The upcoming iPhone 12 might be on schedule after all, as Foxconn has resumed operations in China. Aware of the current coronavirus situation, many extra precautions are being put into place for the safety of its employees.
China is on its way to get rid of the virus countrywide, but the risk of a second wave of transmission still looms. Foxconn’s plant in Zhengzhou, which is the largest iPhone plant in the country, has reopened its doors and is gradually resuming production. However, the working conditions are very different now, with extreme measures being incorporated into the workflow to ensure a second outbreak does not occur.
Necessary evil
Some of the new measures at Foxconn’s “iPhone City” include segregating its employees into groups of 20, who must not only work together but also eat, commute, and sleep together to control unknown spread. The same implications are supposed to be followed at the cafeteria as well, with no interaction with anyone from the other groups. Literal barriers have been put up to enforce that. All seats also have QR codes on them, which the workers are supposed to scan, to keep track of their movement.
Every day, all the workers are also mandated to have their temperature checked, and are also observed via infrared cameras to observe any outliers on the floor. Foxconn is also producing 2 million surgical masks daily for internal use by its one million-strong workforce.
With these measures in place, the Taiwanese company is confident of being able to ramp up production promptly and eventually meet the iPhone 12 timeline, which will ideally be announced in September. If not, Apple will be forced to delay the launch and corresponding logistics.
With Foxconn resuming operations, it shouldn’t be long before the rest of the Chinese companies are back up. This update is a reminder of how difficult it will be for the entire supply chain to be functional, even months after we’ve dealt with COVID-19. India is also house to multiple smartphone manufacturing facilities, which have been ordered to stay shut for the foreseeable future. There are chances we might go through the same cycle.
Via Business Insider
