Apple’s Automation Projects Didn’t Help Manufacturing

Along with iTunes and the Macintosh Portable, automated production lines have been consigned to the dustbin of Apple history.

Yesterday, The Information offered an inside look at Apple’s quest for assembly line automation. In 2012, the company formed a skunkworks robotics/automation lab in Sunnyvale, CA. A year later, Apple previewed a roboticized iPad assembly belt from supplier Foxconn.

Verdict: The bots didn’t cut it for Apple, and it disbanded the lab in 2018. Robots lacked the dexterity or flexibility to assemble Apple’s meticulously designed products. In 2014, for example, automated MacBook assembly caused more problems than it solved, creating “traffic jams” and forcing humans to step in and fix the mistakes.

• Automation projects did find success in one area: quality assurance.
• The robots weren’t allowed anywhere near the iPhone, Apple’s favorite child.

The lesson: Though robots typically thrive in manufacturing environments, over-automation can cost companies. Even Tesla has struggled with over-automation in the Model 3 assembly line.