“I, Robot” is finally becoming a reality, as Foxconn is replacing a big part of its Chinese workforce with robots that will be capable of conducting the majority of operations for building new products including iPhones.
Dai Jia-peng, general manager in Foxconn’s Automation Technology Development Committee, said in an interview with Digitimes that the company has already started automating production at its factories in China, trying to focus on three different stages to accomplish its goal.
Three stages
The first such stage is setting up robots to perform tasks that are too dangerous for human workers or simply activities that employees would refuse to do. So the next time you say no to something that your boss wants you to do, just think that there might be a robot out there always willing to do it.
Then, it’s the second phase, which according to the Foxconn official involves streamlining the production process by removing redundant robots. The company wants to use as few robots as possible, as building them is quite expensive. Foxconn has already deployed 40,000 such robots, called Foxbots, and is building another 10,000 every year.
And the third and the final stage involves human workforce as well, with factories to employ only the absolutely mandatory staff for things like logistics, testing, and inspection.
The Foxconn exec says that the majority of factories in China has already moved to robots to build products, and they are already in phase two or three.
“There are 10 lights-out (fully automated) production lines at some factories, including table one in Chengdu, AIO (all-in-one) PC and LCD monitor lines at a factory in Chongqing, western China, and a CNC line in Zhengzhou,” Digitimes notes.
Interestingly, the Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, which is currently the largest production facility of the company, is currently in the second stage of automation. This particular location is in charge of building iPhones, with an output of 500,000 units a day, which brought it the nickname of “the iPhone city.”
