It's certainly one way of dealing with a bit of bad publicity. Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer that assembles gadgets for the likes of Apple and Nintendo came under fire last year after a spate of high-profile suicides by its workers. Now it says it plans to replace much of its human workforce - with a million robots.
Foxconn is currently the largest private-sector employer in China with over one million employees. Last year 17 workers killed themselves - most by throwing themselves from factory buildings - while many more were stopped from doing so. The ensuing criticism and bad headlines worldwide forced the manufacturer to double its workers' salaries.
Now founder and chairman Terry Gou says he wants to cut rising labour costs and improve efficiency by replacing workers with robots that can perform tasks such as spraying, welding and assembling. He says Foxconn will boost its robotic workforce from 10,000 to 300,000 next year before reaching 1 million by 2014.
The IFR says that there were around 1,020,000 industrial robots operational in 2009, and it predicts that total will reach just under 1,120,000 by the end of 2013. It also says that only 2,230,000 industrial robots have ever been built since they were first introduced at the end of the 1960s.
Foxconn is currently the largest private-sector employer in China with over one million employees. Last year 17 workers killed themselves - most by throwing themselves from factory buildings - while many more were stopped from doing so. The ensuing criticism and bad headlines worldwide forced the manufacturer to double its workers' salaries.
Now founder and chairman Terry Gou says he wants to cut rising labour costs and improve efficiency by replacing workers with robots that can perform tasks such as spraying, welding and assembling. He says Foxconn will boost its robotic workforce from 10,000 to 300,000 next year before reaching 1 million by 2014.
Forget visions of identical humanoid robots working side by side though, as the machines are unlikely to be any more than robotic arms. Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) also suggest that Foxconn has set its sights incredibly high compared to the current state of industrial robotics.
The IFR says that there were around 1,020,000 industrial robots operational in 2009, and it predicts that total will reach just under 1,120,000 by the end of 2013. It also says that only 2,230,000 industrial robots have ever been built since they were first introduced at the end of the 1960s.
