Foxconn is automating

Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (trading as Foxconn in Hong Kong) has deployed some automatons to replace manual labor in its factories in the mainland and plans to automate more in the future, a Foxconn line worker told the Global Times Thursday.

Media reports said that Foxconn, a Taiwanese manufacturer of iPhones and iPads, has installed robotic arms at its mainland factories to promote efficiency and cope with labor unrest, while analysts said that automation comes with many challenges, such as high costs.

The robotic arms were first introduced to a selection of the company's factories two years ago, allowing each affected production line to reduce its number of workers to five from around 30, a worker surnamed Chen from Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, told the Global Times.

"Foxconn has not been totally automated and the production lines still need the supervision of human beings," said Chen, who produces metal cases for mobile phones and PCs.

Chen added that although many staff workers have suffered layoffs or transfers, "I still regard this move as a better thing, given that many of us are fed up with dull and simple work."

Foxconn has to create more challenging jobs on the production lines, otherwise the company will have trouble attracting a new generation of workers, said Foxconn CEO Terry Gou at a shareholder meeting in June, and the company aims to develop its first fully automated plant within five or 10 years.

Automation will save the company a certain amount of labor costs, but many obstacles stand in the way of full automation, given that Foxconn is a global manufacturer that would need large capital injections to realize full-scale automation, Wei Guangju, an analyst from Adfaith Management Consulting, told the Global Times, noting that Foxconn is expected to see a 30 to 50 percent greater rate of orders in the future.