(Yicai Global) Oct. 11 -- Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group's [TWE:2317] plant in Kunshan in China's southeastern Jiangsu province is speeding its efforts to adjust production lines and upgrade its product mix in a bid to switch from a labor-intensive manufacturing to a smart model featuring unmanned production, official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

From material delivery to assembly and packaging, the plant has achieved smart production throughout its process. Foxconn's labor force has dropped 73 percent from nearly 3,000 in 2012 to some 800 now, but its output has risen 38.7 percent over 2012 and per capita output is up 140 percent, a plant director said.

Foxconn has invested about USD1.7 billion in Kunshan since it established operations there 24 years ago, attracting nearly 10,000 complementary manufacturers. Foxconn's Kunshan unit made its transformation toward unmanned production in as early as 2010 when it built two demonstrative automated workshops in the city. The company has thus far invested USD45.45 million (CNY300 million) to develop automation technology, including USD3 million (CNY20 million) to train talent. It has also independently made more than 3,000 multi-purpose robots to help with labor-intensive work.

Foxconn's Kunshan factory has renovated its production lines to replace workers with robots, which can help with loading and unloading materials and transporting them across workshops to achieve unmanned production in stamping, grinding and molding, a factory foreman said.

"Foxconn is shifting its focus from traditional contract manufacturing to technological innovation and earnings model innovation," said Yang Jun, director of Suzhou's Taiwan Affairs Office in Jiangsu. "This epitomizes Taiwanese firms' drive to transform and upgrade, indicating that proactively adapting to the new normal and cultivating new growth areas is their best choice."