Foxconn Technology Group, one of world's leading electronic contract manufacturers by output, will set up its second industrial robot production plant in Henan Province, central China, following the first one running in Shanxi, northern China, according to local news agencies.

The reports indicate that the group has recently inked a letter of intent with a county government in Henan Province, planning to set up a plant to turn out automation equipment, precision instruments and bearings, and industrial robots.

Local officials involved in the signing of Foxconn's letter of intent confirmed that the group has actually come to the county to evaluate suitable locations for the planned plant, which is expected to generate operating incomes of over RMB64 billion (about NT$30 billion at RMB1: NT$4.6) when operational in the future. This will become the group's second investment aimed at developing the industrial robot industry in the country.

Presently, the group's first industrial robot production plant is located in Shanxi, which is estimated to turn out one million units of various robots this year. The group's chairman Terry Gou once stated that this plant, which sets the milestone in the group's history of producing intelligent industrial robots, is expected to achieve output value of over RMB50 billion as the world's largest in 2016.

Gou reiterated the importance of industrial robots at the shareholder conference held earlier, stressing that Foxconn aims to widely apply robots to replace workers engaged in tedious, repetitive electronic assembly to effectively automate production and optimize efficiency, which can certainly leverage the group's competitive advantages in the increasingly challenging market for electronic contract manufacturing services.

In the meantime, to relieve growing concerns about big worker layoffs following its robotic production plan, Foxconn promises that it won't cut any jobs but continue to recruit workers to fill the current numerous vacancies in China.

source & copyright: CENS

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