Saigon supports Vietnam's metal manufacturers

Over the past 30 years the growth in the number of tradeshows and commercial exhibitions taking place internationally has been astounding. So much so, it would be hard to find an industry that is not serviced by at least one industry trade show in their region. To the uninitiated observer however, it may be hard to understand the raise in popularity of these types of events, but the answer is quite simple. Buyers and sellers. The trade show offers the host city a yearly opportunity to buy, sell, network, and most of all; educate yourself on current industry equipment, knowledge and practices. Metalex Vietnam 2010 kicked off at the Saigon Convention Centre on the 7 October and for three days, offered the Vietnamese metalworking industry an opportunity to see what the world has to offer. From design software, cutting and drilling equipment, robotic welders, through to the more obscure companies such as, a metal powders manufacturer from Sweden. If it was anything to do with metalworking equipment, Metalex is where you would have found it. During my time at the show, I spoke to a number of exhibitors about the products they had on offer and their experiences cutting deals in one of the regions fastest growing economy, Vietnam.

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Regardless of what product a company manufactures, it usually starts with the design element, and transferring those initial ideas onto the drawing board. So it was more than appropriate that the first booth I stopped at to have a talk with was a Vietnamese company offering design software developed by Dassault Systémes Singapore Pte Ltd. Dassault Systémes is one of the top companies in the world providing 3D design and PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solutions, and develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provides a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of a product from conception to maintenance. One of the Dassault Systémes products being demonstrated at Metalex 2010 was a design program named SolidWorks, a Windows-based 3D CAD software that is used internationally to rave reviews. Apart from having a very user-friendly design function, the program also easily interfaces with machinery and provides the added function of being able to operate your model in real time on the computer to see if there are any design problems before prototype production begins. The local Vietnamese company distributing Dassault Systémes in Vietnam was TD & T T�E2;n nuc, and by all accounts, they have made great inroads with getting the product accepted within the local market. Apart from servicing their customer's needs with software, they also provide an extensive training program, which includes personalised after-sales training, regular seminars demonstrating features of the product and the software is also used in a number of major universities throughout Vietnam for design training purposes, which is always good for future customer development.

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A number of the companies I interviewed at Metalex 2010 were representing some part of Asia, such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and even Taiwan. However, there were also a few European companies with offices in Asia trying to open up new markets in Vietnam. One such company I spoke to was FPT Industries, an Italian manufacturer of horizontal boring and milling machines and vertical lathes. If you check out their website at www.fptindustrie.com/ you will see we are talking about really big machines. FPT services various industries with a particular focus on energy sector companies, aerospace and infrastructure companies, as well as mould makers. Some of the names that come under the FPT Industries brand are, Autocal, Rotomill, Hydrostatic System and REM. Although the companMercurial Superfly low