Hòa Phát & Mastering System Operations Through Digital Transformation

Hòa Phát makes us immediately think of the steel industry tycoon in Vietnam. But not everyone knows that Hòa Phát is also a leading multi-industry corporation. The fields Hòa Phát operates in range from heavy industry to agriculture. During the digital transformation process, many businesses will surely ask what secret helps Hòa Phát smoothly operate a giant system with a scale of over +22,000 employees? Let’s find out with 1Office!

Steel is the Core

Before we get to the digital transformation solution, let’s follow the development journey of the “giant” Hòa Phát.
Steel is the core of all construction projects and also the core that built the Hòa Phát Group of today. Established in 1992 under the name Equipment and Accessories Co., Ltd., Hòa Phát initially focused on trading used goods from Russia. But Hòa Phát only truly developed from 1996 when it entered the steel pipe industry. Facing a huge demand for steel pipes during this period with only one state-owned factory in production, Hòa Phát “played big” by deciding to invest in a steel pipe production line from Taiwan. And that was the right decision, and the influence of steel pipes on Hòa Phát remains very significant to this day.
Not steel pipes, but construction steel is Hòa Phát’s spearhead at the present time. Hòa Phát is currently the largest steel supplier in Vietnam, accounting for about 25% of the market share. With 03 large steel plants, Hòa Phát supplies the market with nearly 3 million tons of steel each year. For Hòa Phát, steel is not only the industry that brings in the highest revenue; it is also the backbone that has formed the multi-industry Hòa Phát of today.

The Resolute Chairman

The fame of the name Tran Dinh Long is certainly no less than that of Hòa Phát – his Group. Tran Dinh Long is the founding member and also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hòa Phát Group. When mentioning Tran Dinh Long, people often think of a dollar billionaire recognized by Forbes in 2018 and the “King of Vietnam’s Steel Industry.” Starting as an economics graduate from the National Economics University, Chairman Tran Dinh Long can be considered one of the top-educated individuals of the 80s and 90s. Starting his career with a cautious and ambitious nature, he and his associates have built Hòa Phát in a sustainable direction, just like Hòa Phát’s steel bars. Like the Dung Quat Steel project, Hòa Phát plans for it to be the largest steel production complex in Southeast Asia, but they are still investing step-by-step according to scale, closely following market demand, and it could extend for a decade, rather than risking huge sums of money. To describe his enterprise, Chairman Tran Dinh Long firmly stated: “If the market collapses, Hòa Phát will be the last one to die.”

The Path to Business Diversification

Developing based on heavy industry has caused many people to have an unfavorable view of Hòa Phát. But in recent years, with the goal of business diversification, Hòa Phát has been investing in new sectors outside of industry. Agriculture is a segment being focused on. It would be strange if someone said the beef you eat is imported by Hòa Phát, but it’s a fact that Hòa Phát is the largest importer of Australian beef in Vietnam, with over 30% market share. Hòa Phát’s farms are present in provinces across the North and supply most supermarkets nationwide. Besides agriculture, Hòa Phát is planning to develop other business lines in the near future, such as real estate, services, animal feed, etc. With a multi-industry system, managing and operating it is not simple at all. That is also the reason why Hòa Phát turned to digital transformation, to find a solution for its development.

Hòa Phát and How It Operates a Giant System

If Hòa Phát were considered a province, its tax contribution in 2018 would rank it 34th among Vietnam’s provinces. This shows just how large Hòa Phát’s scale is, and operating it is no easy task, especially when Hòa Phát’s workforce includes many general laborers. The biggest difficulty is managing shift workers. Controlling behavior, timekeeping, or salaries and bonuses is extremely complicated and resource-intensive. Hòa Phát’s digital transformation solution is using 1Office. 1Office provides a business operating platform based on cloud computing, allowing managers to control their employees effectively and accurately from very remote locations. Hòa Phát’s costs have been reduced and its operational efficiency has significantly improved thanks to the use of 1Office.
Register to use 1Office now at the link below.