Posted on 11/13/2012 2:47:23 PM PST by Nachum
Foxconn has been planning to buy 1 million robots to replace human workers and it looks like that change, albeit gradual, is about to start.
The company is allegedly paying $25,000 per robot – about three times a worker’s average salary – and they will replace humans in assembly tasks. The plans have been in place for a while – I spoke to Foxconn reps about this a year ago – and it makes perfect sense. Humans are messy, they want more money, and having a half-a-million of them in one factory is a recipe for unrest. But what happens after the halls are clear of careful young men and women and instead full of whirring robots? What happens to China’s “burgeoning” economy?
The original story is short on details but it seems that the robots will work alongside employees and not replace them outright – although some crowding could occur.
(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...
Oh well it was bound to happen
Oh well it was bound to happen
Oh well it was bound to happen
They are way behind the times for a technology company.
They did this in the oval office four years ago.
SkyNet any one!
The substitution of capital for labor... what a classic.
Wait til they get unionized....
the unions are already licking their lips. I think we all know who will lead them...
If the robot lasts four years its a good deal.
However a considerable workforce will still be needed to maintain the robots. Having worked with painting robots I personally would choose a good experienced painter any day.
I once worked as an HR person for a temp company in a Foxconn plant here in Texas. Only worked 3 days a week yet it was full time! Best paying per hour job I ever had. I’d go back to it in a New York minute.
For repetitive work, robots are far superior to humans.
If the materials are consistent, the robots do not make mistakes.
Robots do not take breaks, do not come to work drunk, high or angry after a fight with their spouse. Robots do not doze off, do not daydream, and do not talk to the robot next to them about last night’s Oprah.
Robots are at work on every assembly line and in every factory, and they are a Good Thing.
Are they sure that somewhere in the 2700 pages of the Obamacare bill there is not the requirement to provide health care for the robots?
If anyone is interesting is seeing the type of assembly robot that’s being used, this is a good example of what the fastest SCARA robots are capable of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5eR0eHknZk
As soon as the robots are allowed to vote, they will get health insurance.
Health care is something we once had before we had ObamaCare.
Did they replace you with a robot?
>Are they sure that somewhere in the 2700 pages of the Obamacare bill there is not the requirement to provide health care for the robots?
No because robots donf pay taxes. If they did you can be sure Obie would replace the term healthcare with “maintenance contract”...
Yes, but will they FReep while at work is the question . . .
Robots don't sleep and can work 24/7, so the robot could replace multiple people, and pay for itself in a year or two.
Obamacare is like the minimum wage law on steroids as it pertains to replacing jobs with technology.
Butlerian Jihad.
Not at all. There were no robots there. My health took a turn for the worse and I couldn’t perform all the functions of that job.
Using more robots means that the overall cost of production goes down. This means that products can be sold cheaper to humans who are making less in service sector jobs.
If the world's population settles and then starts to go down a little, this might be OK. More and more robots making cheaper products for fewer low paid humans.
If, however, the population continues to increase for a while, then there will be too many unemployed people not making enough money to buy anything.
Going on the dole will be institutionalized around the world, and not just in places like the UK.
In the meantime, we have the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world, we are going to raise engery prices, and we are trying to raise labor rates with Obamacare.
Wait, isn’t this a good thing? Foxconn will no longer be exploiting its “slave labor”. The liberated workers can now become unemployed and dependent on government to survive. For liberals, that should be a wet dream come true.
If, however, the population continues to increase for a while, then there will be too many unemployed people not making enough money to buy anything.
Nah.
That certainly hasn't been the case with all the machines put to work since the dawn of the industrial age up until now. They have increased the standard of living across the board! So why would it be any different in the future?
More machines = greater efficiency = lower costs = lower prices = greater wealth (more output from less human work). This is basic capitalism here. It has increased wealth for all, and that rising water has clearly lifted all industrialized ships.
Can Robots commit suicide? Do Androids dream of electric MP3s?
And robots don’t vote Democrat.
I would have been glad to substitute robots for the 27 female humans I was forced to supervise the last time I had a job.
There was always something. On the one day there was not something of some substance, there would be a catfight over bullcrap.
Robots don’t need Obamacare.
Can’t wait to see the reaction of the Chinese luddites
do not come to work drunk,
I’ve seen it too many times, robots do occasionally drink on the job. You will, for some time to come, need human overseers for the robots. They suffer from stress and heat just like humans in a lot of ways
Do not require personal time.
Don't need paid vacations.
Do not need health insurance.
Won't get pregnant and...
Won't rob your organization blind.
Can Robots commit suicide?
I don’t know if you can call it suicide, but have seen robots damage themselves beyond what it would be wise to spend repairing them
No, I ain't googling it. Lousy reporting.
Foxconn makes most of the consumer electronics in the world — mostly in contract to some other company, like Apple
All this productivity (efficiency) you worship only result in more Obama voters. It is easy to connect the dots. So be prepared to have your taxes transferred (redistributed) to the armies of the unemployed and their baby mamas. My taxes too so long as Obama and Democrats rule
Progress and automation and computerization and robots cannot be stopped but anyone with a brain can see it is better to have more humans needed to make things and this is what America was like 20-30-40 years ago. In fact I am pretty sure FoxConn wanted to deploy more robots a while ago but was under pressure from Chinese Gov't to keep people employed. Chinese Gov't fears civil unrest from too many idle workers.
.
And don’t call me Shirley.
The workers displaced by them do and same for their family. So make a rough guess that for each robot that eliminates 5 workers the Democrats get 15 voters
So we should stop progress all in the name of saving jobs then??
Wow!
That's a pretty huge leap there, FRiend. Care to explain how you get from increased manufacturing automation to "more Obama voters"?
And please drop the self-righteous tone, OK? Worship? Come on...
I'm guessing that you use a "transportation robot" called a car or truck. Your home is probably heated by an automated "heating robot" called a furnace. Do you have an automated "dish cleaning robot"? I do. One for cleaning clothes and another for drying them too!
Unless you're living a caveman lifestyle, everyone uses machines to make their lives easier and more productive.
A mechanic who uses a pneumatic impact wrench instead of cranking on a ratchet is participating in the eeeeeevils of mechanical help. A cashier who uses a computerized cash register instead of a pencil and paper is too.
Using machines to do some of our work for us is not a Bad Thing, whether it's an individual or a company. The principle is exactly the same.
Sorry we are long past that point.
It is time to bring jobs back to the USA.
Past what point?
Factory automation is not what sends jobs overseas! Robots aren't what's causing increased unemployment!
Do you believe you are contributing to unemployment because you use a washer and dryer instead of hiring someone to do your family's laundry? According to your reasoning, you should be ashamed of yourself for causing unemployment! You and your family are doing exactly what Foxconn is doing, by automating part of your labor instead of hiring people.
The big problems are coming from false Keynesian "spend your way to prosperity!" economics and entrenched socialist policies worldwide. They're breaking economies with impunity, and George Soros laughs with glee! It's Obama with his callous class warfare and destructive "community organizing". And voters celebrate the man who will happily wipe out the fruits of a life's work.
Don't drink the liberal Kool-aid and believe the propaganda about capitalism -- including factory automation -- being the enemy. It isn't. This is exactly the kind of fear-based thought that brings on unions and all sorts of protectionist actions that smother whole economies.
Can you tell me what happens to the employees who lose jobs due to automation/ computerization/robotics?
Yes! Of course!
What will it accomplish in stopping progress??
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