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THE WHOLE HUAWEI PICTURE

Author
glennzb,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Jul 2018, 9:03PM

THE WHOLE HUAWEI PICTURE

Author
glennzb,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Jul 2018, 9:03PM

Of all the impressive, crazy and just plain confounding buildings we'd seen, or were about to see, this was perhaps the least inspiring... from the outside.

 

A large, but inconspicuous croncrete rectangle, with few windows and an unremarkable door that opened out to the shade of a pleasant, tree-lined boulevard in the centre of the Huawei production campus in Dongguan.

 

 

We were ushered in, "Distinguished Guests from New Zealand," and began to climb stairs in the 34 degree Guangdong heat. "No elevators in this building," we were told. How ironic.

 

About halfway up to the third floor, there was a sign forbidding us from "Reading or Romping." Thankfully, I didn't have much romping planned but I immediately felt guilty for reading... the sign. There had been an earlier sign in the reception building a few hundred metres up the road; "Persevering the Lean Production." Again, the original meaning of this was not entirely clear - maybe it had something to do with not installing elevators in the building that manufactures millions of the world's most advanced smart phones.

 

Today we would witness how a Huawei P20 is transformed from a pile of parts to a fully assembled, tested and packaged device - but first we had to dress up.

 

No recording or filming equipment would be allowed on the factory floor and we had to don long lab coats, hats and special booties over our shoes to ensure we would not contaminate the production line. We then had to prove we weren't creating any static electricity which involved standing at a machine that passed or failed you when you pressed your thumbs to its sensors. I passed on my first attempt. Just saying.

 

Then, around the corner to behold not just one, but many production lines, creating many, many, many devices.

 

At first glance, it was actually kind of boring. Each line appeared to be made up of identical square boxes with windows in the front, all attached in a row, side by side. Closer inspection revealed a far more complicated and fascinating story; each of these boxes, connected by conveyor belt, represented a completely unique and highly sophisticated step in the phone-making process; from soldering tiny, near invisible components to the motherboard, to attaching screens, switches and casings. Till now, I'd never really considered just how many individual pieces make up the whole smart phone puzzle. It was daunting to consider all the steps in the design process that led to this point.

 

Later over lunch, I'd learn that of Huawei's 180,000 employees across the globe, about 40 percent of them work in Research and Development, not just coming up with clever things to put in phones either. Huawei's massive $11billion R&D budget meant a bunch of maths nerds in Russia could develop the algorithms that let 3G, 4G and 5G devices all communicate on the same network. I also learned you can serve sticky beef and World Cup cakes on the same plate...

 

 

...it was a very educational lunch.

 

Back on the production line half completed P20's weren't just being put together, they were being dropped, sprayed, switched on and off, plugged in and unplugged - each phone tested to within an inch of its life. I had no idea, I'd always assumed testing was carried out on a sample from each batch but no, here I was witnessing each unit being tested every which way, right before my very eyes.

 

Not just by machines and robots either. Our guide joked that while technically the production line could be fully automated, given human beings would be the end-users, it was important to include some in the process, especially when it comes to testing and quality control. This meant every 10 metres or so a real, live person was doing something very tricky, but very boring - like putting screen protectors in place for the next machine to seal them on. Of course, for us lazy Westerners, this did raise a few concerns over the working conditions.

 

How long are their shifts? How many hours do they have to stand there fiddling with phone parts? Turns out, an ordinary 8-hour day like most people - complete with breaks and half an hour for lunch. Behind us, a wall of "Employee of the Month" awards, featuring photos of Huawei team members posing in their best civvies - more often than not, posing hilariously, like movie stars, making the most of their month of fame.

 

As far as we could tell, this was no sweat shop - far from it. In fact the more we learned about Huawei, the more we learned this was no ordinary operation.

 

 

An almost mythical figure, Mr. Ren started it all off in 1987, but it wasn't until the early 2000's Huawei started making a name for itself outside China... and what a name. Just the $92billion USD world-wide profit last year thanks - quite a splash for less than two decades on the world stage. Now Huawei is everywhere, with over 74,000 patents to its name. They're more than just phones too - Huawei's enterprise projects range from nationwide mobile networks to ensuring stable and fast WiFi access for whole stadiums.

 

Huawei was even a presence at the recent Thai cave rescue. The newly developed mobile cell site fits into just a few suitcases - enabling quick world-wide access in even the most remote locations....

 

 

Smart lamp posts, remote controlled surgery, connected cows right here in New Zealand... the crazy ideas keep coming. Maybe it's all down the Mr. Ren, Huawei founder. He certainly has some interesting ideas of his own if his taste in architecture is anything to go by...

 

 

 

 

 

These are not European castles or the actual White House; they're just your every day, run-of-the-mill Huawei R&D facilities and offices. Like I say... no sweat shops in sight.

 

In fact, the company is 100% owned by its own staff who retire at just 45 - that'd put me out to pasture next year! I kind of like the sound of that.

 

Huawei seems determined to surprise... here in New Zealand, Huawei phones were the first to offer a fully Te Reo operating system, they've funded major research projects and scholarships - not to mention sponsoring the Play It Strange secondary school songwriting competition. Talk about expect the unexpected.

 

Back on the production line I realised I'd made a lot of assumptions, never expecting the scale, the green spaces, the sheer creativity involved in the Huawei operation. It's easy to take your phone for granted, but next time you click off that selfie, why not pause for a moment to appreciate what you're really holding in your hand?

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