Foxconn Building New $210 Million Production Line for Apple Products

[guzhogi]

It would be nice to see increased automation and less human intervention - this would help with the QC issues with the latest iPad. When you see this picture it's no wonder why dust and hair appears under our screens.

I wonder how much it would cost to buy the machinery to do this, how much it costs to power them, etc. Also, if you make a change to the product (even if it's a small thing like moving a screw one millimeter left), how long would it take to reprogram the machinery?

 

[Stu-Pid]

Radical idea: build a production plant in a depressed area such as Appalachia. Pay minimum wage plus bonuses based on production. Market Apple products as proudly made in the USA. Put Americans to work. Stop pushing power toward a Communist country where human rights are routinely violated. Help reverse the tide of opportunistic globalization in favor of ethical responsibility on the part of big businesses. Whoa! What a concept...

66% of Apple's Q2 2012 revenue came from outside the US, including 25% from Asia-Pacific. That percentage is getting bigger, not smaller.

Why would the rest of the world (i.e. 2 out of every 3 Apple customers) care if Apple products were made in the US?

 

[RalfTheDog]

I think, it is probably for the new Mac Pro </dream>. That said, if the Mac Pro is dead, has there been any talk about a new mid tower to replace it?

 

[guzhogi]

You're asking for a jobs program. It's the kind of thing the government should do, not a private company.

Why does it have to be the government's job?

For Apple, building a factory in a place like Appalachia would make no sense. It's far from transportation lines, sources of cheap power, and a cheap, but educated and skillful workforce. There are very good reasons to produce electronics in China.

Except for the cheap, skilled labor, why can't the state that the factory gets built in offer a tax break* if Apple invests in the proper infrastructure? Apple's building solar farms for its data center in NC, why can't Apple do the same in the Appalachians?

*Before anyone whines about Apple getting another tax break, at least it's contingent on Apple doing something that at least could benefit the common good.

I think, it is probably for the new Mac Pro </dream>. That said, if the Mac Pro is dead, has there been any talk about a new mid tower to replace it?

I doubt it. Isn't most of of Apple's revenues & profits come from its iDevices? Why spend millions of dollars on a product when you could spend the same money on a product that brings in millions more?

 

[charlituna]

Probably for Apple branded television sets.

Or more likely to compensate for the reduction in OT they promised. They would need more workers to complete the same amount of production and that also means needing a place for them to work and live. So a new production line it is.

 

[chrmjenkins]

I bet with all the pay increases, hour limitations and safety pushes, Foxconn has the best line in China for a worker to be on. I've heard many of the workers are even upset about not getting enough hours (only 50 to 60) after the recent changes.

 

[charlituna]

Radical idea: build a production plant in a depressed area such as Appalachia. Pay minimum wage plus bonuses based on production. Market Apple products as proudly made in the USA. Put Americans to work. Stop pushing power toward a Communist country where human rights are routinely violated. Help reverse the tide of opportunistic globalization in favor of ethical responsibility on the part of big businesses. Whoa! What a concept...

1. Unions would never allow such paying plans

2. skill level

3. access to the rare earth metals that are not as safe to ship in the needed amounts across long distances.

It is not Apple's job to fix the woes of any country or business which is why they don't owe it to the US to bring all production here and hire folks that can't do the job just to give them a job. Or to pay Proview millions for a trademark they already bought to cover said company's debt issues. And so on.

If you are going to play those games then Apple should be required to have factories for local production in every country they sell in.

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For all those people to work in only 3 square meters it's way too little to make those Tv's, or they are the size of an iPad

It's assembly line work. People don't need a lot of room to move around to deal with their one little part of the puzzle.

as for the whole rumored but not yet proven to even be an idea TV sets, for all we know IF such a thing exists and this factory has anything to do with it, they will build the components but the assembly will be somewhere else so they don't need a huge chunk of space at every station.

 

[carlgo]

Eastern provinces is like our south: people will work cheaper, workers less uppity, environmental problems over-looked. Workers in the city plants are wanting more and more. Maybe even unions in some form. They have been planning to move to more pliable areas for some time now.

"Educated" workers are the last thing they want!

BTW, I see more and more products on shelves now with the "designed in the US, manufactured in China", so Apple's idea of softening the perception is catching on.

