Destined for the electrical and mechanical industry from an unexpected turn, Mr. Le Mai Huu Lam chose a different path: Building a brand for Vietnam's industrial support products. Destined for the electrical and mechanical industry from an unexpected turn, Mr. Le Mai Huu Lam chose a different path: Building a brand for Vietnam's industrial support products.
"Have you seen the Bitexco Tower, Vietcombank, and The Sun building from the Grand Marina Saigon project under construction on the other side of the river? In their basement, just look up, and you will see the steel pipes wrapped with electrical wires from Cat Van Loi," introduced Le Mai Huu Lam, the founder and director of Cat Van Loi, pointing to the projects across the Saigon River. The electrical and mechanical products bearing the CVL logo of Cat Van Loi are present in many large industrial projects across various sectors, stretching from the North to the South, from the Nghi Son oil refinery to the Van Phong thermal power plant, as well as international ones like Nestlé, Unilever, Tetra Pak, and most recently, the Lego factory. The products of the business established in 2007 are currently found in many Toshiba thermal power plants.
"Cat Van Loi is a relatively different case," commented Ms. Truong Thi Chi Binh, the general secretary of the Vietnam Supporting Industries Association (VASI), regarding the VASI member enterprise. "Most of the equipment manufacturers in our association mainly work on orders or outsourcing." Acting as a trade intermediary, Cat Van Loi gradually shifted to the role of a manufacturer, building a brand in the industrial construction sector.
"I don't want to become a Pouyuen (a sports shoe manufacturing unit for Nike, Adidas) in the supporting industry," Mr. Lam affirmed. The founder of Cat Van Loi decided to invest in a manufacturing plant, even though he once pointed out that "manufacturers in Vietnam are like deaf people not afraid of guns." When planning the construction of the plant in Cu Chi in 2016, he quickly calculated to compare, the land lease cost about 50 billion VND, including the basic construction fee, purchasing machinery and equipment, totaling nearly a hundred billion VND. "If deposited in the bank every month, it's still a few hundred million VND."
Cat Van Loi's beginning was as a trading company specializing in mechanical products. After a period of focusing on trading, Mr. Lam recognized the demand from many large foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam for industrial support products. In 2010, they were forced to import components from abroad, mainly from China. "As an engineer, I found it difficult to understand why we could produce those mechanical components even better suited to the business needs but couldn't compete with imported goods," he explained. This realization motivated him to take the first steps towards self-production. With an advantage in English, Mr. Lam proactively searched online for product models from the United States and Japan, adjusted and adapted them to better suit Vietnamese needs. He then tested the production with the Cat Van Loi brand while continuing contract manufacturing.
"To enter the market is one step; for sustainable development, internal investment is necessary," shared Mr. Lam. Here, internal investment refers to both capital and knowledge. Nearly 20 years since Cat Van Loi's inception as a "life turning point," as Mr. Lam described it, the initial business had only a few million dong in capital, and "the rented house was even used as collateral," has become a company with nearly eight million US dollars in annual revenue. Everything has changed a lot, except for one thing: the thirst for learning. This has been a constant in the founder's personal development journey as well as for the entire workforce.
Born in 1974, holding the zodiac sign of a tiger in Eastern culture, Mr. Lam considers himself "tall in numbers" and often chooses a different path. He studied Petroleum Engineering at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. After graduation in 2003, he worked at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group. Later, he managed to secure a study abroad opportunity in Thailand because "everyone criticized it." During a year of studying abroad, in addition to attending lectures during the day, Le Mai Huu Lam also clandestinely attended marketing classes in the evening, discovering Google and the power of the internet by accessing the web from the university library.
Returning to Vietnam, he requested a transfer to the Chamber of Commerce, responsible for import and export activities of goods and supplies for offshore drilling at the Vietnam Oil and Gas Technical Services Corporation (PTSC). The months working there helped Mr. Lam gain practical knowledge about the market, supporting the later market work for Cat Van Loi. Recognizing his strength in understanding and experiencing market searching, Mr. Lam approached his close friend Nguyen Thanh Phuong, who was working in a mechanical workshop at the time, to invite him to become a shareholder of Cat Van Loi. The business was established in June 2007, with the initial goal of finding outlets for the products of the mechanical workshop, thus earning intermediary fees. The next 800 days were a period during which Mr. Lam worked at the company during the day and spent evenings studying and researching ways to build the market until three in the morning.
