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Foxconn to Build ''Robotic Kingdom'' in Taiwan

by - source: Focus Taiwan

Foxconn's parent company has just signed a letter stating its intentions to build an intelligent robotics and automation equipment manufacturing hub in Taiwan.

A couple of months back, Foxconn revealed that it had plans to replace a portion of its staff with one million robots in an effort to cut down on rising labor costs. Xinhua News Agency said at the time that Foxconn was already using 10,000 robots. The electronics giant is said to be aiming for 300,000 next year and one million in three years time.

Now it would appear that these plans are inching forward. In late October, the Focus Taiwarn news agency (via Cnet) reported that Terry Gou had signed a letter of intent with Taichung Mayor Jason Hu. This letter outlined Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Precision's plan to build an "intelligent robotics kingdom" at the Central Taiwan Science Park park in the coming years. Focus Taiwan cites Gou as saying the project is expected to generate an estimated NT$120 billion ($4 billion) in production value in the next three to five years and create about 2,000 jobs.

Foxconn currently employs over 900,000 people in its factories. Gou said in August that the robots would be performing simple tasks such as spraying, welding and assembling. These are all tasks currently carried out by human employees.

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bin1127 11/08/2011 2:06 PM
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I actually thought they were building a themepark like legoland. I need my morning coffee now.

webbwbb 11/08/2011 2:08 PM
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bin1127 :
I actually thought they were building a themepark like legoland. I need my morning coffee now.


That would be terrifying.

oasiz 11/08/2011 2:08 PM
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nebun 11/08/2011 2:13 PM
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let's drink to the end of the world....not....so it looks like all the people will be replaced by robots.....this could be good since they don't really have to pay the robots, initial cost will be expensive but in the end they will make a profit....it really sucks but when it comes to electronics robots are better

alyoshka 11/08/2011 2:15 PM
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So now we'll have Robots jumping over the balconies?

jivdis1x 11/08/2011 2:15 PM
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Suicidal robots can be reprogram or repair, human can't. Cost effective moves.

southernshark 11/08/2011 2:18 PM
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Skynet

psychobob 11/08/2011 2:20 PM
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spookie 11/08/2011 2:20 PM
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haha it would be realy funny if the robots get suicidal!
(old news, I read this a few days ago on a normal south african news site..)

jecastej 11/08/2011 2:36 PM
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alyoshka :
So now we'll have Robots jumping over the balconies?



Bender?

spacey1 11/08/2011 2:41 PM
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WOW did you enlarge the pic and see the people they look really unhappy. go figure huh..

sunflier 11/08/2011 2:46 PM
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I thought the humans employed there turned into robots after having worked there 6 months??

sunflier 11/08/2011 2:55 PM
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Quote :...one million robots in an effort to cut down on rising labor costs.

Oh, so instead of jumping, the robots will throw them over the balconies.

soo-nah-mee 11/08/2011 3:01 PM
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Great, I come in here with a robot suicide quip ready to go, and you guys have already gone down that road!

billybobser 11/08/2011 3:05 PM
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oxxfatelostxxo 11/08/2011 3:14 PM
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Quote :let's drink to the end of the world....not....so it looks like all the people will be replaced by robots.....this could be good since they don't really have to pay the robots, initial cost will be expensive but in the end they will make a profit....it really sucks but when it comes to electronics robots are better


Not really entirely true. We employ many robots where i work, not only do you need higher trained people to operate them, you also need a tech trained person that knows how to fix them when they break down.
Id say on average the robots fault out anywhere from 1 to 15 times in a shift. Simple things. And prob have to be worked on once a week or so on average. (usually programming adjustments, always changing)

Alot of it depends on how complex the operation its doing is also. But programming and the items it works with are never perfect, so they always run into things that dont line up correctly for the robot.

Also not to mention, robots dont pick up on defects like a human would. And most robots if something breaks (like a tool) and they dont have anything setup to check the tool. it will keep right on making bad parts till stopped. causing lots of scrap parts.

oxxfatelostxxo 11/08/2011 3:17 PM
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Quote :How much does it cost to build a robot, and how much do they pay a person per hour?

average robot about the size of a human at our facility costs around $120,000 USD. Then you also have costs for the programming, not sure on its cost but prob very expensive.