 

[ciociosan]

Just slightly more than 1 sqm per employee. I hope they aren't planning on company parties. Oh wait, it's Foxconn, of course they're not.

 

[kiljoy616]

Mac Pro maybe? Is intel even going to upgrade their Xeon chips?

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Eastern provinces is like our south: people will work cheaper, workers less uppity, environmental problems over-looked. Workers in the city plants are wanting more and more. Maybe even unions in some form. They have been planning to move to more pliable areas for some time now.

"Educated" workers are the last thing they want!

BTW, I see more and more products on shelves now with the "designed in the US, manufactured in China", so Apple's idea of softening the perception is catching on.

I think your right you can now show it off and no one cares, the world is what its going to be and nothing we do is going to change the facts.

 

[tbrinkma]

Why does it have to be the government's job?

Except for the cheap, skilled labor, why can't the state that the factory gets built in offer a tax break* if Apple invests in the proper infrastructure? Apple's building solar farms for its data center in NC, why can't Apple do the same in the Appalachians?

*Before anyone whines about Apple getting another tax break, at least it's contingent on Apple doing something that at least could benefit the common good.

Are you actually suggesting that *Apple* should realistically be required to invest in the airports, highways, roads, power plants, etc. necessary to make the Appalachians suitable for the sort of production plants that Apple needs? How on earth do you propose selling *anybody* on that?

Unless the state/county in question could afford to give Apple billions in incentives, that's a no-win proposition, because it would cost Apple an order of magnitude more money than they could ever hope to get out of it, regardless of what incentives the local/state governments could offer. If the governments could afford the incentives to make it worth while for a private company to make those investments, they could afford to make the investments themselves, and become much more attractive to those private companies.

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Just slightly more than 1 sqm per employee. I hope they aren't planning on company parties. Oh wait, it's Foxconn, of course they're not.

Ok, first of all, they likely have 3 shifts for a given day, so that's 3.3 m^2. On top of that, there's almost certainly more than one floor to the building's design. Based on pictures of other Foxconn plants, I'm guessing about 5-7 floors, which puts it up into the 16.5-23.1 m^2 range. That leaves *plenty* of room in that figure to include a cafeteria, restrooms, aisles, and basic warehouse (shipping & receiving) areas.

Seriously, people. Get real.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

You're asking for a jobs program. It's the kind of thing the government should do, not a private company.

For Apple, building a factory in a place like Appalachia would make no sense. It's far from transportation lines, sources of cheap power, and a cheap, but educated and skillful workforce. There are very good reasons to produce electronics in China.

As for marketing products as "made in the USA," that *might* work here, but keep in mind how much Apple sells in other countries. Even if you could convince Americans to pay more to support jobs in the US, I doubt you could convince, for example, Japanese to pay more to support jobs in the US.

Yeah because Welfare is really doing well.

Private sector is what stuff like this is made for. I want the government focused on other things.

 

[blow45]

Radical idea: build a production plant in a depressed area such as Appalachia. Pay minimum wage plus bonuses based on production. Market Apple products as proudly made in the USA. Put Americans to work. Stop pushing power toward a Communist country where human rights are routinely violated. Help reverse the tide of opportunistic globalization in favor of ethical responsibility on the part of big businesses. Whoa! What a concept...

This idea needs balls. Apparently Tim Cook is more content having apple's products manufactured in ant colonies, and giving speeches to the arch thieves at Goldman who nearly bankrupted the world.

 

[guzhogi]

Are you actually suggesting that *Apple* should realistically be required to invest in the airports, highways, roads, power plants, etc. necessary to make the Appalachians suitable for the sort of production plants that Apple needs? How on earth do you propose selling *anybody* on that?

Unless the state/county in question could afford to give Apple billions in incentives, that's a no-win proposition, because it would cost Apple an order of magnitude more money than they could ever hope to get out of it, regardless of what incentives the local/state governments could offer. If the governments could afford the incentives to make it worth while for a private company to make those investments, they could afford to make the investments themselves, and become much more attractive to those private companies.

I'm not saying Apple should pay for the whole thing, just part of it.

 

[blow45]

Are you actually suggesting that *Apple* should realistically be required to invest in the airports, highways, roads, power plants, etc. necessary to make the Appalachians suitable for the sort of production plants that Apple needs? How on earth do you propose selling *anybody* on that?

