Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a interview of Elon Musk with MKBHD. He was precisely referring to this as being one of the issues when they were trying to automate the pipeline. The machines just couldn't plug a loose tube in its place. Maybe they should have consulted with Sony.
Tesla tried it because the technology was mostly ready back then. The difference is a PlayStation has vastly fewer cables, far simpler routing, and problems can more easily be fixed. People can physically pick up a PlayStation diagnosis the problem and then put it back, try to do that with a car.
Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
111–120 of 284 posts
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that a quirk of the 'pro' version? I have read many complaints online of people calling the PS4 noisy. I have a PS4 slim, and it is very quiet, the optical drive is by far the loudest part of the machine.
The later Pros supposedly have revisions to make them less loud
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a feeling that automation slowed down in many sectors when China came "online". I think this cycle is coming to an end, and there is no comparable pool of labour anywhere in the world so that fully automated factories are going to be the next step (that wasn't technically possible in the early 90s but I think we now have the technology or very close to).
" there is no comparable pool of labour anywhere in the world " -> this is not fully true, as when wages in China started to rise, lots of labor offshoring moved to SE Asia (e.g. Vietnam) and there's still a lot of potential for the same to happen in various African countries.
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#114A "lights out" factory needs a really expensive, complex widget to make, but one which doesn't vary, or change over time much.
Game consoles are exactly like: long product life times, and can be engineered specifically with automated lines in mind, without compromises.
Robotic factories are by no means a final solution for manufacturing.
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it’s in part due to the pressure thresholds to put cables in, as too little pressure means the cable isn’t connected but too much could damage either the cable or thing it’s attaching to.
Also chips are rigid bodies, while tape & ribbon is flexible and can push back and fold in unpredictable ways.
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really. A dot of hot glue to hold a cable down must be easier.
The PS4 officially supports replacing the internal hard drive, and that's not even getting into the question of repairs
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it’s in part due to the pressure thresholds to put cables in, as too little pressure means the cable isn’t connected but too much could damage either the cable or thing it’s attaching to.
Also chips are rigid bodies, while tape & ribbon is flexible and can push back and fold in unpredictable ways.
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#118If you enjoy that you will probably also enjoy the fully-automated Valve Steam Controller assembly line (including video)[0]. [0]: https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/11/9890914/valves-steam-con...
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#119This looks so amazing and I wasn't aware that Playstations are still manufactured in Sony's home country itself. I guess automation helps in keeping the manufacturing cost low. Now I am intrigued about what high selling electronic devices are manufactured in their home country itself and not by the ODMs/CMs in countries with cheap labour like China.
To me it's almost more surprising that with that high degree of automation they are not splitting the factory up into smaller ones and building them per-continent.
Shipping stuff is pretty cheap, but distributing the supply chain and creating multiple factories making the same product is incredibly expensive.
Let's say you have a hard drive supplier. Now rather than the supplier shipping to 1 factory, there are 5. Freight rates are going to be higher because you have a lower volume. Increased demand on one continent means you need the right balance of material going to that factory rather than simply upping the order for your single factory. Incorrect sales forecasts now mean you have inventory in Europe but need it in the US. You either need to pay to move it, try to get your suppliers to reroute things (always for a fee), or build finished units and ship them to the US, potentially facing higher tariffs than shipping in components [1]. Inventory costs are higher while you figure this all out, and you have increased logistics costs.
You're paying a (bigger) team of people to manage this, and expediting shipments as needed (likely at 3-10x normal cost depending on how expedited, market demand for shipping, etc).
Then there's product consistency. Even if you order identical equipment and keep all the same suppliers, you'll have different issues at each facility. Sharing best practices around the world is challengings and frequently done poorly. [2]
Then you have tariffs and government regulations. If you were 0.25% of GDP for a country, you can go to the government and lobby harder than if you're 0.05% of GDP in 5 different countries. [3]
-- [1] https://hts.usitc.gov/current offers some light trading if you want to find tariffs for the US. They're incredibly detailed, and the smallest difference could change from a 2% tariff to 60%.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax is also interesting.
[2] I know of a distributed manufacturing setup where two "identical" factories have significantly different quality outputs. The best rationale they've come up with is a difference in altitude and climate.
Corporations who have distributed manufacturing like this often have a corporate team who travel between locations checking how well locations are adhering to the company defined best practices.
[3] Definitely don't discount this step! I've worked for 4 manufacturers professionally, and I know for a fact 3 of them have pushed for tariffs and exemptions from regulations. #4 likely did too, but I don't have a specific example in mind. In each case, the difference in profits were 7 or 8 digits long.
Re: Playstation's secret weapon: a nearly all-automated factory
#120If you enjoy that you will probably also enjoy the fully-automated Valve Steam Controller assembly line (including video)[0]. [0]: https://www.theverge.com/2015/12/11/9890914/valves-steam-con...
that assembly line looked better than the controller.
Anyone thinking they should always use a steam controller over a 360 controller for pure controller didn't understand the point of it.