Apple was reportedly trying to experiment with the automated iPhone assembly in partnership with Foxconn since 2012.
The eight-year-long attempt to create completely automated factories in China was with repeated challenges. Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou pitched in the idea for a fully automated manufacturing line to Tim Cook, Apple CEO eight years ago. After years of trial and error, the company realized that iPhone product are best assembled by hand.
Robotics expert, David Bourne, states that it is easier to address human labor problems and training issues than dealing with production delays due to opaque automated systems.
Even creating a secret robot lab couldn’t help apple achieve its objective. The need to automate arose to cut back on 1.7 million supply chain workers.
Industrial robots from vendors like Mitsubishi and Denso were included in Apple’s lab, attempting to do detailed work like fastening tiny screws or dabbing glue. But robotics technology couldn’t meet the level of precision required.
This led to the realization that automation was effectively applicable only to specific tasks, and it was far easier to train a group of human workers for different tasks. The world’s first trillion-dollar company learned it that hard way that humans are better at assembly lines than the robots.
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