Difficulties and challenges along each historical journey
Along with the fluctuations of history as well as the development of the Vietnamese lighting industry, Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company has also gone through a thorny and challenging journey to grow and develop as it is today.
Dien Quang's 40-year journey of formation and development can be summarized through the following 4 stages:
Phase 1 (1973 – 1975) – The Beginning
Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company, formerly known as Dien Quang Company (Electrolite Inc.), was established in 1973, with its headquarters located on the 4th floor of Ben Chuong Duong, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The company's production workshop is located in Bien Hoa Sonadezi Industrial Park with all machinery, equipment and production lines invested in the technology of producing fluorescent lamps (tube lamps) of Toshiba, Japan. To use modern technologies at that time, the company invited a number of good experts in lighting technology who were well-trained in France and Japan to run the company such as: Mr. Duong Mong Ao - General Director; Mr. Bui Duc Manh - Director and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chau - Deputy Director. In addition, the company also hired 2 Japanese experts to guide and train on lamp production technology.
The company operated normally until June 1974, when it temporarily stopped production due to lack of raw materials and difficulties in consumption. In the South, at this time, the old government did not have a policy to protect domestically produced goods, while the market was fiercely competitive with all brands from the US, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, etc. Especially in mid-1974, General light bulbs that the US aided the Saigon government were smuggled into the market and sold at cheap prices, affecting the consumption of the company's light bulb products. In that situation, in order to maintain operations and retain skilled workers, the company had to mortgage the bank to borrow money to continue production at a low level. All commercial transactions had to go through the bank to pay off debts. The factory's situation at this time was very difficult, the workers' lives were miserable.
Phase 2 (1975 – 1996): Recovery and development
After April 30, 1975, the Military Management Board appointed Mr. Ba Sang, also known as Le Tan Sang, to take over the production workshop, then handed it over to Mr. Muoi Luong, also known as Nguyen Van Luong, as Director to manage equipment, technical records, and called on workers who had worked before to report and return to work.
In early 1976, Mr. Nguyen Nhat was appointed as Director to replace Mr. Muoi Luong. At this time, the company entered a new period, the number of old workers increased from 64 to 105. The company worked hard, developed and formed production departments. By the end of 1977, the number of workers increased to 138. The products made were not enough to supply the market.
In 1979, the Ministry of Light Industry established Dien Quang Lamp Factory on the basis of merging the following units: Tube Lamp Factory (Bien Hoa), Glass Tube Factory (Bien Hoa), Round Lamp Factory (12 Ton Dan - District 4 - Ho Chi Minh City); located the main office at 96 - 98 Dong Khoi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The factory director at that time was Mr. Hoang Lam, the Deputy Director was Mr. Nguyen Nhat.
In 1985, Mr. Hoang Lam was appointed by the Ministry of Light Industry as General Director of the Union of Ceramic and Glass Enterprises II, and Mr. Nguyen Nhat was appointed as Director of Dien Quang Light Bulb Factory.
In 1987, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant went into operation with a capacity of 1,920 MW, providing electricity for the industrialization and modernization of the country's economy, opening up a new step of development for the Vietnamese electricity industry. From here, the demand for electrical equipment increased day by day. Under the light of the innovation policy set forth by the 6th Congress (1986) of the Party, overcoming the harsh challenges of the market and integrating into the development flow of the country, Dien Quang began to innovate and modernize the production line. The policy of improving product quality and saving material consumption has been disseminated to every worker, especially prioritizing the most advanced technical solutions.
In 1988, Dien Quang organized a national scientific and technical conference on “Universal lighting techniques and technical glass”. The conference was held for 3 days, attracting more than 300 participants, including the Hanoi Institute of Science and Technology, the Nuclear Institute, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and Technology, and factories under the Glass and Ceramics Corporation. This was the first and only conference on technical glass at that time organized in a large and systematic manner. The conference received the attention of many domestic and international engineers with many research topics on technical glass and universal lighting.
In 1989, the Ministry of Light Industry decided to establish Dien Quang Lamp Joint Enterprise on the basis of Dien Quang Lamp Factory under the Glass Ceramic Enterprise Union II.
In 1990, Dien Quang added a fluorescent lamp production line using Federal technology from Taiwan with a capacity of 900 units/hour.
In 1991, the Ministry of Light Industry changed the name of Dien Quang Lamp Joint Enterprise to Dien Quang Lamp Company.
In 1993, Dien Quang Lamp Company moved its headquarters to 121 - 123 - 125 Ham Nghi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
In 1994, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung was appointed General Director of Dien Quang Lamp Company.
During this period, due to the characteristics of the economy, Dien Quang only focused on production, all output products were consumed through a single distribution unit.
Dien Quang is the only fluorescent lamp manufacturer in Vietnam (until 2000).
Phase 3 (1996 – 2005): Innovation
In 1996, after 10 years of implementing the renovation process, the country has achieved many important achievements in all aspects: the socio-economic situation has escaped the crisis, the material life of the people has improved, politics has remained stable, national defense and security have been consolidated. The achievements of 10 years of renovation have created many necessary premises for the industrialization and modernization of the country, creating momentum for the development of the market economy. To respond to the new situation, for many consecutive years Dien Quang has invested in many projects to improve competitiveness: focusing on technology, synchronous production solutions, closed production processes from input materials to finished output products, reducing costs, developing many new products with diverse features and proactively finding output for products.
In 1997, Dien Quang invested in a Ø28 fluorescent lamp production line with a capacity of 4 million bulbs/year and continuously improved and upgraded over the years to meet the increasing demand for quantity, quality and to compete with imported products.
In 1998, Dien Quang invested in a modern production line to produce double-twisted filament round bulbs with brighter efficiency than the 20% single-twisted filament bulb with a capacity of 12 million bulbs/year. This product has gained a high market share and won over consumers.
