When I returned from Australia after studying commerce, I joined Metal Solutions, a traditional mechanical engineering company where many of my colleagues understandably had little confidence in either my technical ability or the value I could bring. Rather than enter the business through a senior management role, I started on the workshop floor as an entry-level technician.
For the first six months, I focused almost entirely on learning. I worked alongside experienced technicians, studied decades of manuals and operating instructions, and tried to understand not only how our technologies worked, but also why things had always been done in a certain way and where the limitations were. Only after building that foundation did I begin redesigning our production processes.
I learned to program robots, operate HVOF and thermal spray systems, and implement many of the changes myself. It took roughly two years before I felt I had truly earned the trust of senior staff and the confidence to embrace my role as Director. What had once been a VND 3 billion annual segment eventually became our core business, contributing over 90% of revenue. We have since exceeded US$2 million in annual revenue and continue to grow rapidly.
As the company expanded, another limitation became clear: traditional, paper-based management could no longer support the number of orders we were handling while maintaining consistency and quality control. During my MBA at RMIT, I was exposed to modern digital tools and immediately began applying them at Metal Solutions.
Over two years, we moved our records to the cloud, standardised workflows, introduced Slack, and built more than 100 automated processes based on RPA principles. There was significant resistance at first, but through training, persistence, and investment in company-issued devices, adoption gradually followed. Today, more than two-thirds of our daily processes are managed through these workflows, helping us scale from roughly 40–50 orders per month to more than 150.
One lesson from RMIT that continues to shape my leadership is the importance of what I call the “organiser.” I am not the smartest engineer, salesperson, or accountant in my company. My role is to ask the right questions, bring the right expertise together, and direct our resources toward a common goal.
Looking ahead, I believe RMIT and Metal Solutions could create real value together. We can provide students and faculty with access to advanced HVOF, Plasma, and surface-engineering technologies, real industrial applications, and research opportunities. In return, RMIT can contribute academic expertise, engineering talent, and collaboration, helping accelerate the development and adoption of advanced surface engineering in Vietnam.
For the first six months, I focused almost entirely on learning. I worked alongside experienced technicians, studied decades of manuals and operating instructions, and tried to understand not only how our technologies worked, but also why things had always been done in a certain way and where the limitations were. Only after building that foundation did I begin redesigning our production processes.
I learned to program robots, operate HVOF and thermal spray systems, and implement many of the changes myself. It took roughly two years before I felt I had truly earned the trust of senior staff and the confidence to embrace my role as Director. What had once been a VND 3 billion annual segment eventually became our core business, contributing over 90% of revenue. We have since exceeded US$2 million in annual revenue and continue to grow rapidly.
As the company expanded, another limitation became clear: traditional, paper-based management could no longer support the number of orders we were handling while maintaining consistency and quality control. During my MBA at RMIT, I was exposed to modern digital tools and immediately began applying them at Metal Solutions.
Over two years, we moved our records to the cloud, standardised workflows, introduced Slack, and built more than 100 automated processes based on RPA principles. There was significant resistance at first, but through training, persistence, and investment in company-issued devices, adoption gradually followed. Today, more than two-thirds of our daily processes are managed through these workflows, helping us scale from roughly 40–50 orders per month to more than 150.
One lesson from RMIT that continues to shape my leadership is the importance of what I call the “organiser.” I am not the smartest engineer, salesperson, or accountant in my company. My role is to ask the right questions, bring the right expertise together, and direct our resources toward a common goal.
Looking ahead, I believe RMIT and Metal Solutions could create real value together. We can provide students and faculty with access to advanced HVOF, Plasma, and surface-engineering technologies, real industrial applications, and research opportunities. In return, RMIT can contribute academic expertise, engineering talent, and collaboration, helping accelerate the development and adoption of advanced surface engineering in Vietnam.
