How far is it from manufacturing to intelligent robots?

As the world's factory, China's powerful manufacturing industry is becoming a market coveted by various global robot giants. The latest statistics from the International Federation of Robotics show that last year, robots in Chinese factories accounted for about a quarter of the global industrial robot army. By 2017, the number of industrial robots installed in China will rank first in the world.

Halving the number of workers and increasing production scale

In the absence of an increase in production sites and a decrease in the number of production personnel, the TV production of domestic electronics giant Hisense increased from 8 million units in 2011 to 11.1 million units last year, an increase of nearly 40%; The number of modules increased from 4.4 million in 2011 to 10 million last year, a growth of 1.2 times. These are largely due to the application of automated robots in Hisense's intelligent chemical plant. Taking the entire production process of a television as an example, in the past, it required the hands of 60 to 70 workers to complete all processes, but now nearly 20% of the processes have been replaced by robots. The production processes of television testing, packaging, locking screws, handling, tearing film, laminating, gluing, labeling, bagging, sorting, box merging, unpacking, palletizing, etc. have all been automated. According to data provided by Hisense Group, they currently have 700 robots on various production lines, and will reach 1000 by the end of this year.

Not only the TV, but also the air conditioning used in your home may have been created by robots. The widespread application of robots has reduced the number of workers in Midea air conditioning by nearly half. According to statistics provided by Midea, when Midea's air conditioning reached a revenue scale of 50 billion yuan in 2011, the number of workers exceeded 50000; By 2014, when the total revenue of the air conditioning business approached 70 billion yuan, the number of workers had decreased to 26000; According to the plan, by 2018, when Midea's air conditioning scale reaches 100 billion yuan, the number of employees will be further reduced to 20000.

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China has become the world's largest market for industrial robots

In Shunde, Guangdong, the most important home appliance manufacturing base in China, a "Sino German Industrial Service Zone Robot and Intelligent Equipment Enterprise Supply and Demand Matchmaking Conference" recently kicked off in Shunde. Renowned enterprises from multiple domestic and foreign robot and intelligent equipment companies actively came to this manufacturing base in the Pearl River Delta to seek business opportunities. At the same location, there was also an international project roadshow that attracted many invited European robotics companies.

Data shows that in 2014, the sales of robots in China reached 56000 units, an increase of over 50%. China had become the world's largest industrial robot market last year, with the Guangdong robot market accounting for about one-third of the country's total. As the world's factory, China's powerful manufacturing industry is becoming a market coveted by various global robot giants. According to statistics from the International Federation of Robotics, robots in Chinese factories accounted for about a quarter of the global industrial robot army last year. By 2017, the number of industrial robots installed in China will rank first in the world.

Robots replacing humans are difficult to reduce costs in the short term

However, although robots replacing workers can reduce costs, many companies still encounter various obstacles in their promotion. Firstly, the one-time investment cost of robots is relatively high, and it is difficult to fully demonstrate the cost advantage of replacing human labor in one fiscal year, which will put considerable pressure on performance reports for listed companies. At present, many companies have strict input-output regulations for investment projects within a certain period of time. If the cost of investing in robots exceeds that of labor within a certain period of time, it is likely to be rejected by one vote. Therefore, whether promoting robots is a short-term or long-term decision largely depends on the attitude of the top decision-makers in the management of the enterprise.

Many manufacturing companies are also unwilling to promote robots because of this. A senior executive of a company calculated that "even if calculated based on the three-year cost recovery, it is likely that new technologies will emerge during the harvest period three years later, and the equipment invested now will become outdated

In addition, robots also pose higher technical requirements for application enterprises in operation and post maintenance. In many factories where robots and workers operate in the same room, the red line surrounding the robots must never be crossed, and workers must follow stricter operating procedures to prevent accidents and injuries from the robots.

The contradiction between robots and humans is difficult to resolve

During the interview, the reporter learned that many companies still face a headache when promoting the use of robots to replace human labor. Although they know that robots can reduce costs, how to properly lay off workers has become a headache for the company. This is no longer just an economic issue, it involves corporate image, social impact, and even the relationship with the government! "A household appliance enterprise insider in Shunde told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that this is actually the contradiction between robots and humans.

Taking Midea as an example, over the past four years, the number of air conditioning manufacturing workers has decreased by more than 20000. It is impossible for all of them to be transferred to other production lines, and a considerable number of workers will definitely be laid off. The situation of workers gathering here to demand explanations or file complaints with the media has also caused great headaches for the company. Last June, Haier CEO Zhang Ruimin's remarks at the Wharton School Global Forum also caused a huge uproar. He revealed to the public at the time that Haier had laid off 16000 employees in 2013 and planned to lay off another 10000 employees in 2014.

It will take time for robots to transition from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing"

Although many large manufacturing enterprises in China have begun the transformation of replacing humans with machines, industry insiders point out that it will take time for robots in China's manufacturing industry to transition from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing", which is the true symbol of automated production. Our current robots are still engaged in repetitive labor, but the future intelligent robots should engage in complex and irregular behavior. "Luo Jun, CEO of the International Robot and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance, predicts that in the next 10 years, humans will basically enter the era of intelligent manufacturing, and the robot industry will also upgrade towards intelligent robots." This means that robots at that time should be able to learn and communicate with humans, "said Li Yang, general manager of Haier Polon Washing Machine." Without systematic support, automation cannot meet the needs of large-scale customization, so simply purchasing robots is not meaningful