KEEPING THE TRADITIONAL PROFESSION BY APPLYING TECHNOLOGY IN PRODUCTION
The application of science and technology has contributed to promoting production in each craft village, helping businesses in traditional craft villages improve competitiveness, reduce product costs, and bring high economic value.
Modernize the production process to keep the profession
Currently, Hanoi has 1,350 craft villages and villages having profession, accounting for 58.8% of the total number of craft villages in the city; in which, there are 286 recognized craft villages, mainly gathering a number of profession such as making lacquer, mussel mosaic, nón lá, rattan, making incense sticks, forest products processing, carpentry, high-quality wood, embroidery, textiles …
In Da Sy forging village, many business households have put billet forming machines, hammer stamping machines, grinding machines, etc. into production stages, bringing about higher economic efficiency than manual work. (LH Photo)
According to the Center for Industrial Promotion and Consulting for Industry Development (Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade), with the encouragement and support of the City, along with ministries, branches, and many craft villages in the area have actively applied the science and technology, as well as equipment innovation.
Typically, Van Phuc craft village has 200 households doing silk weaving. Previously, households produced manually, but now most have used the improved production technology to meet the market demand in terms of quality, design and quantity of products.
Mr. Pham Khac Ha, Chairman of Van Phuc Craft Village Association, said that some households in Van Phuc have invested billions Vietnam dong to purchase equipment and machinery for production. Thanks to that, Van Phuc village has about 245 weaving machines, producing all type of silk products.
In Da Sy forging village, Mr. Hoang Van Dung, who has been work in this field for more than 40 years with the throbbing hammer and the sizzling sound of the cutter, said that in the past, all production stages were mainly made by hand.
Through the development process, the use of modern machinery for production improved the efficiency and met the needs of consumers. Accordingly, Da Sy forge has put billet forming machines, hammer or grinding machines into the production stages to bring higher economic efficiency than manual work.
Or like Quang Nguyen toothpick village (Ung Hoa district) uses a new technology in raw material drying, which is “High-tech steam drying oven”. It is estimated that steam drying oven technology helps increase economic efficiency by about 4 million VND/batch compared to manual drying ovens.
Besides, toothpicks dried in a steam boiler have a more beautiful appearance, better quality than those dried in a heating oven. This technology is applied to help reduce the consumption of materials for maintaining the heat, which increases economic efficiency and protecting the environment.
With the mechanical profession Phung Xa (Thach That), Mr. Tran Van Suu, Chairman of Vinh Loc – Phung Xa Metal Craft Village Association, knew that before planning the industrial cluster, the production of households in the craft village was often small with some items such as knives, sickles, hoes, shovels, plows, harrows. Now the items are more variety, with beautiful designs and higher quality. Currently, 100% of households apply technology, use automatic and semi-automatic machines. Thanks to the application of technology for more than a decade such as: CNC technology cutting, bending, robotic technology, production has increased significantly in quantity and quality, doubling to dozens of times of manual production.
Mechanical production in Phung Xa craft village. (Photo: VGP/BP)
Lacquer village in Duyen Thai commune (Thuong Tin district), many families have applied technology to force energy pellets and create cores. Bich Hoa commune (Thanh Oai district), An Thuong commune (Hoai Duc district) use renewable energy sources in the process of making banh rice paper. Up to now, most production facilities in craft villages have approached and used information technology to promote trade, promote images, introduce and consume products…
Need policy support
Currently, many producers in traditional craft villages have applied advanced production techniques to nearly the entire process, or some stages of production. However, the current difficulty of craft villages is the source of investment capital.
For example, to switch from traditional kilns to gas furnaces, pottery producers in Bat Trang need to invest about 800 million VND/furnace. This cost is not all households can meet, especially small establishments.
According to Ms. Ha Thi Vinh, Chairwoman of Hanoi Handicraft Association and Handicraft Village, besides the advantages, Hanoi craft villages are facing many challenges when our country’s economy is increasingly deeply integrated into the world economy. Accordingly, products are increasingly competing fiercely with products of other countries in the region, input production costs are increasing. The continuous change in the design of goods to meet the requirements of the domestic and international markets is very difficult to expand the production site for the opportunity to apply science – technology and advanced equipment for production…
Therefore, Ms. Ha Thi Vinh proposed that the city develop the specific policies to support rural production establishments and craft villages to overcome difficulties such as source of capital, production premises, technology, design… In particular, quickly planning many industrial clusters of craft villages; allowing to lease premises and transform agricultural land into production service land so that production facilities have favorable opportunities to develop and expand production scale.
In order for craft villages to apply science and technology effectively, Chairman of the Vietnam Craft Village Association Luu Duy Pham said that local authorities and related agencies and units need to have preferential policies to support loans and access technology for producers; become an intermediary and bridge in ordering and transferring advanced technology applications to production.
In order to upgrade craft village products, it is necessary to pay attention to promoting the application of science and technology in production activities. In particular, priority is given to the fields of preservation and processing of agricultural, forestry and handicrafts.
Along with the above solutions, Hanoi city proposed that the Government should have preferential policies, support investment capital, and have a mechanism to reduce medium and long-term lending rates for craft villages in accordance with commitments on international economic integration. At the same time, it is necessary to have the mechanisms and policies on land, construction of industrial clusters, concentrated production zones, improvement of land allocation procedures, long-term land lease to create conditions for the development of traditional occupations and craft villages in rural areas.