On arriving in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), we were met by My, who supervises a large part of the production for FTO in Vietnam and took fantastic care of Sophie and me for 10 days. Sophie is an FTO designer and supervised the entire process. My not only interpreted every word we uttered, but was primarily in charge of showing us around the production facilities. We were sometimes pleasantly surprised at the care with which everything was communicated. My made perfectly clear that even though people claim to understand the idea and promise to make it happen, that does not necessarily mean it will actually happen. In other words, she’s a tough lady with a lot of experience who really makes sure things get done.
Wood
The weeks before I left, we sent ahead a number of drawings that we believed were quite complicated. The designs are based on the idea that the use of thin strips of wood would prevent problems with warping. There was a large batch of rejected breadboards that we could recycle. Hundreds of strips and blocks need to be threaded together following specific patterns. Drawing the products turned out to be an impossible task. Luckily, we now have Harm working with us, who is quite talented with the computer. The prints looked good on paper, but your spirit really starts sinking when you think about just how many different parts are involved, not to mention the fact that they all need to be put together.
When we arrived at the wood manufacturer, it became immediately clear that this would be a challenge. The boss was not exactly brimming with enthusiasm and the workshop was incredibly simple. Fortunately, a large number of wooden pieces had been pre-cut, so we could set to work right away. As we were threading together the first models, the children of the house started helping us and everyone ended up having lots of fun.
The recycling of the boards turned out not to be an option, since they could produce the wood strips far more quickly by cutting large pieces of wood with a band saw. The band saw, by the way, is probably the most sophisticated machine in the workshop. Most of the other machines consist of a motor with a sanding disc mounted directly on top of it. The sawdust is not suctioned out but blown with a fan, which actually works better than you might think.
So a different product needed to be developed for the boards. We started by making a folding wooden mat, which worked out well and everyone liked it, so I left behind a few drawings of a wooden gripper. Whether or not it will actually get made I cannot say, since we had to leave for our next destination, the ceramics factory.
Ceramics
As primitive as the conditions were at the wood manufacturer, even though he seemed to have everything he needed, so advanced were things at the ceramics manufacturer. But he did have a problem; his super deluxe new building had become superfluous since the number of orders has decreased due to the financial crisis.
Due to its location along a river close to the raw materials, a fully specialised village has developed, as was also the case in Europe in the past. Probably doomed to disappear, to be swallowed up by progress or deteriorated into a tourist attraction, as happened in Europe. Some production takes place using modern methods, although we also visited a workshop where the old-fashioned methods were still used. It was not until that moment that I understood why there were so many black walls in the village, walls that were filled with dollops of black sludge that looked like giant biscuits. These dollops are a sort of brick that is used for the traditional heating system. The chimney-like buildings towering above everything else turned out to be the tops of the ovens.
During our tour of the various workshops, we talked about simple production problems with the current products. It turns out that, after the fiasco with our own ceramics production attempt, I had learned so much that I could actually give advice. In discussing the designs (fortunately they had already made moulds), it became obvious that they were afraid of techniques and methods they had never tried before. In that sense, they are no different from the Dutch and their attitude towards change.
Actually, this is not surprising in the world of ceramics. Once you figure out how to coordinate the clay, glaze and heating method, you stick to the recipe, since even the most minor of variations can have catastrophic consequences. And when a stubborn Dutchman comes to visit with the most difficult product you can imagine, it takes a bit of effort before you are persuaded. Problems and possible solutions were discussed about a hundred times, and were brought up again and again. After the first products were taken out of the moulds, I think they finally started to believe it was possible.
When looking at and deciding on the paintings, the same problem arose. They only wanted to paint those images they had already mastered. The man responsible for the prototypes, who was quite talented, was terrified to start producing the design since only a small number of their painters could paint at the desired level. Luckily, the designs were partly based on a traditional working method, which meant that not all products were problematic.
One of the designs featured a flock of geese, an example of which we had taken from the Internet. He was able to paint them, but immediately expressed his objections since they do not normally paint geese. When we suggested making it a flock of cranes instead, the result was an improvement since they were already familiar with cranes. Apparently a flock was a difficult challenge. Uncertain whether there would be a happy ending, we made our way to our hotel that evening. When we returned the following and final morning, it turned out he had drawn a picture on paper the evening before that was very much in keeping with our idea. He also suggested a feasible reproduction method.
The decors that had not yet been determined were finished quickly and we had time left to discuss all details at length. While talking, I succeeded in smashing the last vase to smithereens, but fortunately had managed to take a picture of it first. We visited Hanoi briefly that afternoon and made our way homewards, with an 8-hour delay in Narita instead of Paris. Travelling is always such a chore…
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