Viet Tran

Technical Packaging Specialist

Winner of the Scott Ellington Supreme Award

Moving to the West Coast was an exciting new adventure for Technical Packaging Specialist Viet Tran. Originally from Vietnam, Viet has worked throughout the world gathering a wealth of knowledge and specialised experience in designing and servicing packing lines.

The move from bustling South East Asian cities to a small community on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand was always going to be a step out of his comfort zone. However, Viet was pleasantly surprised how quickly he and his family were welcomed in the Westland and Hokitika communities.

“I have travelled quite a lot, but have never been to an area quite as friendly as Hokitika. From the first time I went into town people in the stores and on the street greeted me and wanted to know who I was” Viet said.

“Hokitika is such a safe and welcoming place to live. It is a lovely community for my children to grow up and for my family to get involved in. Working at Westland there is a great work-life balance, and after work I am minutes away from going fishing or getting into the bush for a walk.”

Before working for Westland, Viet worked for Swedish company Tetra Pak, designers of packaging machinery including the UHT lines Westland has in Rolleston. During the four years that Viet worked for Tetra Pak, he learnt the ins and outs of machine design and how to teach other people about machine maintenance.

Viet was initially recruited to the Rolleston plant to fine-tune the UHT packing line. It was quickly realised his skill set could help with machine and packing efficiencies within the Hokitika butter factory, hence his move to the Coast.

“Although the machines were different to those that I had used in the past, it gave me a challenge to understand the intricacies of how they worked. This helped me to figure out how improvements could be made.”

The engineering team is incredibly knowledgeable and close-knit. Having
a small team that communicates efficiently means Viet has enjoyed the support of his colleagues. “Everyone has different strengths, we combine to become a solid team.”

Viet’s initiative and can-do attitude made him an obvious choice to receive Westland’s top annual employee recognition, the 2018 Scott Eglinton Supreme Award.