Day 3 at the Dien Quan facility was a very interesting experience. It showed how a company with over 50 years of experience is adapting to a variety of modern technologies. It was especially impressive to see the scale of their operations along with how advanced their manufacturing strategies were. The most interesting part of the tour was to see how the automation was used within a home. They essentially used a Vietnamese “Alexa” to control in-home actions. During the tour they showed an example of how if someone wanted to relax they could tell the technology and it will turn their home into a relaxing space. In terms of the workers on the different floors, during the Q and A, they revealed how they are limiting workers as time goes on. Walking around each floor, I noticed how small the number of workers were with there being only around 8 in each room and only about 2 per line. The staff around the company as a whole was extremely knowledgeable throughout the tour and provided specific detail as we were taken around as a group. They did not just explain what the company produced, but also why certain technologies were important and how they could improve customers’ daily lives.

The most interesting part of the tour for me was seeing how automation and smart technology were integrated into a home environment. They also showed us their smart bar lighting products. Before this, I never really thought about how much lighting affects customers. It was really cool to see how the lighting affected the mannequins and how they were presented and advertised. The tour guide repeatedly mentioned the focus on the quality of the products and sustainability. Even though it was hot during the tour, we learned a lot of information about the number of workers and specifics about the focus of each of the new technologies! The section of the tour where the guide explained that specific lighting technology can make food appear fresher and more visually appealing to consumers. This was extremely unique and something that a regular consumer would never have noticed if they didn’t have it explained to them. Again, today, the Kahoot was such a fun experience and I continue to love making connections with the UEF students about nightlife and their cool restaurant recommendations. We even tried a Korean Barbeque place for dinner which was a unique experience as we all cooked our own food on the table in front of us. My featured picture is from dinner! 

Outside of the facility tour itself, another highlight of the day was continuing to build friendships and connections with the UEF students. Working with the UEF students during the class and creating solutions to problems presented by the professor with them was amazing. Working alongside the UEF students during class was also a very rewarding experience. Our group focused on the Taiwanese shipping industry and worked together to create solutions to sustainability problems explained by the professor. I enjoyed not only contributing to my own group’s ideas, but also listening to the presentations from the other groups. It was awesome to see the different perspectives that everyone brought and how solutions to helping sustainability could be approached in many different ways.

Overall, Day 3 combined technology along with sustainability. I am really looking forward to the Cu Chi Tunnels trip tomorrow morning and all of the unique experiences that are still ahead of us during the rest of this journey!