Thach Ban: Technology Advance Helping To Affirm Brand

Thach Ban is regarded as the pioneer in opening tile production with semi-viscid technology, an environmentally friendly, clean tile production technology in Vietnam. For 11 consecutive years, Thach Ban has been awarded the brand “Vietnam high quality goods”. Thach Ban’s products have been top ranked by the national building material industry and exported to many countries.

15 years ago, when foreign tiles entered the domestic market, Thach Ban Joint Stock Company took the role of pioneering to make deep investment and apply European and world technology advances to build the first TBC plant producing artificial granite tile. The first plant generated famous TBC high quality, granite tiles.

 

Studying new technologies of developed countries such as Germany, Spain, Italy, China and combining with its own experience, Thach Ban has created a new production technology known as “semi-viscid technology-Thach Ban technology.” Thach Ban has quickly completed construction of a pilot production line and applied the new technology into production. On July 1^st 2010, Thach Ban Joint Stock Company held the groundbreaking ceremony for Thach Ban Xanh high technology tile plant in Tien An commune, Yen Hung district, Quang Ninh province. The plant will be inaugurated on February 15^th 2012, with total designed capacity of 120 million tiles per year.

 

The semi-viscid technology not only increases productivity but also helps create products much superior to those produced with traditional technology such as: compressing intensity reaches 314 kilos per square cm while that of traditional product was only 50 – 100 kilos per square cm; flexural power of new and traditional tile is respectively 35 and 18-20 kilos per square cm. The new product also has another outstanding feature of double adhesion with mortar compared with the initial products. Thus, it is easier for workers during construction, which results in considerable productivity improvement. Concerning appearance, the new technology tiles have standard size and beautiful colour. Despite much better quality, the selling price is still the same as the previous products.

 

Mr Nguyen The Cuong, CEO and Director General of the company, said that semi-viscid has a great social and economic meaning, whose comprehensive implementation in large-scale will certainly open “a new era” for tile production in Vietnam, as the materials used include hill soil, solid waste, coal residues and clinker, which are available in large reserve, low price and contribute to a clean environment. In its development strategy, Thach Ban Joint Stock Company targets to become a strong corporation. The company will invest in 5 more plants applying semi-viscid technology in Bac Giang, Ha Noi, Hoa Binh, Dong Nai and Da Nang.

 

New technology and business in diversified areas have increased the fixed assets of Thach Ban from VND 600 million to tens of billions of VND. From three and four workers working mainly by hand, Thach Ban has built up a team of hundreds of skilled, creative workers. So far, “Thach Ban technology” has been built up and transferred to 120 plants producing tiles all over the country, and even to Africa. At present, the company has sent off a team of experts to transfer the technology of producing artificial granite tile to a plant in Algeria.

 

The contribution of Director General Nguyen The Cuong, one of the prime entrepreneurs of 10 Asian countries, cannot be ignored when talking about the success of Thach Ban brand. Not only having an innovative attitude of catching new technology in advance, he is also an experienced manager. In management activity, he has always paid attention to discipline, strictness and equality in giving incentives, encouraging employees who are creative and keen about the market, have initiatives to improve the techniques and technology, and help increase the enterprise’s role. He is one of few businessmen in the construction industry who regularly give out new ideas, making important contributions to administrative reforms. After gaining successes in his own enterprise, in 1998, in the meeting with the Prime Minister, he was the first to propose that the Government and Ministry of Construction allow the establishment of a parent-subsidiary company in Thach Ban. At the moment, Thach Ban has been equitized with 8 members, demonstrating their power in this integration time.

Sharing the above idea, businessman Nguyen The Cuong is also the person who initiating overseas investment. Despite knowing that it will be a challenging journey, he decided to pursue it. He has developed the plan and procedures to implement construction of a plant producing granite tile and red brick for export to Russia. With his experience and knowledge, he was also the one proposing to make concrete dykes and build the new urban Song Hong.