Innolux Corp (群創), the world’s No. 3 LCD panel maker, yesterday said that it expects about 75 percent of it production lines to be automated by the end of this year, helping it cut manufacturing costs to competitive levels.
With most of its factories using robotic arms and machines operating in the dark, Innolux said that it is planning to cut its headcount to 50,000 this year, from 100,000 in 2007 when the automation program started.
The program aims to solve labor shortage problems, improve product quality and drive down manufacturing costs, Innolux honorary chairman Tuan Hsing-chien (段行建) told a news conference yesterday.
Tuan is the chief architect of the program.
“Wages have been rapidly increasing in China,” Tuan said. “Without factory automation systems, it will be difficult to check labor costs.”
Tuan doubles as a display consultant to Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海科技集團) and also advises Hon Hai’s Japanese subsidiary, Sharp Corp, on the improvement of its production lines.
Innolux is a panel manufacturing arm of Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) outside of Taiwan.
“Most of our production lines will be run automatically this year, with between about 25 to 30 percent of the work still being performed by human workers,” Tuan said.
“We cannot remove people from the production lines entirely, as we still need them to handle tasks in a flexible manner,” he said.
As Innolux has been using robotic arms and carts to assemble and transport displays for tablets and notebook computers on the factory floor, it said it plans to duplicate its success in transforming its TV assembly lines into “smart” production lines this year.
Innolux also plans to gradually elevate its factory automation levels further by utilizing sensors, big data and artificial intelligence (AI), Tuan said.
Over the past 10 years, Innolux has spent billions of dollars to revamp and automate its manufacturing lines, the company said.
The panel maker has assembled a 500-strong team for the automation program.
Innolux also yesterday gave an update for its new-generation display technology, active-matrix (AM) miniLED.
Innolux aims to use the cost-effective technology to compete with expensive OLED technology dominated by South Korean rivals.
“Automakers were excited about the technology when we showcased our first miniLED at the CES, because the technology is more affordable and more reliable” than OLED, Ting Chin-lung (丁景隆), head of the company’s technology development center, told reporters yesterday.
The company is scheduled to unveil its new miniLED products in June and will start supplying the displays to automakers within the next two years, given a longer product qualification period for products used in vehicles, Ting said.
Innolux is also exploring new applications to use the display technology, Ting said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his