Foxconn robots appeared in the press a few months ago when it was announced that Foxconn intends to replace their employees in factories with robots that would produce future iPhone terminals and iPad tablets on automated lines. Foxconn intended to buy no less than 1 million robots for its factories in China, but the first tests revealed that Foxbots, the generic name for the company's robots, are not capable of producing iDevices.
Foxconn wanted to use the "one million robots plan" to solve the Chinese factories rising labor costs, but from the current situation, to realize the idea of a fully automated production line iPhone may also need to wait for a very long time. The plan was first CEO Terry Gou in 2011, when made by Foxconn Technology Group, he had vowed to assemble one million units in 2014 robotic arm, to see the first fully automated plant for five years to 10 years. Hon Hai Group shareholders' meeting this year on June 22, Gou has made it clear that "Foxconn robot program has entered the final testing phase, named Foxbots robots will be applied first to the production of a new generation of Apple's mobile phone."
Foxconn robots will not assemble iPhone terminals this year
The main problem for Foxconn robots is that they i'm not enough precise to produce any kind of electronic products, their precision during assembly being 0.05mm, while Apple requires 0.02mm. Moreover, the automated lines take up too much space in the Foxconn factories, so the company's managers decided to abandon the Foxconn robots of this first generation, waiting for a second iteration that is currently in the works.
Foxconn robots will undergo a change, the Taiwanese company intends to implement hands with 5 flexible fingers, but the technology required for such an achievement is currently in the testing phase, so not ready for large-scale use. In this idea, Foxconn is trying to perfect the technology in time to be able to use it in its future automated lines, but it remains to be seen whether its efforts will be crowned with success or not.
In 2014 Foxconn was forced to employ almost 150.000 people to be able to manufacture enough units of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and unfortunately things will not get easier soon.
