It seems that Foxconn is embracing automation is a big way as the South China Morning Post is reporting that the factory has replaced roughly 60,000 of its workers with robots.
According to the article, Foxconn has spent a total of 4 billion Yuan on artificial intelligence last year. This investment in robotics and A.I. have led to Foxconn slashing their workforce from 110,000 to 50,000. While the implementation of automation has resulted in a huge slashing of the workforce, Foxconn has stated that the robots will only be doing repetitive tasks previously done by employees, enabling their employees to focus on other higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process such as R&D, process control and quality control.
Foxconn isn’t alone in investing in robotics, as the reports state that 34 other companies have been investing in automation as well. An additional 600 major companies in the Jiangsu province of Kunshan are reportedly exploring this particular option as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how Foxconn’s implementation of automation would affect the manufacturing costs of electronics of course. Aside from that, this move would have a direct impact to the employement rate of the area.
Source: South China Morning Post, BBC