So figure a robot will prob pay for itself in 3 to 4 years. Not too bad.

loomis86 11/08/2011 3:39 PM
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nebun :
let's drink to the end of the world....not....so it looks like all the people will be replaced by robots.....this could be good since they don't really have to pay the robots, initial cost will be expensive but in the end they will make a profit....it really sucks but when it comes to electronics robots are better



People build robots, install robots, program robots, and repair robots. There will be plenty of jobs for people that are smarter than a robot. But SOME day, robots will be building robots, installing robots, programming robots, and repairing robots. When that day comes, then we can worry.

Anonymous 11/08/2011 4:02 PM
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wouldnt a robot cost more than a laborer? I mean assuming a robot costs $3000 thats more than 10 years of a laborers pay (including his suicide check to his family)

ojas 11/08/2011 4:18 PM
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foxconnsucks :
wouldnt a robot cost more than a laborer? I mean assuming a robot costs $3000 thats more than 10 years of a laborers pay (including his suicide check to his family)


who gets the raw materials? who builds the robots? how much will they get paid? ah now you see. what's the total cost for building the robot now?

it's not like they're ordering them from newegg, you know.

Manos 11/08/2011 4:26 PM
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Now it all adds up...

The truth is that probably this has been an ongoing plan which was accidentally expossed back in the days to a simple employ. At the time they "got rid of the problem" he had told someone else and that someone else to another individual. Maybe there are already some of those robots lurking in there killing everyone thats sweaty enough to betray their fear of exposing them!

( I claim all rights to this scenario or Ill go all Apple on your sorry asses! :P )

loomis86 11/08/2011 4:27 PM
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foxconnsucks :
wouldnt a robot cost more than a laborer? I mean assuming a robot costs $3000 thats more than 10 years of a laborers pay (including his suicide check to his family)



You have no idea how a business operates.

First of all, an employee costs a business TWICE what that person's wages are. There are insurance premiums and taxes to be paid by the business on behalf of that employee EVEN IF THE EMPLOYEE HAS NO BENEFITS. There is unemployment insurance, workman's comp, and FICA taxes. If the employee has any benefits at all, then the costs are even higher. Pension programs, 401K contributions, vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave, maternity leave, training, union dues, health insurance, and so forth.

If the employee makes $15 per hour the company is paying about $30/hour or more.

Robots don't get any benefits. Robots are property that depreciates over time. A business is allowed to use depreciation as a tax deduction. This means that robot the company bought for $100k doesn't really cost that much to the company.

rantoc 11/08/2011 4:52 PM
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The Born of Skynet, misstreated robots that take suicide will reach up to the boiling point!

inerax 11/08/2011 5:13 PM
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spacey1 :
WOW did you enlarge the pic and see the people they look really unhappy. go figure huh..



Its because that's where they have to live.

Marco925 11/08/2011 5:58 PM
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Toms... you shouldnt really be reading Xinhua News, half the shit on that site is lies and government propaganda.

NightLight 11/08/2011 6:06 PM
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just don't put a hal 9000 unit in control of these robots!

g-thor 11/08/2011 6:09 PM
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So, will the employees at Foxconn have to build the robots that will replace them? Wouldn't that be fun? Will they licence the Cortex A9 for these robots, or go with Intel or AMD?

For the record - I am not serious.

Anonymous 11/08/2011 6:54 PM
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I have a robot vagina

CaedenV 11/08/2011 7:34 PM
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oxxfatelostxxo :
Not really entirely true. We employ many robots where i work, not only do you need higher trained people to operate them, you also need a tech trained person that knows how to fix them when they break down.Id say on average the robots fault out anywhere from 1 to 15 times in a shift. Simple things. And prob have to be worked on once a week or so on average. (usually programming adjustments, always changing)Alot of it depends on how complex the operation its doing is also. But programming and the items it works with are never perfect, so they always run into things that dont line up correctly for the robot.Also not to mention, robots dont pick up on defects like a human would. And most robots if something breaks (like a tool) and they dont have anything setup to check the tool. it will keep right on making bad parts till stopped. causing lots of scrap parts.


Indeed, most people seem to think that a robot is somehow 'perfect' and 'low maintenance' when reality is nothing close to that. They are great when they work because they can churn through material quickly and 24/7 if everything is prepped correctly, but if anything is off then everything falls apart until it is reset.
All that being said, they are getting better and more sophisticated, and if they work out then it will mean better jobs for those who work there, but probably less people working.

wooodoggies 11/08/2011 8:08 PM
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^ its the same people that come to you with a crashed harddrive and insinuate that you don't know what you doing when you tell them stuff is gone. They don't understand anything beyond face value and the final product.

noblerabbit 11/08/2011 8:59 PM
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well how about them apples.


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