Unless the state/county in question could afford to give Apple billions in incentives, that's a no-win proposition, because it would cost Apple an order of magnitude more money than they could ever hope to get out of it, regardless of what incentives the local/state governments could offer. If the governments could afford the incentives to make it worth while for a private company to make those investments, they could afford to make the investments themselves, and become much more attractive to those private companies.

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Ok, first of all, they likely have 3 shifts for a given day, so that's 3.3 m^2. On top of that, there's almost certainly more than one floor to the building's design. Based on pictures of other Foxconn plants, I'm guessing about 5-7 floors, which puts it up into the 16.5-23.1 m^2 range. That leaves *plenty* of room in that figure to include a cafeteria, restrooms, aisles, and basic warehouse (shipping & receiving) areas.

Seriously, people. Get real.

Hell even a couple of offices have windows outlooking the suicide nets, heaven on earth working at Foxconn.

 

[Thunderhawks]

It would be nice to see increased automation and less human intervention - this would help with the QC issues with the latest iPad. When you see this picture it's no wonder why dust and hair appears under our screens.

Would you please post a percentage of such "no wonder" production flaws and put a link with it?

 

[mingoglia]

I wish Apple would build a plant somewhere in the US and offer the option to buy a US made product for an additional fee. I'm sure there are others like me that would gladly pay a bit more to have an American made product. I'd also upgrade more often. From a standpoint of assembly, how long does it really take to assemble a MBP on an assembly line? Even if the US works made $50/hr and the Chinese counterpart made $1/hr, how much labor cost is actually in one of these?

 

[nozebleed]

1. Unions would never allow such paying plans

2. skill level

3. access to the rare earth metals that are not as safe to ship in the needed amounts across long distances.

you forgot (potentially the largest factor) EPA regulations

 

[zzLZHzz]

Radical idea: build a production plant in a depressed area such as Appalachia. Pay minimum wage plus bonuses based on production. Market Apple products as proudly made in the USA. Put Americans to work. Stop pushing power toward a Communist country where human rights are routinely violated. Help reverse the tide of opportunistic globalization in favor of ethical responsibility on the part of big businesses. Whoa! What a concept...

not as simple as it is.

you need to look at the whole supply chain.
with most of the raw material produced in china. it is fast and easy to get restock a part that is running low.

and it is proudly "designed in california" which california is part of USA

 

[JHankwitz]

I'd personally like to know where they get all the specialty tools used in assembling Apple products. Like little air-powered screwdrivers suspended from overhead racks that know just how much torque to apply before stripping the screw head off.

These are very common tools used by most every manufacturer here and abroad.

 

[Poisednoise]

Those calling for Apple to invest in the US need to recognise that one of the downsides of becoming an international company is that you are international, i.e. you no longer think in small provincial terms. Significantly less than half of Apple's sales come from the US: investing in US manufacture purely because it might make some local people feel better about the company doesn't make sense economically. If Apple continues to expand it might come to make sense, simply as part of a diversification and spreading of the geographical manufacturing base perhaps. But when most of the raw components are coming from the far east, and particularly when that's where the opportunities for sales expansion are greatest....

 

[Edsel]

In China they can probably build and occupy this 430,000 sq/ft facility by the end of this year.

In the United States, the same project would become a three year struggle with permits, zoning, public hearings, environmental reviews, neighbor lawsuits, tax credit approvals.... then a building permit would be issued...with construction subject to labor agreements, wage schedules, OSHA, EPA, ABC, & XYZ inspections. Five years to occupancy in the United States.

 

[justoneaim]

hmmmmm.

all i know is i want a job

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all i know is i want a job

ill work for free .....aloha

 

[Nostromo]

How about them putting together Mac Pros?

I'd like to order one yesterday.

 

[Evan_11]

66% of Apple's Q2 2012 revenue came from outside the US, including 25% from Asia-Pacific. That percentage is getting bigger, not smaller.

Why would the rest of the world (i.e. 2 out of every 3 Apple customers) care if Apple products were made in the US?

Because Apple is an American company. Apple Computer would of never happened in China. It's unfortunate that Apple will someday probably be a foreign owned company, mostly likely by the Chinese. "Stu-Pid" people like you who are so caught up in corporate go-go mindset that they cannot see the forest for the trees.