Dongguan, one of China's major manufacturing hubs, will soon have its first robot factory in operation, Xinhua news agency reports.
The factory, which will mainly make mobile phone components, is currently testing 100 robots along its production lines, Xinhua says. The company plans to increase the number to 1,000 in the near future.
Automated manufacturing, with remote controls by human workers, will greatly improve quality and efficiency, says Ren Xiangsheng, a senior manager at the factory. A facility that traditionally requires 2,000-plus human workers will then be able to operate by no more than 200 humans.
Ren says his factory is following a citywide trend of switching to robotic manufacturing. Dongguan and some other cities in the Pearl River Delta, which is the center of China's manufacturing industry, have been encouraging local factories to adopt robotics.
Last year, Dongguan's city government designated a special fund to provide financial support to local factories and encourage them to make such human-to-robot switches. The city is looking to finish 1,000 to 1,500 such projects by 2016.
If the plan goes smoothly, it will alleviate the city's labor shortage of about 100,000 workers, according to Xinhua.
