There’s a new flag on the tesa map: Soon, we’ll be calling out “Xin chào, Vietnam !” – which translates to “Good day, Vietnam!” – in the city of Haiphong. The group will settle in the third largest city in Vietnam on a property of around 70,000 square meters. This will boost tesa’s presence in Asia, significantly increase capacities, and shorten the way to customers and suppliers. tesa currently operates 14 production sites worldwide, including large plants in Germany (Hamburg, Offenburg), Italy, the USA, and China.
Looking for Customer Proximity, We Discovered: Vietnam!
Markets
In the region, for the region: That is the short formula that tesa will use to produce adhesive tapes for the Asian market starting from 2023. For this purpose, the group is building a new plant in Northern Vietnam.
An investment of 55 million Euros
“The aim of our strategy is to continue to grow and to achieve a harmonized balance between the regions of Europe, North America, and Asia. The Asian adhesive tape market is experiencing a very dynamic development that we want to take advantage of,” explains Dr. Norman Goldberg, CEO of tesa SE, which is an affiliate of the Beiersdorf Group.
“With the fact that tesa makes such a large investment in times of Corona, the shareholders set a strong signal for the future.”
Dr. Norman Goldberg
Dr. Norman Goldberg, CEO, tesa
An emerging country in Southeast Asia
The country on the South China Sea with a population of 95 million offers tesa the best opportunities to serve customers and markets in Southeast Asia and also in China. An ever-greater number of particularly important tesa customers are settling in Vietnam, for example, from the electronics and automotive industries. Even in the first quarter of 2020, the country’s economic growth rose by 3.8% – despite the global Corona crisis. With an average age of 31.7 years, Vietnam is young and – quite significant for tesa – has an elevated number of engineers.
“The new plant in Vietnam not only creates additional capacities, but also enables us to achieve our high growth targets in the largest and fastest growing region,”
Stefan Schmidt
Stefan Schmidt, Head of Supply Chain, tesa
Innovations for Smartphone & Co.
Since 2005, in the Far East tesa has been successfully operating a large plant in the Chinese city of Suzhou, which in 2025, despite the current expansion, will reach its limits to meet growing demands. From Suzhou, tesa supplies, among others, many high-tech tapes for electronic devices, for example, to adhere components and displays in mobile phones and tablets. This means that more than 40 different tesa adhesive applications are used in smartphones. The trouble-free replacement of batteries was only possible with a newly developed tesa tape (Bond & Detach).
Fast delivery to customers
“The new plant in Vietnam not only creates additional capacities, but also enables us to achieve our high growth targets in the largest and fastest growing region,” explains Stefan Schmidt, Head of the tesa Supply Network and thus also responsible for all plants worldwide. “Time to market and quick access to local raw material suppliers are important factors in international competition.” In the first phase – starting from 2023 – around 140 employees are scheduled for factory operations.
An important mark of sustainability
In Vietnam, tesa is also investing in sustainability: 65% of the production volume will be made with solvent-free adhesives. For the plant planning, the company strives for certification according to the internationally recognized “LEED Gold Standard”. Among other things, the use of solar energy and rainwater treatment are planned.
Under the sign of the dragon
The dragon plays an important role in Vietnam. It symbolizes luck, wisdom, and power. Dragon pictures and drawings are ubiquitous in the country. In the past, the mythical animal was a symbol of the kings. Items that they used were often decorated with dragon motifs. The dragon is also a sacred animal: According to legend, the Vietnamese were created from the liaison of a dragon and a fairy. About a thousand years ago, the animal became the namesake of the capital Thang Long, which translates to ‘Ascending Dragon’. Only later Thang Long was renamed Hanoi.
Vietnam, in figures, dates, facts
According to an estimate from 2018, the population of Vietnam is about 95.55 million. With a population density of 308 inhabitants per square kilometer. The size of the elongated coastal state in Southeast Asia totals 332,000 square kilometers. The north-south extension is about 1650 kilometers, the east-west width up to 600 kilometers, while the narrowest point in Central Vietnam is only 50 kilometers wide. The capital is Hanoi. The climate is a rather moderate tropical alternating climate in the north, but tropical in the south. (Source: Wikipedia)