iPhone制造商富士康計劃用機(jī)器人更換幾乎所有的人類員工

Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant behindApple’s iPhone and numerous other majorelectronics devices, aims to automate away a vastmajority of its human employees, according to areport from DigiTimes. Dai Jia-peng, the generalmanager of Foxconn’s automation committee, saysthe company has a three-phase plan in place toautomate its Chinese factories using software and in-house robotics units, known as Foxbots.

據(jù)DigiTimes消息，臺灣制造業(yè)巨頭，蘋果IPHONE以及多家知名電子產(chǎn)品的代工廠富士康打算以自動化取代大量人工勞動力。戴佳鵬，富士康自動化委員會總經(jīng)理說富士康的三步走計劃已經(jīng)就位，富士康中國工廠將以軟件配合室內(nèi)機(jī)器人，也就是FOXBOTS來實現(xiàn)自動化

The first phase of Foxconn’s automation plans involve replacing the work that is eitherdangerous or involves repetitious labor humans are unwilling to do. The second phase involvesimproving efficiency by streamlining production lines to reduce the number of excess robotsin use. The third and final phase involves automating entire factories, “with only a minimalnumber of workers assigned for production, logistics, testing, and inspection processes,”according to Jia-peng.

富士康計劃第一階段將首先替代人力不愿意做的危險工作或者高重復(fù)性工作。第二階段是精簡產(chǎn)線削減多余機(jī)器人提高生產(chǎn)效率。第三階段是將整個工廠都自動化。 “只留極少數(shù)員工來做生產(chǎn)，物流，測試和檢查。”

The slow and steady march of manufacturing automation has been in place at Foxconn foryears. The company said last year that it had set a benchmark of 30 percent automation at itsChinese 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 hadautomated away 60,000 jobs at one of its factories.

在富士康，制造自動化進(jìn)程已經(jīng)緩慢穩(wěn)步的實施了多年。富士康去年聲稱已經(jīng)設(shè)定目標(biāo)，在2020年之前中國工廠實現(xiàn)30%自動化。戴佳鵬說現(xiàn)在公司每年生產(chǎn)1萬臺foxbots，足夠取代人力。三月時，富士康說在一家工廠實行自動化后少用了6萬人。

In the long term, robots are cheaper than human labor. However, the initial investment can becostly. It’s also difficult, expensive, and time consuming to program robots to performmultiple tasks, or to reprogram a robot to perform tasks outside its original function. Thatis why, in labor markets like China, human workers have thus far been cheaper than robots. Tostay competitive though, Foxconn understands it will have to transition to automation.

長遠(yuǎn)看來用機(jī)器人比人力便宜，不過初始投資會很多。給機(jī)器人編程然后讓它完成多種任務(wù)，或者重新編程讓它更改原來設(shè)定的功能無一不是費力，費時，費錢。所以像在中國這種勞動力市場人力遠(yuǎn)比機(jī)器人便宜。然而為了保持競爭力，富士康知道他必須完成自動化升級。

Complicating the matter is the Chinese government, which has incentivized human employmentin the country. In areas like Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Zhengzhou, local governments have doledout billions of dollars in bonuses, energy contracts, and public infrastructure to Foxconn toallow the company to expand. As of last year, Foxconn employed as many as 1.2 millionpeople, making it one of the largest employers in the world. More than 1 million of thoseworkers reside in China, often at elaborate, city-like campuses that house and feedemployees.

中國政府讓事情更加復(fù)雜化了，因為它正在刺激就業(yè)。在成都，深圳，鄭州，當(dāng)?shù)卣贸鰯?shù)十億美元用于獎金，能源合同，公共建設(shè)，允許富士康擴(kuò)張地盤。到去年為止，富士康雇員120萬人，躋身世界最大雇主行列。而其中超過一百萬人都在中國，他們吃住都在城市一般的工廠生活區(qū)，里面應(yīng)有盡有設(shè)施齊全。

 

 

In an in-depth report published yesterday, The New York Times detailed these governmentincentivizes for Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, its largest and most capable plant that produces500,000 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 andon track to become fully automated in a few years’ time. So it may not be long before one ofChina’s largest employers will be forced to grapple with its automation ambitions and thebenefits it receives to transform rural parts of the country into industrial powerhouses.

在昨天發(fā)表的一則深度報告中，紐約時報詳盡講述了鄭州政府的刺激政策，富士康鄭州工廠是其產(chǎn)能最大規(guī)模最大的工廠，日產(chǎn)iPhone50萬支，被當(dāng)?shù)胤Q作蘋果城。根據(jù)戴佳鵬的說法，鄭州工廠也已有某些產(chǎn)線進(jìn)入了自動化第二階段，并且將在未來幾年穩(wěn)步邁進(jìn)全面自動化。所以用不了多久富士康就將面臨抉擇，是實現(xiàn)自己的自動化野心呢，還是繼續(xù)收好處幫這個國家實現(xiàn)農(nóng)村地區(qū)工業(yè)化。

There is, however, a central side effect to automation that would specifically benefit a companylike Foxconn. The manufacturer has been plagued by its sometimes abysmal worker conditionsand a high rate of employee suicide. So much so in fact that Foxconn had to install suicidenetting at factories throughout China and take measures to protect itself against employeelitigation. By replacing humans with robots, Foxconn would relieve itself of any issuesstemming from its treatment of workers without having to actually improve living and workingconditions or increase wages. But in doing so, it will ultimately end up putting hundreds ofthousands, if not millions, of people out of work.

不過自動化對富士康而言有一個很重要的附帶好處。糟糕的工作條件和高自殺率經(jīng)常困擾富士康，以至于富士康現(xiàn)在在各地工廠都安裝了防自殺網(wǎng)并采取各種手段應(yīng)對員工的法律訴訟來保護(hù)自己。換上機(jī)器人，富士康就可以解脫了，不需要提高員工生活條件，不需要漲薪水。不過這么做的后果是，他會讓很多人失去工作，就算沒有幾百萬，也會有幾十萬人將丟掉飯碗。