As the first producer of thermostable plastic pipes and fittings, DEKKO 25, produced under German standards, Phuc Ha Co., Ltd has become a reliable companion of domestic and international partners. Reporter of the Vietnam Business Forum has been granted an interview with Mr Nguyen Van Phuc, Director of Phuc Ha Co., Ltd, on its business results and orientations.
Before achieving success, each business must live through numerous tough challenges. After nearly 20 years of construction and development, what difficulties did Phuc Ha encounter and how did it overcome?
From a small trading company established in 1993, after many years of accumulating experience and resources, we “upgraded” to Phuc Ha Co., Ltd in 1998 with the main business lines of manufacturing, trading and distributing water pipes and fittings. In 2005, we invested in DEKKO25-branded PP-R water pipe and fitting production plants. At that time, our PP-R products were very new on the Vietnamese market, even to large investors. The market penetration was difficult and our inventory accumulated in six months. Before such difficulties, many customers and partners advised us to reduce the weight of products to lower costs and prices to enhance competition against similar products. But, according to our business philosophy, “To win the trust of customers, products must have good quality and consumers will assess it.” We did not listen to their advice because we knew that cheated customers and they would turn their back on our products in the long term. Slow sales forced us to lay a half of workers off. Although they did not go to work, they were still paid a half contract salary (approximately 80 - 90 % of minimum wage) to ensure their living standards and persuade them to until the production was raised. Before such difficulties, the management quickly reviewed and tackled problems in production and business stages and methods. At the same time, the company carried out market surveys to manufacture best products to customer tastes. The very activeness and solidarity of the entire staff helped the company overcome those difficulties and challenges.
Could you tell unique characteristics of products made and supplied by Phuc Ha?
For customers, the name of Phuc Ha Co., Ltd is always referred to DEKKO 25-branded PP-R pipes and fittings manufactured by Germany-standard production lines. Our products, used for supplying tap water, have high quality, durability and beautiful design. A DEKKO 25 PP-R system has a life span of 100 years. Besides, our products features outstanding characteristics like temperature resistance (100 degrees C) and pressure (25at); safety from corrosion by chemicals with pH content of from 1 to 14; electrical and thermal conductivity being 178 times lower than steel pipe, thus increasing the safety and reducing the loss of heat. Particularly, galvanised copper fittings strengthen durability, reliability and safety.
This flagship product of Phuc Ha is commonly used in civil engineering, high-rise buildings, carriage of liquids and chemicals in food processing plants and ships, etc. Besides, we are a manufacturer of HDPE pipes and fittings and a distributor of high-quality water supplying and draining products made by leading domestic brands like Hoa Phat and De Nhat and other world-acclaimed brands.
Could you tell development orientations of Phuc Ha Co., Ltd in the coming years?
At present, our products are present in all provinces and cities nationwide. In the past two years, we have exported to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Anticipating the growing market demand, our company plans to double the output in our factories in Hung Yen province. We are also surveying the EU and Japan to export our products to these potential markets. In 2009, our sales increased 10 times compared with 2006. With the unity and joint effort of all staffs, Phuc Ha is determined to achieve a 1.4-time revenue growth in 2010.
Tran Tung