How smartphones do in a factory in China

Today a virtual tour will take place to the most ordinary Chinese factory, which makes far from the most ordinary smartphones with a cost of $ 500 (~ 30,000 rubles) and higher. Of course, the factory produces not only such smartphones and not only for itself.

This factory makes devices for two Americas, Europe and Asia. Among its clients are eminent brands, and little-known companies that work in the narrow market of their regions. Details will be provided below.

I have been cooperating with this factory for more than 6 years. They drank a lot of my blood, but I can say with confidence that together we have reached such a level of quality and trust that I can replace the inspection control with viewing photos, or ignore it altogether. This is a good factory. Bad you, really, it’s better not to see.

The theater begins with a coat rack, and a Chinese factory always begins with the office of a large boss who receives a distinguished guest. Each boss must have a table for tea ceremonies in his office.

The workplace of the big boss. At any workplace, there is always a traditional Chinese souvenir or decoration. In this case, this is a traditional fountain (water - for money).

These are already traditional workplaces of ordinary office personnel. Standard cages 2 * 2.

The lead engineer gives instructions to the staff. His own workplace looks exactly the same.

Of course, I could not help but visit the toilet. Toilets in all Chinese office buildings look horrific - everything is broken, filthy, a strong smell.

Almost never seen normal toilets. Even in high-end business centers.

Before production I was asked to put on a dressing gown and hat, which rarely happens. Typically, a white client can go to the office in street clothes and shoes without changing clothes. But there are rules. I also put on shoe covers in front of the entrance to the workshop itself.

We are going to production. These are personal lockers for workers.

And this is a security checkpoint with a metal detector. Recording equipment, metal objects, and much more cannot be carried inside. But they led me past a metal detector.

This is where production begins. Spare parts, ready for assembly, are delivered to the employees, each of whom carries out his part of the work.

Each worker is engaged in the installation of only one component. Someone fixes the board, someone solders the connectors. With this division of labor, the weak link in production is easily revealed.

These are my favorite facilities - dustproof booths. They sit employees who work with expensive components that are sensitive to dust. Since the factory specializes in the production of moisture / dustproof devices, it is very important to maintain cleanliness standards.

These employees work with displays (now expensive and scarce goods) and spend all day in plastic boxes.

General panorama of the assembly line - someone attaches components to the board / case, someone tests the device and components. Everyone has a simple algorithm of work. All workers were trained directly in the factory. They had no special qualifications before. Education too.

Work is in full swing. The factory needs to issue a planned quantity every day. Customers are waiting for the goods in different parts of the world.

These are still empty cases of secure push-button telephones that can be called at the end of the day and which can be immersed in water.

Yes, it is they, the expensive and highly reliable CAT phones. This is one of the oldest customers of the factory that has passed all the necessary trademark inspections. I hope you did not naively believe that such devices are assembled in high-tech workshops by smart robots? :)

Along with CAT, we are assembling MANN devices, the Chinese brand of the factory for the domestic market.

This is the packaging line. SAT devices will soon be assembled and travel to different regions of the world.

Separately, I want to pay attention to the equipment for testing. All the specifications stated on the packaging are actually checked in the laboratory and (if technically possible) - in the factory itself.

The unit on the left, for example, checks the stability of USB cables, and the unit on the right is an oven that heats the device to a temperature of 60 degrees. The factory ensures that suppliers do not send defective components that will not withstand the declared conditions.

These are devices for testing strength and resistance to falls.

I love this device very much - it tests the keyboard for durability. In automatic mode, each key is pressed hundreds of times, after which it should continue to work.

And this is the service department. They repair and test devices for bugs. There is no perfect electronics. In the service, sterile cleanliness is no longer mandatory. Employees work in ordinary clothes.