Meeting Nguyen Minh Tuan, CEO of Nghia Nippers Corporation, at his factory in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, we were deeply impressed by his keen eyes, refined manner and particularly the enthusiastic way he talked. He intrigued us with a long emotional story about the determination of the street nipper sharpener in the past.
Leaving Dong Thap for Saigon to earn his living, Tuan did many jobs but earned little money. He then worked at his sister’s nail shop. During that time he had to wait for a long time to take nippers to be sharpened. Seeing the great potential of this work, he decided to learn sharpening and making nippers from many sharpeners. After several years, with great effort, diligence and skill, Tuan opened his own shop.
Hearing nail worker’s complain about the quality of their nippers which became dull soon after sharpening, Tuan spent much time researching and successfully created a sharp and durable nipper. To develop the production of this type of nipper, Tuan established a workshop called “Nghia Saigon” in 1992 which specialised in nail care tool production with the participation of all the members in his family. In 2000, Nghia Nippers Engineering Co. Ltd. (present-day Nghia Nippers Corporation) was founded, following the quality management system of ISO 9001:2008.
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Leaving Dong Thap for Saigon to earn his living, Tuan did many jobs but earned little money. He then worked at his sister’s nail shop. During that time he had to wait for a long time to take nippers to be sharpened. Seeing the great potential of this work, he decided to learn sharpening and making nippers from many sharpeners. After several years, with great effort, diligence and skill, Tuan opened his own shop.
Hearing nail worker’s complain about the quality of their nippers which became dull soon after sharpening, Tuan spent much time researching and successfully created a sharp and durable nipper. To develop the production of this type of nipper, Tuan established a workshop called “Nghia Saigon” in 1992 which specialised in nail care tool production with the participation of all the members in his family. In 2000, Nghia Nippers Engineering Co. Ltd. (present-day Nghia Nippers Corporation) was founded, following the quality management system of ISO 9001:2008.
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 Nguyen Minh Tuan, CEO of Nghia Nippers Corporation talks with his foreign partners. Photo: File  Nghia Nippers Corporation’s nippers are displayed at many domestic and foreign trade fairs. Photo: File  The factory of Nghia Nippers Corporation. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP  With about 2,000 workers, Nghia Nippers Corporation produces the millions nippers per day. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP  A stage of making nail nippers. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP  Checking process of making nail nippers. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP  A stage of making nippers. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP  Checking quality of nippers before selling to the market. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong/VNP |
The corporation’s products are diversified in styles and sold for different prices, meeting the increasing demands of customers. They are nail care tools like cuticle nippers, nail clippers, pushers, paper nail files and nail art dotting tools. The corporation always pays much attention to the quality of products and considers it the core value for their development. “I want each product of the company to satisfy the customers,” said Tuan. Therefore, the corporation’s products have gained prestige in the domestic market and started penetrating some foreign markets, especially the US where a large number of overseas Vietnamese are living and nail care is big business. Vietnamese nail care workers in the US are fond of the corporation’s products because of their high quality, durability and cheap price in comparison with others from Germany and the US. From 2001 -2006, the corporation built a distribution net and registered the copyright for its product branded Super Nghia in the US.
From a small workshop, the corporation now has three factories, covering a total area of more than 20,000m2, with a staff of 2,000 workers which produce tens of million of nippers per year. For 20 years, Nghia Nippers Corporation has made a breakthrough development, ranking in the list of Vietnam’s top 100 strong brands and has become one of 63 national trademarks.
 Nghia Nippers Corporation's products. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong  A product of Nghia Nippers Corporation. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong  Nghia Nippers Corporation's products vary in styles and are sold for different prices, meeting the demand of customers. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong  Nghia Nippers Corporation's products are sold in many foreign countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan. Photo: Dang Kim Phuong |
Story: Nguyen Oanh - Photos: Dang Kim Phuong
