VND 250 million for ideas changing the automotive manufacturing industry with “DENSO Factory Hacks 2025”

DENSO Vietnam, in collaboration with FSOFT, has officially launched the third season of its hackathon, “DENSO Factory Hacks 2025.” This year’s competition seeks groundbreaking technological solutions for smart factories, offering an attractive total prize pool of VND 250 million and the unique opportunity to implement winning ideas at DENSO’s manufacturing facilities for teams both within and outside FSOFT.

>> For more details and to register, visit Densohackthon.vn

Building on the successes of its previous two seasons, DENSO Factory Hacks 2025 returns with real-world challenges directly from a leading Japanese manufacturing plant. The competition promises an unparalleled opportunity for engineers and technology students to bring their innovative ideas to life.

This presents an unmissable opportunity, highlighted by a highly attractive prize structure: a total value of VND 250 million, with the champion team receiving a direct cash prize of VND 100 million. Beyond monetary rewards, winning ideas have the significant potential for actual implementation at DENSO Vietnam’s factories. A prime example is the “AI and IoT Application in Factory Production Monitoring” project by Team ETTN, champions of the 2024 season, which is currently under development and slated for real-world deployment from 2026. Furthermore, participants and their teams could even secure investment of up to USD 300,000, mirroring the 2023 winning team’s achievement, whose project received funding from DENSO Vietnam for factory application starting in 2025.

DENSO Factory Hacks 2025 is more than just a competition; it serves as a valuable platform to tackle real-world manufacturing challenges, gain deeper insights into operational processes, and devise the most practical solutions. Throughout the event, participants will receive mentorship from FPT’s technology experts, who will provide support in optimizing ideas and transforming them into comprehensive, deployable solutions.

This year’s competition will center on themes derived directly from real-world production scenarios, designed to give contestants a clear understanding of factory operations. Teams will collaborate to find solutions for Smart Forecasting (collecting and analyzing data to predict market trends or production disruptions), Precise Operations (optimizing production lines to minimize errors and waste), and Continuous Production (maintaining high productivity and ensuring on-time delivery). Ideas revolving around these three pillars will significantly contribute to establishing smart and sustainable factory models.

The competition will unfold across three main rounds:

• Round 1: CV and Idea Submission (Participants will submit their ideas upon registration, with revisions allowed until October 26, 2025.)
• Round 2: Idea Presentation (On November 20, 2025, the top 10 teams will be selected and awarded VND 5 million each to develop their solutions, then the judges will select 5 excellent teams to advance to the finals)
• Final Round: (The five most outstanding teams will compete live to determine the champion. This round is tentatively scheduled for December 17, 2025.)

The competition is open to all teams of up to five members, with no age restrictions. Participants are only required to possess knowledge or a keen interest in fields such as data science, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and programming.

Mrs. Pham Minh Hao, Executive Director of DENSO Vietnam Plant, shared: “With a pioneering mission to innovate and harness the power of technology to address societal issues, DENSO hopes this competition will uncover breakthrough ideas applicable to real-world production, while simultaneously inspiring creativity among engineers and technology students.”

FSOFT and DENSO began their collaboration in 2017, initially focusing on IT services and internal system development for DENSO in Japan. This partnership later expanded to encompass DENSO operations in the US and Vietnam. FSOFT has successfully implemented digital transformation at DENSO’s factory in Vietnam, establishing it as a benchmark for outstanding innovation, now being adopted across numerous DENSO plants throughout Asia.