The 2023 Jewellery World Awards (JWA) has just honored “40 of the most outstanding icons of the world’s jewellery industry”, including a Vietnamese - Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ), the No. 1 jewellery retailer in Asia.

At the age of over 60, her schedule is packed with social service activities and inspiring young generations of entrepreneurs, but at any event, Ms. Dung always exudes youthful energy, courage and wisdom.

three dung 1.jpg

Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ) at an event in Hanoi in early September 2023. Photo: BM

Despite being very busy, with her affection for VietNamNet reporters, she agreed to tell the story of PNJ's 35-year journey of applying technology and techniques, from a small district's jewelry manufacturing facility to a modern jewelry retailer, bringing the Vietnamese jewelry industry to a new level, making Vietnam famous on the world jewelry map.

Pioneering technology application

35 years ago, Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung was assigned to build a gold and gemstone trading unit in Phu Nhuan District (Ho Chi Minh City) - the predecessor of PNJ Company. Cherishing the dream of restoring and developing the Vietnamese jewelry industry, Ms. Dung focused on investing in production activities with the participation of a team of skilled artisans.

In 1992, an opportunity opened up for PNJ when a foreign company proposed a joint venture. PNJ's leaders saw a new direction: Approaching and applying science and technology in production would definitely lead to development!

In 1993, PNJ boldly invested in importing modern production machinery and equipment, and one year later officially produced jewelry using advanced machinery technology. At the same time, it soon established creative design teams to introduce modern, sophisticated designs.

“The production platform with the participation of a team of artisans with exquisite craftsmanship and a team of engineers with a firm grasp of new technology were the key factors for the existence and development of PNJ at that time,” Ms. Dung recalled.

The decision to apply technology to the production line, systematically upgrade the manufacturing stages, and minimize manual work shows the sharp, timely vision of PNJ's leaders. In the 90s, having a Vietnamese company produce jewelry using foreign technology was very… strange. This technological pioneering has helped PNJ improve its competitiveness in the domestic market.

pnj2.jpg

Photo: PNJ

“Vietnamese artisans possess exquisite craftsmanship, and their products are no less than high-tech products in the world. There have been some jewelry companies from Indonesia or Thailand that tried to enter the Vietnamese market, but then quickly stopped because they found they could not compete with Vietnamese businesses like PNJ, because they did not understand the Vietnamese people as well as Vietnamese businesses,” said the Chairman of PNJ.

In 1995, with the support of the World Gold Council, PNJ visited and learned from several jewelry factories in the region. Thanks to that, the first generation of PNJ creative designers had their eyes opened, had a direct and general view of the domestic and international jewelry market.

“I still remember clearly, one time at the airport, a friend bragged that her husband bought her a piece of jewelry in Dubai, but upon closer inspection, I knew that the product was from PNJ. And so, the problem lies in the marketing and communication story at that time, which was still young, and could not introduce PNJ products to customers,” Ms. Dung recalled.

Therefore, in 1997, PNJ promoted the development of a direct sales network to consumers, marking a new step in the journey of applying technology - techniques to create breakthrough growth. Many brand building and marketing communication campaigns were continuously deployed to introduce PNJ's modern and sophisticated jewelry collections to consumers directly, on a large scale, accumulating the necessary capacity of a professional retailer.

In 2012, PNJ inaugurated the Jewelry Factory after nearly 18 months of construction. With a total investment of 120 billion VND and a capacity of over 4 million products/year, PNJ Jewelry Factory is considered one of the largest jewelry manufacturing factories in Asia. PNJ has officially transformed itself from a jewelry manufacturing facility in a district in a city in Vietnam into a modern jewelry retailer at the regional level.

Digital transformation to accelerate growth

Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung realized early on that digital transformation is a “life and death” activity in the context of a volatile macro economy, having a positive impact, creating many strong changes in the operation of a large apparatus with a scale of more than 7,000 employees like PNJ. Therefore, this enterprise has restructured many times, taking technology as the core to accelerate growth. Digital technology has gradually penetrated, gone hand in hand, and is the main “engine” to push the “ship” PNJ to “reach the open sea”.

