For manufacturers such as Foxconn, its profits are seriously constrained by upstream Apple and other manufacturers, and there are many variables in the adjustment of Apple's supply chain strategy. Foxconn will face an uncontrollable survival crisis in the future. The more robots are deployed, the more likely it may cause The sunk cost is greater.
The topic of robots replacing human beings has already been talked about, and Foxconn is currently turning this plan into reality. Recently, Foxconn has deployed more than 40,000 robots to replace manpower, and Foxconn Kunshan has laid off 60,000 people.
We know that the advantage of industrial robots is efficiency compared to traditional manpower. From the perspective of the cost of mature welders, industrial robots are depreciated over ten years (including maintenance costs). Under the same benefits, the cost of industrial robots will be lower than the cost of labor.
Secondly, the robot operation lacks flexibility and precision, and its own maintenance cost is high. Once the management on Foxconn said that the screws assembled on the iPhone, it is difficult for the robot to maintain such high precision, as long as it is not aligned, the iPhone and the robot are both Will be scrapped. This in turn brings greater maintenance costs.
In addition, the old robots are easily eliminated due to the optimization of new production lines. On the one hand, the life cycle of consumer electronics products has been greatly shortened, and the requirements for precision have been increasing. After the production of one product, the robotic arms and robots on the original production line need to be re-commissioned, and the robot-led production line cannot cope with the update. The impact of technology and industrial innovation needs.
We know that Apple is currently expanding its supplier list, driving down prices and ensuring product profitability. For example, the 2017 iPhone has added two new supply partners: Shan State Technology and Wang Hao Technology. The two companies will work with TSMC to create parts for the iPhone8. In addition, there have been reports that Wistron may be the third manufacturer to jointly produce the Apple iPhone 7 with Foxconn and Shuo.
These actions are not good for Foxconn. Because Foxconn is currently too dependent on Apple, in addition, under the pressure of innovation, Apple will put forward higher standards and requirements for the specifications and quality of accessory manufacturers, which may lead to the upgrade of its assembly line.
However, Foxconn may not be able to adapt to the higher quality requirements of Apple in the future through a large number of robots, or related production lines driven by simple robotic arms.
Because the introduction of a large number of robots to replace the line workers, this means that Foxconn needs to retain the production line corresponding to the original robot production equipment for a long time, but Apple's requirements for quality and quality are constantly changing and improving. This requires production processes and product standards to change. The original robotic production line may lose more flexibility and innovation because it cannot keep up with the standards. This may cause Apple to stream higher standard parts and components to other products. Foundry dealer.
In fact, for a foundry that follows the current orders for smartphones, employees have more flexibility than current less intelligent robots. Once Apple’s requirements for new parts change, It is possible to quickly equip different employees to adjust the production line and follow up on changes in demand.
The iPhone raw material and parts supply chain comes from 31 countries, of which China has 349 suppliers, while the US has only 60 suppliers. The reason why the US presidential candidate proposed that Apple moved back to the United States, but Apple strongly opposed it is here:
It can be known that skilled workers and high-quality industrial workers are the core advantages of Apple suppliers. Only they can cope with the urgent changes in demand and improve technical standards to cope with the impact of innovation demand. If the robot can easily replace the manpower to produce the iPhone, why can the rich enemy's Apple not build its own robot factory for mass production? Where is the value of Foxconn? This is worthy of Foxconn's reflection.
Manufacturing industry mechanization is a trend, but the core of the enterprise is peopleWe know that electronic material processing, deposition and coating techniques, complex testing and assembly capabilities require manpower to drive optimization and optimization, and continuous testing and optimization to drive optimization of the production process is also a key capability to dominate the manufacturing industry's voice. This is also the key to driving the development of high value-added electronic products manufacturing and promoting the integration of software and hardware.
Foxconn has always wanted to transform from a single foundry company to a brand-name technology company. However, due to its own manufacturing genes, it rarely participates in upstream R&D. The company is also a militarized management model, resulting in a lack of overall creativity. It is inseparable from the dilemma of the factory thinking mode.
