Sony Introduces Fully Unstaffed Production Line At Malaysian TV-Making Factory

Sony has deployed its first fully unmanned production line at a TV-making factory outside Kuala Lumpur and plans to expand automation to other lines there too.

According to Nikkei Asia, the electronics giant is embracing this kind of technology to better compete with its South Korean and Chinese competitors. Indeed, the automation move is projected to cut production costs at the factory by 70% from fiscal 2018 levels by fiscal 2023.

The company is employing off-the-shelf robots, but is internally developing key elements such as control programming. It described full automation as challenging due to processes that involve parts that are difficult for robots to handle.

Unsurprisingly, with the shift to automation, Sony will gradually reduce the factory’s workforce of thousands, opting not to renew their limited-term contracts. The company also plans to automate audio equipment production at the KL factory after shutting its main audio equipment factory in Penang by September.

Once the automation technology is firmly rooted at the KL plant, the electronics giant will consider employing it at other factories as well. It’s extraordinarily timely considering the havoc COVID-19 has unleashed on global manufacturing. For example, Foxconn factories in India and Vietnam have recently seen work disruptions because of the pandemic.

On the flip side, automation does generally mean fewer jobs in the medium- to long-term, bringing with it economic, political, and social problems. Indeed, the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US (mainly due to technology) has caused considerable anger and resentment.

Line Comes Under Scrutiny After Chinese Engineers Reportedly Accessed User Data

The popular messaging app Line is now under investigation by the Japanese government after local media reported that it allowed Chinese engineers at a Shanghai company to access Japanese users’ data without telling them.

According to the report by Reuters, a government official has stated that investigations were ongoing and that they are unable to tell if Line violated any regulations yet. At the same time, a spokesperson from Line denied that the firm broke any laws or regulations.

But on its website, the company later apologised for causing any concern and for inadequately explaining its data management policies to users, adding that no inappropriate access took place.

Local media has reported that four Chinese engineers, tasked with system maintenance, were given access to Japanese servers from 2018 containing names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of users.

The alarm over the incident probably stems from Japan’s often choppy relations and historical unease with China. It doesn’t help that China-backed hackers were blamed for a recent massive breach of Microsoft Exchange email servers.

For what it’s worth, China has acquired a reputation for spying and hacking in the last few years.

Accordingly, researchers at Stanford University last month raised concern over social media app Clubhouse’s affiliation with Shanghai-based company Agora. Also, last month, TikTok settled a privacy lawsuit alleging that it sent user data to Chinese servers or certain locations in which China-based employees could access the data.

Beijing may not like it, but the very mention of China raises suspicion these days.