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Apple was reportedly forced to halt iPhone and iPad assembly for the first time in a decade
The global supply chain crisis has had a significant effect on the tech giant.
Amazon furniture assembly workers report poor training and tight schedules
A few months ago, reports indicated that Amazon was piloting a new service where its delivery drivers not only dropped off products — they'd also assemble things like furniture, appliances and other large items. Given Amazon's problems keeping its workers safe and happy, it's not surprising that this program sounds like it's off to a rough start.
NASA’s X-59 supersonic jet is cleared for final assembly
NASA's experimental X-59 jet, which could make supersonic commercial travel a reality, has been cleared for final assembly. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft, designed by Lockheed Martin, could take its first flight as soon as 2021.
Tesla workers say they used electrical tape in Model 3 production
Tesla may have broken its own records, manufacturing 72,531 Model 3 sedans in the three months that ended June 30th. But employees say in the push to ramp up Model 3 production, they were forced to cut corners and work in difficult, unsafe conditions. A handful of employees who work in Tesla's open-air GA4 production tent told CNBC that they used electrical tape to quickly repair cracks on plastic brackets and housings and worked through extreme heat, cold and wild-fire smoke.
Ford thinks exoskeletons are ready for prime time in its factories
People still build cars. While videos of giant robots welding vehicles are exciting to watch (sparks!), humans are an important part of the assembly of vehicles. However, as you would expect, doing the same thing over and over often leads to injuries. For workers reaching up all day, that motion can be especially hard on their shoulders. To help, Ford will be offering exoskeleton vests to folks in 15 assembly plants around the world.
NASA installs the first mirror on the Hubble's replacement
NASA announced on Wednesday that it had successfully installed the first of 18 mirrors on the new James Webb space telescope. The work took place at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland earlier this week.
Teardown suggests Xbox One manufacturing cost of $471
The Xbox One costs Microsoft $471 to build, according to a hardware teardown and analysis by research firm IHS. IHS also cracked open the PlayStation 4 to find that Sony spends $381 building its latest home console. The bill of materials for the Xbox One amounts to $457, with the assembly and manufacturing of the system estimated at $14. IHS says that the Xbox One's Kinect camera adds $75 to the total cost of the Xbox One, including assembly, $11 more expensive than the original Kinect's bill of materials and manufacturing costs. Among the other components that factor in to the system's cost for Microsoft is a Blu-Ray drive manufactured by Lite-On that accounts for $32 of the Xbox One's bill of materials, and the system's $25 external power supply unit.
Foxconn automates workforce prior to US expansion
Foxconn spokesperson Louis Woo told The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that Foxconn will automate its assembly factories with "the best robots in the business" as a supplement to human labor. During a recent shareholders meeting, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou noted that automated workers will perform many of the "monotonous, repetitive tasks" that are currently handled by low-paid employees. Automation lowers assembly costs, and Computer World's Patrick Thibodeau recently theorized that Apple's US-based Mac manufacturing would be a "robot city," citing clips in promotional videos and a conversation with Larry Sweet, the CTO of Symbotic, as evidence. Additionally, Foxconn announced plans to expand its operations to the US just last week. A plant on American soil would certainly eliminate supply chain issues. As long as Foxconn's new robotic employees aren't stamped "Greystone Industries," we should be good. [Via The Verge]
Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite gets torn-down, promptly put back together (video)
Now that you've been fully acquainted with Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite, perhaps it's time to get to know it on a deeper level -- and what better than a tear-down to do just that? The folks over at Powerbook Medic took their own unit apart piece by piece on video, highlighting what appears to be a simple process, mostly done by dealing with screws. The trickiest part seems to be pulling off the bezel, as it's held in place with glue. Unfortunately, the repair shop doesn't analyze the e-reader's internal components in the iFixit fashion, but it has gone full-circle and provided a second video on how to put it all back together. Curious to see this Kindle's e-ink-filled guts? You'll find both videos after the break.
WSJ: iPad mini assembly has begun
A report from the Wall Street Journal suggests Asian suppliers have started mass production of components for the iPad Mini. Cited in the WSJ report are LG Display and AU Optronics, both of which are supposedly mass-producing 7.85-inch displays for the rumored tablet device. According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, Apple has allegedly opted to go with a non-Retina display for its smaller iPad. The choice to downgrade the display was supposedly a cost-cutting measure that'll help keep the price tag of the device competitively low. If these rumors for the iPad Mini pan out, then price will be a major factor as Apple will be competing with the $199 Kindle Fire HD and the $199 Nexus 7 tablet. Previous rumors suggest the iPad Mini will include a Lightning port, a nano-SIM card slot and an aluminum casing with a thin bezel.
