming of products is very important because it must be easy to remember and easy to read. We named our products from the name of the company. The today Sena, as you know, also needs strong workforce to make a successful trademark.
With the correct market positioning and orientation in the initial days, the Sena products have reached every corner of the country. Currently, Sena keeps around 25 per cent of the market share. The Sena products has won many prestigious awards and prizes like Vietnam Gold Star Award, Strong Trademark Cup, Golden Trademark Cup and others.
The kitchen utensils are now in the fierce competition. How do you think about the competition on this market?
This is the booming period of kitchen utensil trademark and brand names because many companies also produce these products, both domestic and foreigners. The market room remains wide for all players but it takes time to survive and affirm quality and position in the customers’ hearts. The only way is every enterprise needs to improve their product quality and better after-sales services. Currently, Sena is the sole distributor of Faber kitchen utensils from Italia. In the coming time, Sena will continue fortifying its distribution network and introduce more high quality consumer goods to consumers.
What are the orientations of Sena for the coming time?
The road that Sena is going is the “firmness” in production, export-orientation and operation diversification. No matter how large the scale is, the trademark is always put on the top. Then, we will expand our business to steel door frame production, sanitary ware, real estate to bring Sena to a new high in the household product market of Vietnam. I hope that Sena-trademarked products will be present in many countries in the world.
Luu Hiep
Vietnamese