Although Foxconn wants to transform and upgrade its brand, the core issue of transformation is not to replace the machine, but to promote the transformation of the management system and business model and enhance the overall quality and innovation of the employees. In addition, let the workers be laid off and use machines. A dominant influence instead of manpower is the instability of the local job market and its impact on the local government.
The author once said that the Indian smartphone market pointed out that for India, a populous country with a large population, employment has always been a top priority for the Indian government. The Indian government welcomes foreign investment in setting up factories because the manufacturing industry can largely solve the employment problem, but India does not welcome manufacturers who only open retail stores or sell products only through e-commerce channels and do not support Indian manufacturing because the Indian government treats foreign companies. The starting point is to hope that foreign companies will come to India to promote local employment and manufacturing prosperity.
Therefore, in order to attack overseas smartphone manufacturers, India has strategically increased the import tax on electronic products such as smart phones, and squeezed and cracked on overseas manufacturers. Manufacturers who did not build factories in India to solve local employment could not start retailing in India. The store, which has a great relationship with the Indian government's emphasis on manufacturing and employment.
Promoting local development and employment, it is the basic idea of ​​investing and building factories. If you are eager to save costs and seek profits, and not pay attention to social responsibility and corporate image in the long run, it will not be conducive to the construction of Foxconn's sustainable operation and local needs. External environment.
Under the pressure of labor shortage and rising labor costs, Foxconn hopes to use robots to make up for vacancies and gradually get rid of dependence on unsustainable cheap labor, and to achieve the OEM map of global delivery.
However, within Foxconn, the robot program will also cause existing employees to be worried about the unemployment of their jobs at any time. This is not conducive to the internal recognition of Foxconn itself, but also may lead to a large number of internal contradictions and reduced employee loyalty. It is not conducive to internal stability. If Foxconn can lay off a large number of layoffs, it may trigger the attention of the labor organization and trigger new social problems.
For manufacturers such as Foxconn, its profits are seriously constrained by upstream Apple and other manufacturers. Apple is currently weak due to lack of innovation, the market is saturated, the demand for orders is continuing to decline and the list of suppliers is gradually expanding, and the supply of Foxconn is weakened by price reduction. There are many variables in the influence of the business and the adjustment of the supply chain strategy. Foxconn will face an uncontrollable survival crisis in the future. The more robots are deployed, the more the sunk costs will be.
Therefore, thinking about how to cut into the upstream of the industrial chain, enhance the bargaining power of the industry, transformation and upgrading and changing the industrial development model is the big proposition of Foxconn's future. In summary, the Foxconn machine substitution plan is actually worth the loss.
The future is here, this is the era of intelligent manufacturing.Machine substitution is indeed a major trend in manufacturing, but it is not the biggest feature of the future manufacturing industry. From the beginning of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century, the story is how the machine is changed. Yesterday's brightly lit, three shifts, today's black light factory, but the "change" scale is different.
We have become more and more aware that the era of big data is essentially an intelligent age, so we are used to calling the future of manufacturing "smart manufacturing." But I think that just equating "machine substitution" with "smart manufacturing" is a popular public misunderstanding. Machine substitution only solves the problem of efficiency and cost. It still follows the traditional idea of ​​large-scale industrial production, but only realizes automatic manufacturing, not intelligent manufacturing.
True future manufacturing, or smart manufacturing, must be the manufacturing that meets the individual needs of human beings.
For example, Foxconn, regardless of how advanced its production pipeline, and how much labor has been replaced, the iPhone it manufactures is still the same model, which does not represent future manufacturing.
The first industrial revolution has been more than 200 years, and the variety of products and functions are extremely rich. Whatever it is, it seems that the achievements of civilization are remarkable. But is human demand really satisfied?
To meet individual needs, you must have personalized data. Individualized data collection and analysis, regardless of height, weight, weight, and length of limbs, can be taken care of, fully reflecting the respect for everyone.
Machine substitution can improve efficiency, but it cannot change this inherent structure. If this is smart manufacturing, it is too low-level. Therefore, I believe that Foxconn's machine substitution can still be classified into the traditional manufacturing industry.
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