Foxconn iPhone factory faces new labor issues
Electronics manufacturer Foxconn has come under fire again, specifically in the Chinese factory that assembles Apple's iPhones. The New York Times reports that the company has been accused of "compelling" students to work at its assembly plant, a charge that Foxconn denies. Foxconn claims that "interns" can be found on the assembly lines but are free to go whenever they choose. At the same time, representatives for advocacy group China Labor Watch claim to have spoken with students who say they are being made to work on the line by their teachers. Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch, says vocational students spent time at Foxconn to learn, not work. However, Li claims, those students are told they will not graduate unless they work on the line. A Foxconn representative told The Times that interns represent 2.7 percent of his company's workforce in China, all of whom are recruited "under the supervision of the local government, and the schools also assign teachers to accompany and monitor the students throughout their internship." Late last year, the Fair Labor Association worked closely with Apple to investigate and ensure fair working conditions at Foxconn's China factories. Apple has also posted "Supplier Responsibilities" to its website.
Metalab wires its Blinkenwall to run from Commodore 64, gives no word on the obligatory Tetris port (video)
We've seen some ambitious Blinkenwalls in our time. Nearly all of the attention is unsurprisingly focused on the wall, however, and not on the often clever hardware and software behind it. Vienna's Metalab wants to shift the limelight by kicking it old school. Instead of the thoroughly modern Arduino and Fonera hotspot that normally light up Metalab's 45-block glass wall, the team's Blinken64 project swaps in a Commodore 64 with a cassette drive and the unusual Final Cartridge III feature extender. Getting lights to strobe requires dusting off more than just hardware -- all the animations have to be written in assembly-level MOS Technology 6510 code that even our nerdy parents might forget. The result you'll see in the video after the break is a far cry from the relatively easy, web-accessible hardware that normally powers such blinkenlight creations, but it's also a testament to how relevant classic technology can remain when it's in the right hands.
Fujitsu starts build-it-yourself PC service, lets you go homebrew without the electrical shocks
Big PC companies are often seen as being at odds with the concept of custom-built computers: apart from letting us tick a few checkboxes before we order, they'd rather we not fiddle with the internals. Fujitsu is breaking the mold and embracing some of that DIY culture with its upcoming Hands-on Custom PC Assembly Service. The Japanese can take classes that teach them how to install their picks (from a limited range) of processors, hard drives and RAM. While the program doesn't start completely from scratch -- the motherboard is already installed -- it takes would-be assemblers through many of the experiences of building their own PCs from the ground up. Builders can choose how many components, if they're not quite so ambitious, and learn smart practices like wearing anti-static wristbands. While there won't be as many unintentional jolts of electricity as the real deal, the courses should help PC owners feel comfortable working inside a computer -- not to mention save Fujitsu a few technical support calls. The variable-price courses start in Japan on August 9th for multiple Esprimo desktops and a LifeBook portable. We can only hope that American PC vendors take a few hints and encourage everyone's inner technician.
See a Qbo robot built from scratch in a minute-and-a-half (time-lapse video)
Ever wondered just how fast a Qbo robot can be built from scratch? Perhaps not, but TheCorpora is happy to show you anyway. The answer is just under three hours (by a skilled engineer, of course), but the company has managed to whittle that down to a minute-and-a-half thanks to the magic of time-lapse video. Head on past the break to see it for yourself -- and, if you haven't already, catch up with some of the tricks the bot is able to do once it's fully assembled.
iPhone N94 prototype's front assembly leaked, set to be an iPhone 4S?
As we approach the rumored September or October launch date for the next batch of iPhones, the web's been spiced up with photos of alleged parts for an "N94" iPhone prototype. We've been rather skeptical about them until the above photos landed in our inbox, courtesy of our friends from uBreakiFix. A little while back we'd already heard from our other sources that the N94 is set to be a cheaper version of the current iPhone 4 (probably the 8GB iPhone 4 mentioned by Reuters last week), which would explain why all these components and cables look super familiar. The only notable difference here is the funny dot right next to the sensor location above the earpiece -- the dotted pattern is very much like that used by the microphone and the webcam LED indicator on Mac computers, but obviously the latter is more likely the case here.That said, do bear in mind that according to the mark along the bottom of this part, we're apparently looking at an "EVT1" (Engineering Verification Test) piece from March 3rd 2011 (making it about three months older than the white N94 back covers that made the rounds last week, assuming they're legit). Additionally, when our sources last checked around June and July, the N94 had yet to hit the DVT stage, so it's hard to determine whether these parts will remain the same in the final design, or whether the N94 will even make it to the production line at all.On the other hand, our sources pointed out that an elusive N97 device -- previously reported by the Wall Street Journal as a tiny iPhone -- had already reached "DVT" (Design Verification Test) stage back in June, though there's little information about it other than that it's been tested with various cellular technologies (though plagued by some bugs related to switching between specific frequencies back then), plus it may sport a camera module supplied by Sony, which was semi-confirmed by Howard Stringer himself back in April. Whatever the N97 ends up being, hopefully we'll have something at least as slim as our little souvenir from Beijing.
