Pacific Engineer: 'Creativity is a journey without an end point'

The creative journey begins with small ideas

Like most people, in the early days at TH Milk Joint Stock Company, Mr. Thai Binh Duong thought that his task was simply to complete the assigned work. But then, during a production shift, he realized that he could apply his knowledge of electronics to create an electric circuit to control the water tank to balance instead of humans. Although he was hesitant about this idea, he boldly proposed it, and surprisingly, the initiative was applied to the entire production line, helping to save hundreds of working hours each year. It was that first time that helped him realize: his small idea was contributing to creating real value for the business and the community.

Since the first idea was proposed, like a spring being opened, Duong and his colleagues have continuously researched and proposed initiatives and technical improvements to increase productivity, save costs and create sustainable value for the business.

In his long list of innovations, Duong is most satisfied with the innovation of the servo valve system that controls the pouring level for lines 10 and 11. The valve technology of the current tetrapak machine uses air valves, so there is a phenomenon of error, leading to overflowing or insufficient milk. “Of course, the machine has the function of eliminating these defective milk bags and not releasing defective products to the market. But the production process with the old valve causes waste in product packaging, waste of time - slowing down the factory's plan, wasting labor waiting to fix errors... Faced with that reality, Mr. Cao Minh Hoa - our Technical Director requested an urgent conversion to new technology - more modern, faster and more accurate. Faced with that problem, I struggled to learn about the most advanced technologies at that time, self-studying to quickly apply them in practice" - Mr. Duong shared.

After 2 weeks of hard work, Duong built a PID algorithm to control the servo valve and was ready for testing. The first test was very effective, however, there was still a small factor that was not as expected. Mr. Duong and his team continued to research, working continuously at the factory, overnight to find the answer. In the next test, the system worked as expected, the pouring process was absolutely precise. The total cost of profit in 2023 from this initiative is 3 billion VND. This is also the initiative that brought him the Creative Labor Award in 2023.

Previously, the initiative of automatic box-picking robot for line 11, which Duong was in charge of writing the program for, was also considered a “leap forward” in technology and an unforgettable mark for the young engineer. That was the first time robot technology was applied in Vietnam without having to buy robots from abroad.

Currently, Duong is upgrading this robot system to an AI robot that can handle the work without human intervention in this stage. When completed, the running speed of this system will be 10 times faster than the old technology. This project affirms the ability to keep up with new technology trends of "made in Vietnam" machines.

Similarly, starting from practical shortcomings, Pacific engineers have succeeded with initiatives and innovations such as CMMS management system, EPMS energy management system, automatic camera date check system, image processing software - checking clamp cap errors... The value of benefits from those initiatives is several billions of dong each year.

Belief in “creative seeds”

The endless energy and creativity of Pacific engineers not only bring valuable projects but also positively impact the people around them. That energy is nurtured by faith and passion for work.

The biggest belief that Mr. Duong has repeatedly affirmed is "If you don't give up, you won't fail". It is that belief that has helped engineer Thai Binh Duong persevere in overcoming difficulties. If from practice to idea is a process of paying attention and thinking, then from idea to creative product is a process of persistent work with high determination, daring to do, daring to accept failure. After each successful project of Mr. Duong and his colleagues, there are sleepless nights with machines, days of confusion because of constantly finding errors, periods of nervous operation, testing... And then together they burst into joy of victory after each success - taking a new step on the creative journey.

“Creativity is a journey that has no end. The most difficult part of the creative process is how to turn the idea in your head into a reality that everyone can see. To do that, we had to plan ahead, have a long-term vision, build many alternative solutions and work on many solutions at the same time to solve each specific problem. The most important thing is to keep the belief that each failure brings you closer to success. If you don’t give up, you will never fail,” Duong confided.

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For me, happiness is when even the smallest initiatives are put into practice, contributing to the effectiveness of the group. Happiness is also the recognition of colleagues, the trust of leaders, and above all, the feeling that I am doing what I am passionate about. Every day I go to work, I see it as an opportunity to learn, challenge myself and spread the spirit of creativity to everyone.

Pacific Engineers -
Head of Innovation at TH Milk Joint Stock Company

Another belief that Pacific engineers always remind themselves and share with colleagues is the belief in creativity in each person and the importance ofcreative environmentHe said: “Someone said: Creativity is a fire that only burns when there is enough oxygen from belief and opportunity. I believe that, because I have experienced it myself. I believe that every worker carries within them a seed of creativity. If planted in an environment of trust and watered by care, that seed will germinate and grow. Fortunately, at TH Milk Joint Stock Company, the open working environment with a mechanism of listening, quick feedback, support of time, funding, equipment, encouragement of teamwork and timely rewards have given us the strength to nurture our creativity.”

“It is these beliefs that lead Pacific engineers on their journey of creativity and finding happiness every day” – Duong confided.