Henrik Pontoppidan, Director of S2U Design, talks about the buyers who get products onto shelves first.
“No Chance”
Last week I had dinner with a good friend here in Vietnam who works as production director in a large furniture factory. He was in a good mood.
His factory had just secured the first PO for a newly developed product with a new customer. What pleased him most was not the order itself, but how quickly they had managed to get there.
From first inquiry and sketch through engineering, sampling, revisions and pricing to placed order had taken only three months.
When the project started, he had looked at the timeline and thought: “No chance.”
Why Projects Slow Down
Everybody in furniture wants product development to move quickly. Yet projects have a habit of slowing down. Products that looked straightforward suddenly take a year. Sometimes two. Technical questions wait for clarification. Priorities change while factory engineers in Vietnam move onto different projects.
Momentum disappears easily.
The 30 SKU Project
After our conversation I started thinking about whether I had experienced similar timelines myself. I have.
A few years ago, I worked on a project for a US customer involving 30 SKUs across categories including bar stools, wall racks, outdoor bistro tables and rattan trash cans.
I was given loose briefs, reference images and commercial targets. That’s normal.
Within three months the customer was in Vietnam with me visiting factories, inspecting samples and placing orders in multiple factories almost immediately.
Looking back, what strikes me the most is not the speed itself, but what caused it. I cannot take all the credit!
The buyer drove the entire process relentlessly from beginning to end.
Keeping the Chain Moving
During those months I designed and engineered products, created production drawings, worked directly with factory engineers in Vietnam and travelled all over the country shortlisting factories that could realistically handle the products commercially and technically.
We split some categories across multiple factories. In one case a metal factory supplied components into a cabinet factory for final assembly and shipping. It was the way to meet the target prices. Everything had to fit together commercially, technically and logistically while remaining suitable for KD packing and retail requirements.
That level of coordination normally takes far longer.
But the customer maintained momentum throughout the process. Decisions were instant. Clarifications came back immediately. Everybody involved understood clearly that the products were heading toward orders, not endless development discussions.
The Recliner Chair
Then another project came to mind. Last autumn I worked on a high-end recliner chair for a customer overseas.
From first discussions to production-ready approval took only a few weeks. Anybody working with upholstery knows how unusual that is.
Mechanisms, comfort, foam densities, stitching details, tolerances and packaging all interact with each other. One revision often creates three new decisions somewhere else in the chair.
But again, the buyer drove the process consistently.
Questions were answered the same day. Revisions were approved immediately after samples were checked. Clarifications were handled while factory engineers were still fully immersed in the product and solving problems around it.
The Buyer Sets the Temperature
Fast and good product development is rarely created by factories alone. It is driven by buyers. The buyer sets the temperature of the project.
When buyers move decisively, factories respond decisively. Engineers prioritise differently. Technical teams stay engaged in the product. Problems get solved while everybody still remembers the context and the commercial objective remains clear throughout the chain.
What Product Deveopment Looks Like Inside Vietnam
From abroad, PD can look like quotations, samples and progress updates arriving through email.
Inside Vietnam, the process feels very different.
The projects receiving the strongest engagement internally are usually the ones where factories feel clear intent and continuous movement from the customer side.
This is one of the reasons some products move from idea to placed order in months while others remain trapped in development for years despite everybody wanting the same outcome.
“We Have the Design”
There is a widespread assumption in the industry that once a design exists, the difficult part is largely finished.
“We have the design. Now we just need a factory.”
In reality, this is usually where the most consequential work begins.
Engineering, construction logic, packaging, material behaviour, factory capability and commercial viability all start interacting at the same time. Keeping that chain moving continuously requires far more than collecting quotations and waiting for revised samples.
Momentum is an Asset
At S2U Design we work specifically to compress those timelines by staying close to factories in Vietnam, solving problems while they happen and keeping products moving commercially and technically at the same time.
But the strongest results always happen when buyers maintain the same momentum on their side. That combination is powerful.
Products reach shelves faster. Factories stay deeply engaged in development. Products move into production while competitors are still discussing the next revision internally.
Inside Vietnam, momentum is one of the strongest operational assets a buyer can have.
