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  Technology   In Other news  20 Feb 2017  First Chinese 'unmanned factory' replaces 600 employees

First Chinese 'unmanned factory' replaces 600 employees

DECCAN CHRONICLE
Published : Feb 20, 2017, 3:51 pm IST
Updated : Feb 20, 2017, 3:53 pm IST

Chinese factory replaces 90 per cent of its employees with robots.

(Representational image)
 (Representational image)

Employment troubles in most leading nations are on a rise. Imagine having to save your jobs from robots in this scenario. A chinese factory in Dongguan City recently replaced 90 per cent of its human workforce with machines.

According to a report published Next Shark, the Changying Precision Technology Company — which focuses on the production of mobile phones and automated production lines — used to employ around 650 employees. However, in a recent turn of events, the factory has replaced approximately 90 per cent of its human workforce with machines, thereby employing a total of 60 people.

This has not caused any negative impact on the factory. In fact, the factory is now producing more equipment (250 per cent increase) and is also ensuring better quality.  

According to Luo Weiqiang, general manager of the factory, the number of people employed could drop to just 20, and given the level of efficiency achieved by automation, it won’t be long before other factories follow in their footsteps.

The company has undertaken a ‘robot replace human’ program and the president of the company Chen Qixing envisions that in the next two years, the number of robots will be increased to 1,000 and 80 per cent process will be conducted by robots.

The latest move can be observed as a threat to the human employment. Oxford University and the Oxford Martin School conducted a joint study recently which suggested that 47 per cent of jobs in US are ‘at risk’ of being automated in the next 20 years. This is not limited to just factory jobs. Robotics and artificial intelligence have the ability to take over a variety of other tasks.  

Tags: robotics, ai, artificial intelligence, oxford