Foxconn steps up COVID-19 precautions as iPhone production restarts
As Apple partner Foxconn restarts iPhone production in China, a report on Wednesday takes an in-depth look at the protocols the contract manufacturer has in place to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19.
Foxconn workers assembling iPhone.
Foxconn is taking unprecedented steps to ensure its employees stay healthy and coronavirus-free as the important iPhone launch season approaches, according to a Washington Post report picked up by Business Insider.
At the firm's Zhengzhou plant, responsible for a large portion of iPhone production, employees are broken off into groups of 20 in an attempt to minimize potential exposure to and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. These worker clusters must eat, sleep, work and travel together, the city's government said in a notice.
Public areas are being closely monitored, with one employee saying Foxconn has installed dividers at cafeteria tables to prevent worker contact. The company is reportedly using QR codes placed on cafeteria seats, which workers must scan, to track employee movement.
Beyond working groups, Foxconn is taking employee temperatures daily and is utilizing infrared cameras to track body temperatures in real time. High temperatures are an early sign of infection.
To prevent transmission of the virus, the company is producing some 2 million surgical masks each day for internal use.
In a statement to The Post, Foxconn said it is following "all recommended health and hygiene practices ... including the use of nucleic acid tests and chest X-rays when required."
In January, Foxconn said the then-burgeoning coronavirus would not impact production in China. Those early predictions shifted dramatically as the situation worsened. Roughly a month later Foxconn closed its plant in Shenzhen and shuttered the Zhengzhou facility, putting a crimp in global iPhone 11 supply.
Production is now ramping up as factories take on new staff, and mass production of an expected "iPhone 12" series is reportedly on schedule for a fall release. Foxconn itself supposedly confirmed the timeline to investors in early April, assuaging fears of a delayed launch.
Foxconn workers assembling iPhone.
Foxconn is taking unprecedented steps to ensure its employees stay healthy and coronavirus-free as the important iPhone launch season approaches, according to a Washington Post report picked up by Business Insider.
At the firm's Zhengzhou plant, responsible for a large portion of iPhone production, employees are broken off into groups of 20 in an attempt to minimize potential exposure to and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. These worker clusters must eat, sleep, work and travel together, the city's government said in a notice.
Public areas are being closely monitored, with one employee saying Foxconn has installed dividers at cafeteria tables to prevent worker contact. The company is reportedly using QR codes placed on cafeteria seats, which workers must scan, to track employee movement.
Beyond working groups, Foxconn is taking employee temperatures daily and is utilizing infrared cameras to track body temperatures in real time. High temperatures are an early sign of infection.
To prevent transmission of the virus, the company is producing some 2 million surgical masks each day for internal use.
In a statement to The Post, Foxconn said it is following "all recommended health and hygiene practices ... including the use of nucleic acid tests and chest X-rays when required."
In January, Foxconn said the then-burgeoning coronavirus would not impact production in China. Those early predictions shifted dramatically as the situation worsened. Roughly a month later Foxconn closed its plant in Shenzhen and shuttered the Zhengzhou facility, putting a crimp in global iPhone 11 supply.
Production is now ramping up as factories take on new staff, and mass production of an expected "iPhone 12" series is reportedly on schedule for a fall release. Foxconn itself supposedly confirmed the timeline to investors in early April, assuaging fears of a delayed launch.
Comments
The Chinese leadership is certainly trying to control the narrative, but so is the USA. It’s difficult to say what data is accurate (from China) because China lacks freedom of press. That said, China was ground zero for this coronavirus and they still managed to be better prepared.
We knew something like this could (would) happen and yet our first responders are lacking in everything. Scrambling for ventilators is one thing, but lacking masks and gloves reeks of incompetence. The federal government is responsible for preparing for disasters (like this one). They are the ones managing the national stockpiles.
It’s the Chinese’s fault. It’s the States responsibility. It’s the Press and theIr flu hoax. It’s the WHO.
Who’s fault is it? Everyone in Washington just needs to look in the mirror.
As for Apple, they’ve stepped up more than any other company (not in the medical field) that I’m aware of. If making products in China makes them a Chinese stooge, then does buying stuff (made in China) mean you are one also? I’m not sure anything I own doesn’t have a part or component not made in China. The wire or metal in my house, in my car, in my frig., washing machine. The battery in my tooth brush, car, phone, iPad, laptop, fire alarm. Never mind, the list is never ending.
It’s amusing to imagine you in your bunker. The stamp of “Made in China” on the side must be driving you nuts. Did you make your post from an iPhone?
Well, all of it except the sleeping with co-workers bit -- there have been few, but I would mostly want skip sleeping with my coworkers!
But, eventually we will have to. Mass community wide fast identification and seclusion of all who are infected or potentially infected must begin if we are to end this nonsense. Social Distancing is merely a stop gap meant to slow it down until we can begin the real work, the effective work, of early identification of the infected and tracing their contacts and isolating them. Countries like Germany and S. Korea did that early on have already contained the virus. Others like the U.S. and Italy did not and the virus is running out of control.
Some say it's too late. But that's a false argument. While it was the best way to contain it at the beginning, it remains the only way to end it. (Or, I guess we could hope for a great Easter morning miracle!)