HCM City will launch locally produced industrial robots into the market by 2010 after several years of implementing trial projects, says Tran Duc Dat, head of the Science and Technique Center

Mobile welders on display at the Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2008 in Hanoi last May with participation of 30 foreign countries.

Dat said the center will start work on producing mobile welders, ventilation pipe cleaners and robots that can perform other functions as ordered.

He expects made-in-Vietnam robotic products will be officially introduced to the market by the end of 2010, and that the center will make over 100 robots annually at the beginning, he added.

“Honestly, 100 robots a year can meet only a very small part of the demand for robots in current industries,” the official said.

However, this will be a boost to “the market of producing and trading in industrial robots, drawing foreign hi-tech groups to invest in the field in Vietnam,” Dat said.

According to Dat, this effort needs an investment of nearly VND25 billion (US$1.41 million) for a fully equipped factory including quality control facilities, so “financial support from the city’s budget is needed.”

He said the center can “train adequate human resources,” but will have to import several raw materials for production.

But the local products will still be able to compete with foreign ones, he stressed.

“In fact, robots produced on trial by the center over the past few years are priced between 20–30 percent lower than imported ones. Many companies would accept such prices.”

In 2004, scientists from the HCMC University of Technology introduced five industrial robots for use in toxic and unsafe working environments in cooperation with partners from other scientific institutes. These were the first-ever made-in-Vietnam robots.

Since then, other scientific organizations have also come on board, including SCT and the HCMC Department of Science and Technology, but all the products are still on trial.

“When transferred to companies, the products don’t have their quality checked under regulated standards, so many limitations and failings have emerged during their use,” Dat said.

So, it is urgent that a specialized factory be established to

commercialize production of industrial robots as targeted by the city, said Phan Minh Tan, director of the department, adding that his agency will propose that the city’s authorities support the center’s project by investing in necessary infrastructure and machinery.

VietNamNet/TN/SGGP