"The first phase of Foxconn’s automation plans involve
replacing the work that is either dangerous or involves repetitious
labor humans are unwilling to do. The second phase involves improving
efficiency by streamlining production lines to reduce the number of
excess robots in use. The third and final phase involves automating
entire factories, “with only a minimal number of workers assigned for
production, logistics, testing, and inspection processes,” according to
Jia-peng.
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."
I mentioned before that when I was growing up, the rosy view of the future was that robots would be doing most of the work, which meant workers got more and more leisure time. Instead, robots get more and more work, while we get less and less income. The savings go to the corporations, not the workers. Should known...
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