Foxconn wants one million new workers, must be robotic
We saw this coming when we met FRIDA, and now it's apparently happening. According to Xinhuanet, Foxconn's founder and chairman chose a workers' party last Friday night to reveal plans for a surge in the company's robot contingent. There'll be 300,000 robots in operation by next year and a swarm-like 1,000,000 within three years -- versus just 10,000 today. The bots will be required to spray, weld and not kill themselves. We can only imagine how this news went down at the party, but soon stuff like that will hardly matter.
FRIDA 'concept' robot will solve all of Foxconn's problems by replacing its workers (video)
Don't be fooled by the "concept" label that ABB has affixed to its new robot. There can be only one logical conclusion to this endeavor: FRIDA and its ilk will one day replace the millions of young Chinese workers assembling our gadgets. It's no coincidence that this uniquely agile, dual-arm robot is compact enough to "fit into spaces ergonomically designed for human workers" and can be carried around "easily" to begin work with a minimum of installation requirements. In fact, ABB admits that several prototypes are already being piloted. The obvious advantage for Foxconn and friends is that FRIDA doesn't require a swimming pool, cafeteria, housing, or professional counseling to keep out of the dormitory nets. Watch FRIDA obey the first law of robotics at the 44 second mark of the video posted after the break as assembly line workers everywhere lament their lack of a handle. [Thanks, Johannes]
Tesla opens its workshop, shows off more Model S prototypes
It's expected that when the Tesla Model S hits full production it'll be rolling out of the company's newly acquired facility in Fremont, California -- formerly the NUMMI plant jointly owned by General Motors and Toyota. For now, though, the cars are being put together at Tesla HQ in Palo Alto and the company invited some media to go check things out. GigaOM has some pictures showing various Teslas in various states of disassembly, including motor and rear suspension assemblies about to be bolted in, and Chief Engineer Peter Rawlinson talking about the car's massive front radiator assembly. Oh, and the matte orange models? No, they're sadly not the first examples of a special General Lee edition. Those cars are destined to be run into various walls at various speeds to test the car's performance in a crash, much like this poor Volvo was. Do spare a thought.
Ford assembly line uses mo-cap tech to build cars years ahead of time (video)
Years ago, Ford would have to physically build all the parts for a new vehicle, and only discover afterwards whether it was feasible to have humans assemble the contraption. Now, it relies on the same motion-capture systems used to shoot your favorite 3D movies and games to test the vehicle's construction in virtual reality, years before a single scrap of metal needs to be cut. IDG got to see the system in action at Ford's Assembly Ergonomics Lab in Michigan; you can find their report at the source link and a video after the break.
Apple, Dell, and HP comment on suicides as Foxconn CEO shows off the pool
On an 84-degree day (29 C) at a Chinese factory housing some 400,000 workers, at least 2 of them were enjoying the Foxconn swimming pool. We know this because the notoriously secretive Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, was showing off some of the workers' facilities to the press to assure the world that he was not operating a sweatshop. Foxconn has received a great deal of attention lately after a rash of suicide attempts this year left 2 workers seriously injured and 9 people dead. While these numbers are relatively low compared to World Health Organization data showing a suicide rate of about 14 deaths per 100,000 Chinese, Foxconn contends that there were only one or two suicides a year previously at its Shenzhen factories. Today Gou announced that Foxconn has 70 psychiatrists and 100 voluntary workers trained to help prevent suicide. Great, problem solved. As you probably know, Foxconn is behind the assembly of many major consumer electronics brands including HP, Nokia, Dell, and Apple -- the latter two have come out with statements expressing their respective concern. Apple had this to say: "We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. We're in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously. A team from Apple is independently evaluating the steps they are taking to address these tragic events and we will continue our ongoing inspections of the facilities where our products are made." And Dell this: "We expect our suppliers to employ the same high standards we do in our own facilities. We enforce these standards through a variety of tools, including the Electronics Industry code of conduct, business reviews with suppliers, self-assessments and audits." During today's press event, Tang Wenying, a young Foxconn line supervisor said, "This is a good place to work because they treat us better than many (other) Chinese factories." And that may be the most worrisome aspect of this: Foxconn, by all accounts, provides some of the best conditions for the Chinese workers it employs. What does that say about the anonymous (and thus, invisible) chain of small suppliers and secondary assembly facilities nobody reads about? Update: HP says that it is also investigating "the Foxconn practices that may be associated with these tragic events."
