With over 300 clients scattered across the globe, MiTek’s Dedicated Services team in Vietnam is helping to bring digital construction to the masses. We spoke to Wayne Rutherford, MiTek Dedicated Services, General Manager for Component Manufacturer Services to ask him why he thinks MiTek’s Dedicated Service is a great opportunity for component manufacturers around the world…
The construction industry is currently experiencing a period of high demand, tight deadlines and increasingly, a need to apply modern methods of construction (MMC) to the whole design and build process.
For many customers of ours this can be challenging as structural design relies heavily on digital files, developed using evolving state-of-the-art software programs, which in turn require expert knowledge and skills that most companies don’t have in-house. And with a skills shortage across the market this is currently even more of an issue for building and construction companies.
The beauty of MiTek’s Vietnam-based Dedicated Services is that it solves all these issues in one go. It provides clients with a rich source of talent, expertise and know-how, offering an add-on to any existing in-house expertise. We work closely with clients to help provide a source of outsourced skills and expertise, that can integrate perfectly with their own staff.
Expertise for all systems
With a myriad of software packages on the market, it can be hard for one or two individuals to stay on top of design requirements and keep their skills polished across the whole spread. It’s why, more and more businesses are coming to us for the tailored support they need for their projects.
We currently have more than 2,000 people working for us, across 200+ software programs and right now, we are supporting over 300 clients.
All our staff are graduate engineers or architects either fresh from university or with some experience in local construction, all bright, enthusiastic and eager to learn and develop a rewarding career path with us.
We are lucky to be able to work closely with Vietnam’s Universities to attract the right talent, and all our staff and graduates have a background in architecture, civil engineering or other engineering disciplines. It makes for a vibrant and energetic working environment!
I was assigned to Vietnam in 2011 to help train and develop a team of EWP designers for a business I was working with at the time from Australia, at that stage the business only had 80 employees. In 2014 I was given the role of business operations manager. Over the years I’ve seen substantial growth in all segments of the business – from increased business opportunities and partnerships, to staff growing personally and professionally into management. I’m very proud to be part of this journey.
With the business and our workforce numbers continuing to grow, we’ve matched this with investment in English language skills. Currently, there are 14 full-time English teachers on our staff and every member of staff is undergoing through an English programme tailored to their needs.
Long lasting relationships
I think our clients choose to work with us time and time again, because they soon see for themselves the advantages of plugging into the expertise available from Dedicated Services. They recognise that we’re reliable, flexible, offer a fast turnaround with the highest of quality, and have an approach to problem-solving that means they’re getting solutions that work for their projects.
Each team member is contracted out on a full-time basis and work exclusively for the client within the MiTek Services structured office environment. This approach provides the client with the best level of control and ensures the delivery of consistent results to meet expectations. The individuals become an extension of the client’s own team – right down to celebrating birthdays and personal achievements!
Regular meetings, video conference calls and projects reviews are standard and mean Dedicated Services personnel can build meaningful relationships with their assigned client.
Your own dedicated team
These long-term relationships are really important as they give vital continuity to the customer, and important job satisfaction to our own people. We are also happy to welcome customers to our offices here in Vietnam, and our experts can travel internationally if clients want someone physically located in their own office. This all adds to the feeling of a personal service, where we can be sure we are delivering exactly what the customer wants, in the way they prefer to work.
Dedicated Services works across four MiTek divisions, meaning there is plenty of variety and challenge for the team members, with a huge range of projects and design requirements. They could be using their skills to design roof truss, wall panel or floor joist designs, drafting and full house BOM, kitchens, plumbing, electrics, air conditioning – any of the infrastructure that’s needed for a housing development, factory, hospital or office block.
My role as General Manager includes looking after an international spread of clients, mainly from the US, Canada, France, the UK and Australia. We’re currently working with all the major Component Manufacturers – we have clients with just one staff member through to the largest, with 80 staff – all dedicated and working as an extension of the client’s in-house team.
To anyone that is struggling to get the right skills in-house, then I would say get in touch, come and test us out and find out just how good we could be for your business!
