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from the employees-will-now-lead-lives-of-leisure dept.
Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and other electronic devices, aims to replace human workers with "FoxBots" and achieve nearly full automation of entire factories:
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.
[...] Complicating the matter is the Chinese government, which has incentivized human employment in the country. In areas like Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Zhengzhou, local governments have doled out billions of dollars in bonuses, energy contracts, and public infrastructure to Foxconn to allow the company to expand. As of last year, Foxconn employed as many as 1.2 million people, making it one of the largest employers in the world. More than 1 million of those workers reside in China, often at elaborate, city-like campuses that house and feed employees.
In an in-depth report published yesterday, The New York Times detailed these government incentivizes for Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, its largest and most capable plant that produces 500,000 iPhones a day and is known locally as "iPhone City." According to Foxconn's Jia-peng, the Zhengzhou factory has some production lines already at the second automation phase and on track to become fully automated in a few years' time. So it may not be long before one of China's largest employers will be forced to grapple with its automation ambitions and the benefits it receives to transform rural parts of the country into industrial powerhouses.
To undermine American manufacturing, ditch the meatbags.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday January 03 2017, @04:14AM
I'll put it this way: Throughout the history of music, looking the part and often dancing has been part of the job. This notion of, for example, a classical musician playing to a silent and darkened concert hall is an idea that didn't start until the 19th century. Even in classical music since that idea became commonplace, the tuxedos and black dresses are simply the classical music version of the very intentional stage dress of every rock act ever. Especially once you have photography and film, the look often matters more than the music.
A good example of this: Elvis Presley was an exceptional and innovative dancer, but was not a particularly exceptional or creative musician. He managed his look and his moves on stage much like the pop stars do today. Not because he was a fraud, but because that's what everybody does in the music business.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday January 03 2017, @06:13AM
Wasn't it ol' Shakespeare who noted something to the effect that all the world is a stage and we are merely actors?
Seems like my greatest sin was not knowing my lines, but not appearing in the correct costume.
I hated dressing up in suit and tie.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]