In 1999, in order to diversify products, the Company invested in an electromagnetic ballast production line with automatic magnetic core stamping and pressing technology, helping the product to have better and more stable quality.
In 2000, to invest in more equipment and expand production scale, Binh Minh Light Bulb Factory was moved to Dong An Industrial Park, Thuan An District, Binh Duong Province. When inaugurated, it was named Dong An Factory with the hope that this would be a place where everyone would work together and enjoy a peaceful life. During this time, the Company invested in a fluorescent line installed at Dong An Factory and invested in a new neutral glass furnace of NEG (Japan) for the Glass Tube Factory with a capacity of 24 tons/day with an investment capital of 35 billion VND, in order to proactively supply high-quality glass tubes for light bulb production at the most competitive price. This is the glass furnace that foreign experts consider to be the most modern in Vietnam and in the region today.
In 2000, Ms. Ho Thi Kim Thoa was appointed General Director of Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company. Also in this year, Dien Quang built a product development strategy with the criteria of "Safety - Savings - Environmental friendliness", committed to bringing consumers quality products according to international standards.
By 2002, the Company had invested a total of more than 200 billion VND in improving production capacity, diversifying products and innovating technology. From only producing conventional round bulbs and fluorescent bulbs, Dien Quang has produced over 100 types of high-quality lighting and household electrical products such as: T8 energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, double-twisted round filament bulbs for higher luminous efficiency than 20%, super-saving compact bulbs, fluorescent lamp holders, switches, wall sockets, household electrical wires, sockets, heat-resistant electrical plugs, etc.
In particular, in 2003, Dien Quang became the first light bulb manufacturer in Vietnam to successfully commercialize Tricolor Phospho technology and introduce to the market the new high-end product line "Dien Quang MaxX", which achieved many successes and was recognized as an energy-saving product by the Ministry of Industry (June 22, 2007).
In June 2003, the Company acquired Pha Lai Glass Company, Chi Linh, Hai Duong and Thai Binh Glass Factory. At the same time, the Company also acquired a production line for fluorescent lamps under the Federal Machinery brand.
In December 2003, Thai Binh Glass Enterprise was equitized 100% and transferred to local management.
Phase 4 (since 2005): Integration
February 3, 2005 is a particularly memorable milestone for Dien Quang in the new period. This is the day Dien Quang officially switched to operating under the model of a Joint Stock Company under the name Dien Quang Electric Bulb Joint Stock Company. This is also the current trading name of the company.
On February 21, 2008, Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company officially listed its shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) with the stock code DQC.
During the period from 2007 to 2008, with the development orientation following the model of a specialized corporation in the field of lighting and electrical equipment, the Company needed to invest and specialize deeply in a number of fields of operation in the industry, so the Company established five member companies and two joint venture companies, including:
- Dien Quang Distribution Joint Stock Company abbreviated name is DQD: is a professional distribution service business unit in the lighting and electrical equipment industry.
- Dien Quang Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, abbreviated name is DQI: Production and trading of raw materials and accessories in the lighting and electrical equipment industry.
- 3 companies specializing in consulting, designing and constructing industrial and civil M&E systems, automation systems, medium and low voltage electrical systems, refrigeration systems, fire prevention and fighting, water supply and drainage, and public lighting systems are: Dien Quang Engineering Joint Stock Company abbreviated as DQE, Dien Quang Trading and Service Company Limited abbreviated as DQTand Dien Quang Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company, abbreviated name is DQX
- Dien Quang Taisin Joint Venture Company is a unit specializing in the production and trading of electric cables.
- Dien Quang Scope Joint Venture Company is a unit specializing in manufacturing electronic control circuits and assembling components - circuit boards for LED lights.
Note: (Due to restructuring needs, the Company divested from the Dien Quang - Taisin joint venture in 2010 and Dien Quang Technology Joint Stock Company in 2012.)
At the same time, in 2006, 2007, 2008, Dien Quang invested in additional production lines for energy-saving products with a total investment value of over 100 billion VND to increase production capacity to 100 million products of all kinds/year. During this time, Dien Quang increased the development of its collection of energy-saving and vision-protecting products for consumers, diversifying its compact energy-saving lamps from 3w to 110w with 2u to 6u bulbs and spiral compact lamps. In particular, Dien Quang's 110W compact lamp is the compact lamp with the largest capacity produced in Vietnam up to this point.
In 2008, the Company built additional factory No. 3 in Dong An with a usable area of 5,760 m2.2, and invested in a Double Wing lamp production line with a capacity of up to 900 products/hour. This product has been exclusively registered by Dien Quang for design and trademark in Vietnam.
Not only investing in technology and improving production capacity, Dien Quang also always focuses on investing in expanding domestic and foreign markets.
In 2008, Dien Quang marked a breakthrough in its development by signing a joint venture contract with the Venezuelan Oil and Gas Industry Corporation to build a VietVen energy-saving light bulb production complex in the Paraguana free industrial, commercial and service zone, Punto Fijo, in Falcon state, Venezuela, with an area of 80,000 m2.2, with a design capacity of 74 million bulbs/year.
Year In 2009, the Company signed a contract to transfer compact light bulb production technology to VietVen Joint Venture Company.
In 2010, after 2 years of survey and evaluation in many countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam... Venezuela decided to choose Dien Quang as the EPC general contractor to build the VietVen factory, with a total investment value of up to more than 300 million USD. Accordingly, Dien Quang plays the role of main contractor responsible for all related items of the project, including design - purchase - construction.
On May 21, 2012, the first workshop of the Joint Venture Factory officially went into operation and produced the first energy-saving lamps in the Central America and Caribbean region.
