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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsiPhone manufacturer Foxconn plans to replace almost every human worker with robots
several months old. No surprise
iPhone manufacturer Foxconn plans to replace almost every human worker with robots
https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/30/14128870/foxconn-robots-automation-apple-iphone-china-manufacturing
76 comments
Chinas iPhone factories are being automated
by Nick Statt@nickstatt Dec 30, 2016, 5:07pm EST
Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant behind Apples iPhone and numerous other major electronics devices, aims to automate away a vast majority of its human employees, according to a report from DigiTimes. Dai Jia-peng, the general manager of Foxconns automation committee, says the company has a three-phase plan in place to automate its Chinese factories using software and in-house robotics units, known as Foxbots.
"Foxconn produces 10,000 Foxbots a year for automation purposes"
The first phase of Foxconns automation plans involve replacing the work that is either dangerous or involves repetitious labor humans are unwilling to do. The second phase involves improving efficiency by streamlining production lines to reduce the number of excess robots in use. The third and final phase involves automating entire factories, with only a minimal number of workers assigned for production, logistics, testing, and inspection processes, according to Jia-peng.
The slow and steady march of manufacturing automation has been in place at Foxconn for years. The company said last year that it had set a benchmark of 30 percent automation at its Chinese factories by 2020. The company can now produce around 10,000 Foxbots a year, Jia-peng says, all of which can be used to replace human labor. In March, Foxconn said it had automated away 60,000 jobs at one of its factories.
In the long term, robots are cheaper than human labor. However, the initial investment can be costly. Its also difficult, expensive, and time consuming to program robots to perform multiple tasks, or to reprogram a robot to perform tasks outside its original function. That is why, in labor markets like China, human workers have thus far been cheaper than robots. To stay competitive though, Foxconn understands it will have to transition to automation.
"Foxconn hopes to automate 30 percent of all factory work by 2020"
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no_hypocrisy
(46,178 posts)Initech
(100,100 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,704 posts)for one thing, miniaturization in electronics makes it impossible for humans to do the job, the eye is not good enough, nor the fingers dextrous enough to work the typical modern electronic assembly.
That plant was never going to have more than a couple dozen people manning it, at most. And most of those would be white collar jobs, from engineers down to admin types. Throw in a few maintenance folks, and that's it.
Amishman
(5,559 posts)And is why we need UBI now.
We are on the brink of economic change which may exceed the impact of the original industrial revolution.
We need to take the lead in this area and get people's attention. The game is about to change, we need to be the ones writing the rules.
Initech
(100,100 posts)I said that our corporate masters would keep replace salaried workers with even cheaper labor to maximize profit, and then when even the cheap labor is unprofitable, they'll fire everyone and replace us with machines. But what happens when the machines become self aware and start demanding a salary?
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)a board full of sub-miniature devices. We're talking devices as small as a fleck of dust.
The human eye just can't do it.
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)I do electronics repair. Through hole stuff is super simple. SMD (sub-miniature devices) is incredibly tedious, super tiny, and requires lots of magnification.
Most SMD assembly is done via machine and wave solder, and has been that way since the 90s.
TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts).
.