Blog
HA DINH RETIRES
March 27th, 2023
Today, we celebrate Ha Dinh as he retires after 36 years of dedicated service to All-Fill. For those that have worked with Ha closely, you understand how special he is and how much he will be missed.
Ha's career at All-Fill happened by accident. Originally, Ha was employed as an automated system controls engineer at ACS (All Control Systems) who at one point were part of "The All-Fill Group," along with All-Fill and AMS (preceded Auger Fabrication). Ha transitioned his career from ACS to All-Fill when Dick Edginton realized that Ha was the perfect fit for All-Fill. Suffice to say from that day on, Ha never left All-Fill and quickly assumed the role of VP of Engineering and brought All-Fill to new heights from an engineering capabilities standpoint.
Things were not always easy for Ha Dinh, having moved to the US after high school in Vietnam, Ha had to immediately find work in the US while continuing his education at Villanova University. Ha, being the oldest child in his family, supported the family along with his father. He was initially challenged with a language and customs barrier and of course learning on the job within the packaging industry. Ha has an intrinsically special trait where he tackles any obstacle head on without hesitation. He always takes an analytical approach to problem solving, always well prepared, he evaluates his alternatives and is confident in his decision making.
What was so impressive about Ha (and like Dick Edginton when founding the company) is that they are always eager for knowledge despite the odds being against them. Ha was naturally skilled in electrical engineering and programming yet easily transitioned to supporting roles of sales and service/support when needed and was always used as the person of authority when it came to application expertise.
Ha was integral to the growth of the auger fillers as the rock steady product line that All-Fill is known for within the packaging industry. Throughout the late 1980's and into the 90's, Ha was as involved as anybody with the transition from printed circuit boards to the modern age PLC to control the machinery that All-Fill manufactured. In the mid-1980's Mateer was still the industry leader when it came to the auger filler, they had proprietary control for their machines as PLCs at the time were very expensive. All-Fill had a need for a control that had specific capabilities such as multiple augers, scales, OEM integration capabilities and data communication. As a solution, Ha developed the first generation of All-Fill controls which was called Cerebus and the control board was engraved with HD-100. The Cerebus control allowed the fillers to have operator selectable recipes, alpha numeric keypads, auto-weight correction via scales and many more new features.
There are few people who have ever worked at All-Fill that have left such a distinguishable footprint on the company. Simply put, they just don't make them like Ha Dinh! At the end of the week our company will forever miss a unique employee that 100% deserves time to relax in retirement. Nothing will make Ha happier than seeing the next generation of All-Fill employees continue with the great foundation that he has helped establish!
Ha, you will be missed, thank you for being such a dedicated employee to All-Fill!