Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Smart Factory Phase II officially started construction today in Beijing's Changping District, its latest effort to automate production since its "Black Light Factory" debut last August.
Covering an area of 58,300 square meters, the factory will include the second generation of cell phone intelligent production line with SMT placement, board testing, assembly, complete machine testing, and finished product packaging.
Compared to the Phase I plant in Yizhuang, Beijing, the Phase II plant has a 10-fold increase in production capacity and is expected to produce 10 million smartphones annually, with an output value of approximately RMB 60 billion ($9.3trillion).
The project took only 84 days to complete the preliminary process, and the company started construction as soon as it was granted land use rights, said Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO.
The Phase 1 project is for R&D, Phase 2 is for mass production, according to the company.
The company's new processes, materials, advanced equipment, automated production lines and digital systems developed in Phase I will be deployed on a large scale in the Phase II factory after repeated validation.
In August last year, the Xiaomi Smart Factory, known as the "Black Light Factory", was unveiled, and most of the work was done by intelligent machines. It can run 24 hours a day and can produce thousands of high-end phones a day.
Lei said in May this year that Xiaomi is building the second phase of the smart factory, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Lei Jun: Xiaomi is building the next generation fully automated factory
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