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"ASNOVA VIETNAM" launches online ordering system. The journey to implementation and outlook
It has been 9 months since ASNOVA's Vietnam subsidiary was established in October 2022. ASNOVA's scaffolding is also active in Vietnam, a country that has achieved rapid economic growth among emerging countries in Asia and is still evolving.
In the midst of all this, the project was underway at the same time as the establishment of the local subsidiary. That was the "WEB ordering system".
Japan and Vietnam have different cultures, ways of thinking, and digital literacy, so how did you proceed with this project?
This time, we interviewed Mr. Kiichiro Tanaka and Ms. Mayo Kasakawa.
Text: Sayaka Mitsuda
Photo: Sho Kobayashi
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- Kiiichiro Tanaka
- He joined ASNOVA in June 2021 and will serve as General Director of ASNOVA VIETNAM from October 2022.
- Mayo Kasakawa
- Joined ASNOVA in 2021. At Corporate Planning Office, she focuses on new businesses and marketing strategies.
Digital transformation in Vietnam: Finding value in a market that is "easy to adopt"
Q. Vietnam's digital economy is expected to reach 21 billion dollars in 2021, making it the third largest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Thailand, and digitalization is progressing rapidly. Mr. Tanaka, you have been living in Vietnam for a long time, but have you ever felt that digitalization was particularly noticeable during your life in Vietnam?
Tanaka: I started working in Vietnam in 2014 and was then transferred to Vietnam in December 2021. This may be the same in Japan, but I think that COVID-19 has led to the spread of digital in their lives.
This includes communication tools such as Facebook and TikTok, and in Vietnam a service called "Grab" is popular, so I made extensive use of it to book taxis, shop, and get deliveries.
The local people readily accepted this rapid digitalization. I think one of the reasons for this is the young average age. They are about 16-17 years younger than the Japanese, at around 31 years old, so they are part of the digital nature generation that has been rapidly adopting new things. Even in urban areas like Ho Chi Minh City where I live, young people are actively adopting various digital services.
Q. Digitalization has taken root among the Vietnamese people. So, how is digitalization in the Japanese construction industry?
Kasakawa: In the construction industry in Japan, digitalization is still lagging behind due to a shortage of human resources and a lack of development of digital human resources. However, we believe that we can further accelerate our business development in Vietnam by disseminating and introducing the know-how, experience, and data utilization methods related to japan scaffolding rental business that we have cultivated so far not only in Japan but also in Vietnam.
Furthermore, Vietnam has a wealth of IT human resources and construction demand, which had stagnated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is resuming, so I feel that the country's possibilities will expand by promoting digitalization.
The Vietnamese online ordering system was developed through trial and error
Q. So, specifically, how did you go about introducing the "Online Ordering System" in Vietnam?
Tanaka: First of all, when we started our local subsidiary in Vietnam, we were considering promoting DX in our work, including the ordering system. While starting up various local subsidiaries here, I heard that they were developing a "web ordering system" ahead of the Japan, so I received a proposal from a member of corporate planning office where Ms. Kasakawa is located, wondering if it would be a good idea to take that and expand horizontally in Vietnam.
After completing the project in Japan, we were told that it seemed possible to use the same system in Vietnam, so we began to move forward in earnest.
The basic business flow for ordering and receiving is the same as in Japan, so we used that as a base and made various modifications to make it easier to use in Vietnam.
Kasakawa: We started by verifying to what extent the Japanese version of the online ordering system could be replicated in the Vietnamese version, comparing it with the local flow from order receipt to shipment. Since the Vietnamese version of the core system was being developed in parallel with the Vietnamese version of the ordering system, we held several meetings with the project team, including the production company, to determine which parts needed to be customized in light of the role of the core system.
Our primary focus was on user friendliness, so just like the Japanese version of the online ordering system, we aimed to make it possible to operate it without a manual, with the key concepts being "anytime, anywhere, and reliably."
Tanaka: We didn't have any business experience that told us "You should do it this way in Vietnam" or "You have to do it this way," so we were pretty much feeling our way around. Whenever there was a problem with the system, we would go back and try again, and that was the cycle we kept repeating...
"This is how it is done in Japan, so why don't we try it this way in Vietnam?" and proceeded while communicating with corporate planning office at Japan.
The online ordering system actually began operation in Vietnam in March of this year.
Vietnam is a country of "let's try it first"! Scaffolding Making rentals more accessible
Q. The Vietnamese version of the online ordering system was launched after many twists and turns. What kind of response have you received so far?
Tanaka: We now have a page on our website that allows for online ordering, but we'd like as many people as possible to use it so we can identify areas for improvement.
Depending on the user, for example, the ease of use for a scaffolding specialist contractor and the ease of use for a purchasing manager at a construction company are different.
We've received a lot of feedback, and we feel that the first thing we need to do is to acquire customers.
Kasakawa: Every country has its own communication tools that are widely used, such as LINE in Japan and KakaoTalk in Korea. In Vietnam, there is a chat app called Zalo, so we linked the official account of the Vietnamese version of the ordering system. Right now, we think the first priority is to get as many people as possible to use it.
We believe it is important to invigorate communication between companies and customers by linking it to tools that are essential for communication among local people, and to continue to make improvements.
Q.How do you want Vietnamese people to use scaffolding through the "WEB ordering system"?
Tanaka: In terms of the use of scaffolding, I think Japan is much more mature than Vietnam. In Japan, scaffolding is already used in various fields of daily life, such as at events and personal consumption, so it would be great if we could follow that culture in Vietnam.
There are many small construction shops in Vietnam, so when you need scaffolding, you often rent them at those places. I would like to spread the idea that our web ordering system makes it easier and more convenient to rent.
In that sense, young people in particular are now able to access any information they want on their smartphones, so we need to actively reach out to them through social media and websites.
Vietnamese people have a tendency to try something simple first, whether it's a restaurant or a building. With that "let's just give it a try" mentality, they easily set up a store.
The hurdles to scaffolding rental should be low for them, so I would like to make scaffolding more familiar to them through the "WEB ordering system" so that they can use it more closely.
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