Surely on more than one occasion, you have wondered how long it takes a mobile manufacturer to have a device ready to be sent to stores. If so, you have come to the right place, since we have been able to visit the Vivo factory in China and, in this way, we have data on what this company is capable of generating, which, we remember, has recently presented the powerful X200 Pro with its high-quality camera.
The complex we visited, which is located near the southern coast of the Asian giant, surprised me from the first moment. The reason is that it is a place where no less than 8,000 people are working. A large number of personnel are in charge of everything related to the assembly and inspection of equipment (in the place we are talking about, exclusively mobile phones). And, in addition to how perfectly organized everything is – including autonomous robots that go from
one side to the other solving different demands – the machinery of the factory works like a glove so that, every 11.4 seconds, a new mobile phone enters one of the 69 production lines in the factory we visited.
An Incredible Number of Mobile Phones are Manufactured Every Day
Well, the numbers they gave us are quite spectacular (it should be noted that both vivo and iQOO devices are manufactured, a brand under the company’s umbrella). The fact is that the brand is capable of generating 6,400 units per day, an impressive amount that aims to meet sales demands, which are very high worldwide because the brand is regularly among the five largest global manufacturers.
More or less, we are talking about a mobile phone being on a production line for 10 minutes – without adding the time spent going from one to another for its finishing. And how is this achieved?
To a large extent, it is due to good organization, as we have mentioned before, and also to the fact that there is a very important automation process: no less than 70% of the work is done like this … But, as can be seen in the photos of the factory, the human factor is maintained for some processes – and even for the review of executions. Therefore, not everything is a machine.
The fact is that seeing what the work is like in the factory is impressive. The feeling of being small in the face of so much automation is evident, and it is somewhat surprising to see that everything is very, very controlled… which prevents assembly problems (of all the components, from the processor itself on the PCB to the screen). And this is important in terms of purchasing satisfaction.
By the way, the cleanliness is spectacular, and all visitors – like the one writing this – have to wear a coat, shoe protection and even a hat. Yes, looking like Nintendo’s Mario is a reality… and there are no photos of that.
We also Saw the Live Testing Process
This is another of the parts that we were able to visit in the factory in China. In this area of the complex, you have to go from one to the other by bus (this allows you to get an idea of the dimensions it has), the terminals that are manufactured are tested to see if they meet the requirements for sale. And, for example, here was the aforementioned X200 Pro being tortured.
Mobile phones are subjected to all kinds of tests. One example is that they are dropped from a height of 1.5 meters continuously. And, even, in a machine similar to a washing machine – but large – the equipment is put in to perform 22 turns per minute with repetitions of one hundred to check the durability of both the casing and the screen. All of this is subsequently checked by technicians at the end of each of the tests carried out.
A Large Number of Tests at the Vivo Factory
Other tests that we were able to see live are the following: subjecting the terminals to sudden changes in temperature (ranging from -40 to 60 degrees); pressure and torsion of the terminals with a force of up to 20 kilos… on the camera lens!
Vacuum machines are used to determine the level of corrosion that is generated; up to 1,000 USB cable connection cycles are carried out to check for possible deformation; and, of course, the water resistance is also checked … This is done with a cylindrical device that is very curious and can be seen in the photo below:
Water Resistance Test at Vivo Factory
Everything we say is constantly checked on all vivo models, and in this way, the brand can know very precisely if its manufacturing process is effective and meets the standards demanded by the market.
The truth is that it is striking to know how Asian companies like the one we are talking about have an enormous capacity to put terminals on the market and, perhaps, it is equally or more important to be clear that control tests are carried out which are vital … In other words, nothing is left to chance and that is good news.
