The majority of today was spent with a supplier meeting and a plant tour of their new multi-building facitlity out of town. This was my principal justification for coming to Vietnam.

The drive was about an hour east of the city and our first opportunity to get out and see a bit of the countryside.
Low lying, swampy water everywhere.. just like in the movies!

Furtive shot taken when sitting down for our first meeting.

Some shots of their equipment. These are fully automated “flat panel lines”. Raw materials go in and boxes of 2’x2’ light fixtures come out. No labor involved.

Good, old fashioned assembly lines. The workers here put in 12 hours a day, 6 days per week before OT kicks in.

It is worth noting that none of these companies are Vietnamese owned. These are all Chinese companies who have set up shop here to avoid paying the Chinese duties on US-bound product. This loophole may eventually be closed, but for now, they make hay while the sun shines.

Automated powder coat paint line putting the white paint finish on bare metal fixtures.

This was lunch for me. I have been to my share of Chinese lunches/dinners, and the senior or most honored guest always gets the head of the fish. It is supposed to be the best portion. I’ve always been quite happy for someone else to have this honor, but now I’m stuck.

Almost a double rainbow over the Saigon river.
By the time we got back to the city it was almost dinner. We rested for a bit, got a bite to eat and settled in for the night. I had more phone calls to make (I do calls in the night so I can talk to folks back home in their early morning) and then we turned in.