A Dark, Empty Factory Running 24 Hours a Day: The Reason Behind It [Tech Talk]

Last July, Xiaomi announced the establishment of a next-generation smart factory in the Changping area of China. While highly automated smart factories have become commonplace, Xiaomi's factory attracted global attention for one unique feature. It was a 'Dark Factory' without any lighting.

Dark factory assembly line [Image source: Xiaomi YouTube capture]

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Xiaomi's Changping Dark Factory is a facility that produces flagship smartphones. The reason it is called a Dark Factory is simply because there are no lights inside. This factory is Xiaomi's first to achieve nearly 100% automation across all production lines, meaning no human workers are involved. Since there is no need for human eyes, naturally, no lighting is required.

When people think of a 'factory,' the typical icon is a structure with a triangular, pointed roof and chimneys. The distinctive factory roof was originally designed with skylights for workers. However, industrial facilities where robots replace humans do not require skylights or lighting.

In a brief video Xiaomi released showing the factory interior, only monitors and sensors flicker in the dark factory corridors. Drones transporting materials use radar and LiDAR systems to navigate, so there is no need to turn on lights.

Factory interior revealed by Xiaomi [Image source: Screenshot from Xiaomi YouTube]

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The Changping factory covers an area of 81,000 square meters (about 24,500 pyeong) and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. One weakness of automated systems is the reduced ability to respond when part of the production facility breaks down due to the lack of human intervention. Xiaomi claims to have solved this problem with 'machine collaboration' technology.

In other words, all production facilities in the factory are equipped with a certain level of artificial intelligence (AI) or Internet of Things (IoT) systems. This allows AI to immediately identify any issues in specific sections. Additionally, to minimize malfunctions of precision machinery, great care was taken to eliminate dust. The factory's construction cost was $330 million, representing a significant capital investment.

Despite the enormous capital expenditure, the Dark Factory has advantages over traditional human-centered or human-machine collaborative facilities. First, the production speed is faster. The Changping Dark Factory reportedly assembles one flagship smartphone every second. Most importantly, it minimizes waste generated during operation because there are no humans involved.

A scene from a job fair in China
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

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In fact, automated factories are not only introduced in electronics or automobile production lines. Nowadays, port facilities are also being automated with 'smart cranes' combining cameras, sensors, and AI, and even labor-intensive logistics centers are gradually adopting robots. Around the world, including Silicon Valley, there is fierce competition to develop 'humanoids' that can mimic human actions exactly.

The irony is that China, which is the most aggressive in adopting automated production technologies globally, is struggling with the problem of 'overproduction.'

Currently, Chinese-made steel, aluminum, electric vehicles, and solar panels are produced in quantities too large for the domestic market to absorb and are exported overseas. This has caused prices to plummet, creating tension with foreign companies. In April, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned during her visit to China that "China's production volume has exceeded what the world can handle."

As capital concentration in industrial production increases significantly, unemployment issues also appear to be growing. China's National Bureau of Statistics previously reported in July that the youth (ages 16?24) unemployment rate reached 17.1%. This figure was calculated after changing the statistical methodology; under the previous method, last year's rate was around 20%. At that time, Zhang Dandan, associate professor at the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, estimated that the actual youth unemployment rate in China could be as high as 46.5%, sparking controversy.

Ultimately, AI and automation act as a double-edged sword for the global economy. China, which aggressively adopted automated production, has achieved production efficiency that the U.S. might be wary of, but it now faces challenges such as deflation risks and absorbing surplus labor. Creating a path where technology and sustainability do not conflict is a future challenge for Chinese society.

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