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Thread: Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots'

  1. #1

    Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots'

    http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36376966

    25 May 2016

    Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots.
    One factory has "reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots", a government official told the South China Morning Post.
    Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan region, added: "More companies are likely to follow suit."
    China is investing heavily in a robot workforce.
    In a statement to the BBC, Foxconn Technology Group confirmed that it was automating "many of the manufacturing tasks associated with our operations" but denied that it meant long-term job losses.
    "We are applying robotics engineering and other innovative manufacturing technologies to replace repetitive tasks previously done by employees, and through training, also enable our employees to focus on higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process, such as research and development, process control and quality control.
    "We will continue to harness automation and manpower in our manufacturing operations, and we expect to maintain our significant workforce in China."
    Since September 2014, 505 factories across Dongguan, in the Guangdong province, have invested 4.2bn yuan (£430m) in robots, aiming to replace thousands of workers.
    Kunshan, Jiangsu province, is a manufacturing hub for the electronics industry.
    Economists have issued dire warnings about how automation will affect the job market, with one report, from consultants Deloitte in partnership with Oxford University, suggesting that 35% of jobs were at risk over the next 20 years.
    Former McDonald's chief executive Ed Rensi recently told the US's Fox Business programme a minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour would make companies consider robot workers.
    "It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who is inefficient, making $15 an hour bagging French fries," he said.




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  3. #2
    If it's cheaper for China to make American goods with robots and ship them to America why aren't Americans making the goods here with robots?




    Surely government regulations don't come into play........

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    If it's cheaper for China to make American goods with robots and ship them to America why aren't Americans making the goods here with robots?




    Surely government regulations don't come into play........

    because the chinese are building the robots?
    rewritten history with armies of their crooks - invented memories, did burn all the books... Mark Knopfler

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by torchbearer View Post
    because the chinese are building the robots?
    This country is $#@!ed........

  6. #5
    That probably makes very sound 'economic' sense, sad to say.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    This country is $#@!ed........
    very FUBAR!

    And far worse, the official solution will probably be global war.



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