In 2007, he registered for a marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) course at the Nguyen Hoang Center – a rare training institution in Ho Chi Minh City at that time.
At that time, he invested about four thousand US dollars to buy 400 domain names on Google and run SEO. The goal of the director at that time was straightforward: to ensure that the first ten results of Google search all led to the Cat Van Loi website. Three months after the company's opening, they signed the first contract with the seawater desalination plant of Doosan Heavy Industries in Dung Quat, Quang Ngai. Fortunately, according to Mr. Lam, the Korean project manager at that time could not find a suitable equipment supplier and had the ability to speak English for direct communication. The 40-year-old director still couldn't believe he had signed the first shipment with a value of 2.2 billion dong. "After signing the contract, I was so happy that tears flowed," he said. After two years of establishment, he resigned from PTSC to focus on Cat Van Loi.
Thanks to the market advantage gained from trading, they had some initial customers. Word of mouth spread, and gradually more units came to Cat Van Loi to place orders. Recognizing the three basic needs that foreign customers impose on suppliers: reducing supply time, reasonable costs, and products complying with international standards, Cat Van Loi aimed to produce according to globally recognized standards such as those of the United States, Europe, Japan, and the United Kingdom. A relatively extensive customer network, combined with internationally standardized products manufactured in Vietnam, helped the products gain a competitive advantage.
Although it has far exceeded the dream of "one billion dong in revenue every month" from the early days of entrepreneurship, the passion for learning and exploring new things is a habit that Mr. Lam still maintains. Throughout the office in Go Vap, there are many framed quotes hanging everywhere. Every morning and noon, the central speaker dedicates 20 minutes to play podcasts sharing learning and self-improvement stories for all employees to listen to - a way of "passive learning," as Mr. Lam explains. What about active learning? "I'm good at being stubborn. I ask so many questions that some businesses get annoyed when they see me at trade shows," Mr. Lam said about spending time participating in fairs and exhibitions abroad, learning about production methods from businesses in places with developed industries like China, Taiwan, and Japan. During such trips, sometimes he bought a few machines for the chance to visit and inquire about the factories continuously.
He himself was greatly influenced by the business philosophy and determination of his mentors from Japan, who were high-level directors at large technology corporations such as Panasonic and Daikin. Continuous investment in enrolling in courses in Japan to satisfy his passion for learning, supporting in management, understanding the culture, helping Cat Van Loi score points with many Japanese customers. After solo trips, Mr. Lam began to bring his teammates, initially the couple Nguyen Thanh Phuong, co-founders, and then to middle-level managers for further education.
Tung, the production manager at Cat Van Loi's factory, who has been there since the factory was built, shared that both Mr. Lam and Mr. Phuong are very open-minded and encourage everyone to continuously learn. Taking the writer on a tour of the production base, Tung proudly showed off some machines proposed and improved internally to fit the needs. "Once Mr. Lam and I planned to go to China to buy a new crane, then the Covid-19 outbreak happened, so we couldn't go. The two of us found an old crane for 30 million dong and brought it back to improve," Tung said. The spirit of "lifelong learning" is maintained for the entire company as Tung shares that the boss is the one looking for courses, paying for them, and urging everyone to attend.
The leader's thirst for knowledge, combined with luck, has made a difference for Cat Van Loi. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, in charge of technical activities at the company, said that self-production helps them be proactive in the supply chain and control inventory well, instead of being passive and dependent on customer demand. This is also Mr. Lam's business philosophy: to do as much as possible without financial leverage, and not to develop beyond one's capacity.
Cat Van Loi, led by Mr. Lam, has been selected as one of hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises participating in a USAID-sponsored production conversion support project, with a budget of nearly two billion dong. This means that their team continues to learn and absorb new knowledge. "The years 2023 and 2024 are the time for us to prepare internally, ready to seize opportunities."
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