Since 2019, PNJ has established a Digital Transformation Center, then quickly implemented digital transformation to the end of the system. PNJ leaders are determined not to ignore new technologies but also not to rush to apply them widely if they have not proven their effectiveness and suitability to the actual situation of the business. Once a technology or trend is proven to be effective, PNJ will devote great attention to increasing investment.

And then, digital transformation has completely changed the entire supply chain and production process of the company. Typically, applying technology to the production process at the jewelry factory has helped PNJ reduce the time to market by up to 50% for small projects, and 30% for large projects, ensuring product quality meets international standards.

Or the previous retail model, where revenue mainly came from the store system, now also has a social networking platform and multi-channel sales (Omnichannel). Thanks to that, PNJ can meet the diverse needs of customers at different touch points in the shopping journey; all product information, warranty policies and accompanying services are always transparent and consistent, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

pnj1.jpg

Photo: PNJ

Among the many achievements that digital transformation has brought to PNJ, the special mark for Ms. Dung is that technology has helped PNJ overcome the crisis caused by Covid-19 quite spectacularly.

“With strong, timely digital transformation and careful preparation in advance, during the Covid-19 period, PNJ was still able to deliver products directly to customers. Along with that, management, communication, sales activities... all took place smoothly on online platforms, with the control of performance measurement tools. Thanks to the application of technology, transferring the product distribution system through digital centers, during the period of 2019 - 2022, PNJ continuously grew its business while many other businesses struggled because of the pandemic,” Ms. Dung shared.

It can be said that long-term vision, continuous innovation thinking and the ability to accurately position the role of technology in the enterprise have become the "secret" that helps PNJ adapt flexibly to market fluctuations. However, digital transformation is not only about technology and equipment procurement, but also about institutions, policies, awareness and organizational capacity. Many experts have emphasized that technology only contributes about 20% to the success of digital transformation, while 80% depends on the awareness and capacity of the implementing organization.

To go the long way, in addition to the vision and strategic orientation on technology combined with business strategy, PNJ leaders especially value investing in digital capacity and innovation culture, because digital transformation does not lie in technology but mainly in culture and people.

“Injecting new DNA” into the organization

According to Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, digital transformation has helped PNJ "implant" a new "DNA" source into the organization so that it can continuously regenerate and adapt to change. Thanks to the application of superior platforms in production and business, in September 2023, PNJ was honored in the category of "Outstanding cloud computing technology in the retail industry" within the framework of the Asian Technology Excellence Awards 2023. Solutions from the cloud computing platform help PNJ increase system capacity by up to 500% and sales productivity by up to 200%.

PNJ leaders said: “The cloud computing strategy implemented over the past two years is the first step in PNJ’s overall digital transformation strategy. These solutions not only help the company change the “game”, but also promote revolutionary growth. We believe that technology is no longer an option, but has become a key factor helping PNJ increase its competitiveness in the market.”

Excellent technology strategies have helped PNJ "peak" in production and business activities. In 2023, Brand Finance announced that PNJ's brand value was 428.43 million USD, an increase of 17% compared to 2022 and an increase of 44% compared to 2020.

In the same year 2023, Forbes Magazine voted PNJ as the only jewelry brand in Vietnam to appear in the Top 25 corporate brands in the field of personal and industrial consumer goods.

Thanks to its positive revenue growth rate, PNJ was also honored as "Top 50 most effective businesses in Vietnam 2023" by Nhip Cau Dau Tu Magazine and Thien Viet Securities Company announced in September this year. On the other hand, the fact that PNJ has been on the list of "50 best listed companies" for 9 consecutive times shows that PNJ shares always attract investors due to their sustainable growth.

pnj3.jpg

Photo: PNJ

Taking on the mission of constantly innovating to bring exquisite products with true value to honor the beauty of people and life, PNJ is continuing its journey to become Asia's leading company in jewelry manufacturing and retailing beauty-enhancing products, reaching the world.

“Trust” is the keyword that the “female general” of PNJ mentioned many times when telling the story of PNJ. “For PNJ, trust is the most core value. Enterprises need to be confident in their own capacity, while creating trust from society for their products and brands. And especially, not to lose trust in any difficult or crisis situation,” emphasized Chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung.

Vietnamnet.vn