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reddebian t1_je41dpn wrote

Reply to comment by Da_Vader in Made-in-India iPhone shipments jump 162% by Sxzym

Why don't we use robots for phones? We already use them for cars (mostly, some processes still require humans). Wouldn't that be far cheaper and faster to produce and Apple could do it in the US without relying on another country?

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technitecho t1_je46e02 wrote

I believe the robots we use in cars are mainly to produce the main body and larger parts. Engines and smaller stuff like circuit boards etc are still made by hand.

Phones are really small and need precision. Perhaps that's why robots aren't used

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irk5nil t1_je4j58q wrote

Circuit boards by hand? IIRC circuit boards were one of the first technological artifacts the manufacturing of which was fully robotized. You can't really place modern SMT components by hand anyway -- not repeatedly and quickly at least.

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technitecho t1_je4kdk2 wrote

I don't mean that kind of circuit board... I mean things like connecting the wires of headlights, dashboard info, autolocks etc etc

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irk5nil t1_je4lapp wrote

But...wiring isn't circuit boards. It's wiring.

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HankKwak t1_je4b7e6 wrote

We certainly have the precision technology to automate the assembly of phones however, due to the dexterity required, variety of tasks and constant re-calibrating every year for a new model, people are still the cheaper option…

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cute_polarbear t1_je6h2y5 wrote

For many of these stuff, many of the manufacturing and crucially, supply chain down to sourcing of raw material had been completely moved over to China over last 30 years or so. Most of us focus on assembly of the final phone, which is not yet fully automated, in part due to stringent requirements and labor cost (humans are still cheaper), but more and more aspects of the manufacturing process is and will be automated. Just a matter of time.

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