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.
‘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
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
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US