Status and challenges of textile and garment enterprises in Vietnam and a framework toward industry 3.5

The textile and garment (T&G) industry is one of the key industries in the world. Vietnam is among the top five exporting countries of T&G globally. This industry is the second-largest export turnover in Vietnam which creates a large number of employment opportunities. Industry 4.0 requires the T&G industry to change. However, due to the limitation of resources and their situations, many enterprises in developing countries such as Vietnam are facing significant challenges in adapting their operation status as Industry 4.0. In addition, Industry 3.5 as a hybrid strategy proposed by Chien et al. (2017b Chien, C.-F., T. Hong, and H.-Z. Guo. 2017b. "A Conceptual Framework for Industry 3.5 to Empower Intelligent Manufacturing and Case Studies." Procedia Manufacturing 11: 2009–2017.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) has been illustrated efficiently for the developing countries. To support these enterprises, especially in Vietnam toward Industry 3.5, this study first surveyed and analysed the status of the T&G enterprises in Vietnam. Then, a framework is proposed for enterprises toward Industry 3.5 properly and efficiently. The survey has shown that most of the T&G enterprises are under backward technology and operational methods. In addition, these companies employ huge number of laborers with low education. The proposed framework received positive feedback from the enterprises due to its low capital investment and suitability for their characteristics.