The electronics manufacturer Foxconn has been accused of treating its workers like machines as they toil on assembly lines, particularly after a spate of suicides among its employees in recent years. Now the company, best known for producing iPhones and other hi-tech gadgets, has found a solution: use robots instead.
The Taiwanese company has vowed to expand automation in its plants, and plans to use a million robots in the next three years.
The news highlights questions about the future of China's Pearl River delta, "the factory of the world". Its low-cost, high-employment model has transformed the international economy, sucking in manufacturing from around the globe, and keeping down inflation in other countries through the flow of cheap exports.
As the world's biggest contract electronics maker, whose other clients include Sony, Nokia, Dell and Hewlett Packard, Foxconn has become an emblem of global manufacturing's ups and downs in China. It expanded at apparently unstoppable pace - with its mainland workforce growing from 600,000 just after the financialcrisis to a million - but has faced increasing costs and growing criticism of working conditions.
Terry Gou, founder and chairman, has said he wants to cut rising labor costs and improve efficiency by using the machines for simple and routine tasks such as spraying, welding and assembling.
Speaking at a company event, Gou said Foxconn already had 10,000 robots and would increase the number to 300,000 next year and a million within three.
"I don't think this is a one-off. Foxconn is often seen as a bellwether of global manufacturing," said Alistair Thornton of IHS Global Insight, suggesting other companies would follow suit.
"As labor costs rise, companies will have to invest more in automated facilities. But we shouldn't get carried away; there is still a lot of cheap labor out there," said Tom Miller, of Beijing-based economic consultancy GK-Dragonomics.


据英国《卫报》8月1日报道：一直以来，电子制造商富士康就不断被指责把流水线上的工人当机器人对待，尤其是近年来一连串工人自杀事件后，这种指责就更加铺天盖地。而如今，以生产iPhone和其他高科技配件著称的富士康终于找到了一个解决方案，即用机器人取代工人工作。


这家台资企业宣布要扩大其工厂的自动化，计划在未来3年内使用100万台机器人。


这则消息再次把焦点聚集到这个有着"世界工厂"之称的中国珠三角的未来发展问题上。这种低成本、多劳力的模式已经改变了世界经济，它席卷了全球制造业，并通过廉价的商品输出压低了别国的通货膨胀。



作为世界上最大的合同电子产品制造商，富士康的客户包括索尼、诺基亚、戴尔和惠普，它为全球制造业的兴衰引领着航向。它的扩张速度势不可挡，大陆工人数量从金融危机时的60万增加到100万，但它也不得不面对不断增加的成本以及社会对其工作环境越来越多的问责。


富士康的创始人兼董事长郭台铭说，他打算通过使用机器人来完成一些简单常规的工作，如喷涂、焊接、装配，从而降低劳工成本提高劳动效率。

在公司一次活动上，郭说，富士康现已有1万台机器人，明年会增加到30万台，三年会达到100万台。

环球透视的阿里斯特•桑顿说："我认为这一做法绝不会是个个例，富士康一直就是全球制造业的领头羊。" 这预示着其他公司也会效仿。


来自北京经济研究机构龙洲经讯的汤姆•米勒说："随着劳工成本的增加，各大公司都需要在自动化设施方面投入更大的资金。但是这种投资也不可过量，因为依然有大量的廉价劳动力存在。"

• manufacturer [,mænju´fæktʃərə] n.制造人；工厂主 (初中英语单词)
• assembly [ə´sembli] n.集会；装配；与会者 (初中英语单词)
• solution [sə´lu:ʃən] n.解答；解决；溶解 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• criticism [´kritisizəm] n.批评；评论(文) (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• invest [in´vest] v.投资；授予 (初中英语单词)
• expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
• apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• efficiency [i´fiʃənsi] n.效力；效率；有能力 (高中英语单词)
• routine [ru:´ti:n] n.日常工作 a.日常的 (高中英语单词)
• mainland [´meinlənd] n.大陆；本土 (英语四级单词)
• miller [´milə] n.磨坊主；铣床(工) (英语四级单词)
• emblem [´embləm] n.象征；标志；徽章 (英语六级单词)
• insight [´insait] n.洞悉；洞察力；见识 (英语六级单词)