Z153 Factory, a defense and security enterprise directly under the General Department of Techniques, is tasked to perform repair and improvement of tank and armor weapons and repair and manufacturing of technical supplies and specialized tank and armor equipment for the entire Army. The Factory’s tasks also include mobile repair of tanks and armored vehicles at different units as assigned by the superiors and participation in manufacturing, business, and technical services in order to maintain and develop defense manufacturing capacity and contribute  to the socio-economic development. Over 50 years of construction and development (20/04/1968 - 20/4/2018), the Factory has always fulfilled all the assigned tasks to be worthy of a strategic tank and armor technical establishment of the Army.

An ambulance model which is transformed from the BRT-152 personel carrier

In recent years, the requirements on construction and development of defense industry, construction of the Army in the new era, and trend of international integration have challenged the Factory with high goals and requirements. Besides favorable conditions, Z153 Factory faces many difficulties as the factors which guarantee the work of repair manufacturing, especially human resources, technical infrastructure, and technologies are unsynchronized. Meanwhile, vehicles and machines which need to be repaired are seriously damaged, and spare parts are scarce. Moreover, the creation of economic resources has been under intense competition.

Against such backdrop, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Factory have thoroughly grasped the Party's viewpoint on combining defense with economy and economy with defense and adhered to resolutions and directives of the superiors, particularly Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW of the Politburo (the 11^th tenure), Resolution No.382-NQ/ĐUQSTW and Resolution No.520-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission, and Resolution No.35-NQ/ĐU of the Party Committee of the General Department of Techniques on "Improvement of the quality of repairing weapons and technical equipment and manufacturing technical supplies", to concretize into policies and measures suitable with the characteristics of the Factory and the requirements of repairing, manufacturing, and business tasks. At the same time, breakthrough solutions have been implemented to strengthen the organizational structure, improve human resources, develop strategies for manufacturing and business, and renovate the manufacturing management and monitoring mechanisms. the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Factory have also implement intensive investment in improvement of repairing and manufacturing capacity, branding, and market development to meet immediate and long-term tasks.

For active integration and development in the new situation, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Factory have determined to improve the capacity and competitiveness through productivity and quality on the basis of renovation of technological equipment in combination with comprehensive improvement of the quality of human resources. In order to realize that orientation, over the past years, the Factory has accelerated the reorganization of the labor force, minimization of indirect workers and increasing of direct works, and establishment of a number of new departments to meet the requirements of development. Concurrently, the work of planning, training, and fostering has been actively implemented to build human resources of high quality and standardized qualifications and skills for each position. On the other hand, the Factory has taken initiative in creating human resources with reasonable remuneration policy for high-quality personnel and paid due attention to salaries, bonuses, and investments in improving working environment and conditions to staff, employees, and workers’ peace of mind for dedication loyalty to the Factory. By appropriate measures, the Factory has gradually built up a contingent of engineers and skilled technicians in all professional fields, who are capable of implementing large and key projects.

Associated with human resource development, the Factory has enhanced intensive investment in upgrading infrastructure, modernizing equipment and facilities, and renovating technology towards modernity. Particularly, a breakthrough has been created in technologies to repair and manufacture products with high technical requirements and expansion of recovery technology, especially rehabilitation of technical vehicle supplies which cannot be manufactured domestically. The appearance, technical capacity, and technology of the Factory, therefore, have been remarkably developed. A number of techniques and technologies, which used to be unfamiliar, have been well implemented with high quality and economic efficiency.

A tank workshop of the factory

Besides, the Factory has drastically reformed and enhanced the professionalism in commanding and management of production and business administration and closely combined repair at the Factory with mobile synchronous repair at other units. Other work has also been actively performed, including construction of corporate culture and industrial civilization, promotion of researches, innovations, and technical improvement, and application of new technological advances in repairing and manufacturing to create breakthroughs in productivity, quality, and value of products. Over the years, the Factory’s employees have successfully researched and implemented dozens of scientific and technological projects at all levels and have had nearly 2,300 valuable technological innovations which have been applied directly into production. As the product quality is put in top priority, the Factory has attached great importance to the inspection and monitoring of technology and product quality management. It has also properly invested in the upgrading and modernization of equipment and means for the inspection of quality product inspection and completely developed 132 sets of military standards together with hundreds of economic-technical norms and technological notes for repairing and acceptance of products. The products of the Factory have been strictly managed in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015. This is the core value to create Z153 prestige and brand which have been appreciated by the General Department of Techniques, tank and armor units, and customers.

Thanks to right orientation, high determination, and proper methods, the Factory has comprehensively and solidly developed and promoted its financial autonomy. The quality and efficiency of defense and economic production, therefore, have been improved remarkably, which contributes to raising the combat strength of the Army. The Factory has also promoted intensive investment in application of new technology to manufacturing and production of several products with high complexity and technology contents to effectively serve the work of repairing tanks, armored vehicles, and specialized missile equipment and overcome the scarcity of spare parts and technical replacement supplies, which will helps reduce importing or outsourcing and significantly save budget. Along with completing the central political tasks, the Factory has made full use of redundant capacity, equipment, and technologies to promote the production of economic goods, thereby creating jobs and stable income for laborers and build a solid foundation for the preservation and development of the contingent and military production to actively contribute to the industrialization and modernization of the country.

In the coming time, the tasks of the Factory will continue to develop. However, in addition to the Industrial Revolution 4.0, the Factory will also face both new opportunities and challenges, especially as the entire Army promotes the implementation of the Project on "Restructuring, innovating, and improving the efficiency of military enterprises in the period 2016-2020" under the direction of the Ministry of Defense and before. In order to well perform its assigned functions and tasks, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Factory has determined to continue to comprehensively improve the capacity and further effectively innovate the quality and efficiency of the work in all aspects with objectives to fulfill all annual production, technical, and financial planning targets with commodity output value increasing from 12% to 15%/year, profit ratio from 2.5% to 3% of the turnover, etc. To achieve the above objectives, the Factory will continue to strengthen the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels for repair, production, and business tasks. Focus will be placed on thoroughly grasping and seriously implementing Resolution No. 425-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission on reorganization, renovation, and enhancement of the operation efficiency of military enterprises to 2020 and subsequent years under the plan for restructuring and renovation directed by the General Department of Techniques. In the immediate future, the Factory will continue to promote the building of human resources, focus on completing the items of the Project "Renovating repair and modernization technologies for armored tanks - Z153 Factory" and Phase 2 of the Economic and technical report "Supplementing armor repair equipment and tools" to create breakthroughs in infrastructure, repair technologies, and production. The Department of Techniques of the Armor Arm and other units, and partners will be closely coordinated with to create stable and solid sources of defense and economic goods. At the same time, measures to improve the quality of consultancy, planning, management, production management, labor management, and product quality will be synchronously implemented. Scientific and technological researches and technical innovation initiatives will be encouraged with priority put on resources for good implementation of the Project "Innovating and modernizing T54B tanks", and a number of other projects on upgrading weapons and technical equipment in order to better serve the tasks of defense and economic development.

The experience and achievements will be a solid foundation for Z153 Factory to continue to fulfill its assigned tasks and firmly integrate and contribute to the construction of the Army and protection of the Motherland.

Senior Colonel Nguyen Van Thang, Secretary of the Party Committee, Political Commissar of Z153 Factory