Cook visits China again, executive colleagues: Made in China - stunning!

Just one month after the release of the latest iPhone 17, two Apple executives recently embarked on a visit to China.

Apple CEO Cook arrived in Shanghai on October 13th. It is reported that his trip in Shanghai is non-stop: Bubble Mart Exhibition Tour, Tiktok Apple Live Studio, Lilith Game Company, one of Apple's Chinese developers... Later, he will fly to Beijing. On the 14th, Apple announced a new donation to Tsinghua University to support the development of sustainable education in China.

And the itinerary of Apple's new Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan, who travels with him, revolves more around another important component of Apple's business in China: research and development and supply chain. As soon as he arrived in Shanghai, Sabih Khan visited Apple's Shanghai Application Research Laboratory for inspection. The next day, he also visited Apple's two supply chain enterprises in Jiangsu Province (hereinafter referred to as "fruit chain enterprises"): Ruisheng Technology in Changzhou and Lansi Technology in Taizhou, and visited their production lines related to iPhone17.

The reporter noticed that both fruit chain companies have long-term cooperation with Apple to develop some components of Apple products. AAC Technologies has been working with Apple for 17 years, initially providing microphones for Apple's Macbook. Nowadays, AAC Technologies provides various components such as acoustics, motors, and metal structural components for multiple product lines produced by Apple, including iPhone, Macbook, and Apple Watch. Lansi Technology has been cooperating with Apple for 19 years. This company, which started with glass production, initially provided glass panels for the first generation iPhone. With the expansion of its business, Lansi Technology is now also involved in multiple product lines such as Apple's iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro.

During the visit to two fruit chain enterprises, the reporter found that high automation, intelligence, and emphasis on sustainable development are common features of their production lines. Almost all processes on the ultra-thin uniform heating plate production line of Ruisheng Technology are completed by robotic arms, with only a few workers involved in the entire process. The magazine tooling jointly developed by Apple and AAC Technologies has been put into use on this production line, replacing traditional plastic pallets and significantly improving logistics efficiency while reducing plastic waste. In addition, the production line has also deployed an automated measurement system based on Mac mini hardware functions and machine learning large models, which has shortened testing time.

And on the production line of Lansi Technology, it is also 'robotic arms do everything'. Outside the production area, real-time AI scheduling, production area layout, and the operational status of each machine are all fully visible. It is reported that the company is about to launch a research and development center in Kunshan, mainly serving Apple's production, and will conduct research in the fields of metal material application, processing, small component module design, terminal product assembly, and new technologies.

These two companies are just a part of Apple's supply chain in China, with 80% of the top 200 supply chain companies announced by Apple having factories in China. The importance of China's supply chain is self-evident for Apple.

For over 30 years, I have visited China multiple times, and both in terms of technology and capabilities, Chinese manufacturing has made significant breakthroughs. Every time I come to China, I am amazed by China's production and manufacturing capabilities, as well as its spirit of daring to think and do, which has left a deep impression on me. "During the trip, Sabih Khan told reporters.

At the China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "Chain Expo") hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Apple was also a "full-time student", clocking in for three consecutive Chain Expo sessions, and every time it participated, it appeared together with multiple fruit chain enterprises, making its supply chain capabilities in China the core content of the exhibition. Apple CEO Cook personally attended the second Chain Expo in November 2024 and highly praised the significance of China's supply chain to Apple. For Apple's supply chain, there is no place more important than China, "Cook said.

The reporter noticed that the leaders of the two companies visited mentioned that the relationship between Apple and fruit chain enterprises in China is not only a traditional upstream and downstream enterprise in the supply chain, but has also become a partner for "common growth". Apple's high requirements for products have driven both companies to continuously innovate and make progress in the field of intelligent manufacturing.

We have participated in the development of every generation of iPhone models starting from iPhone 4, and have collaborated with Apple's main product lines. We have 9 R&D and manufacturing bases in China with a total investment of approximately 1.5 billion US dollars. Together with Apple, we have developed cross era projects such as ultra-thin heat plates, high-efficiency micro speakers, and high-performance touch motors. Among them, the ultra-thin heat spreader has been applied to Apple's latest iPhone 17. ”Ruisheng Technology Chairman Pan Zhengmin said.

LanSi Technology Chairman Zhou Qunfei stated that the concepts of product quality, material technology innovation, and user experience that Apple values are also highly valued by the company. In the process of cooperation with Apple, LanSi has successfully put these concepts into production and made significant progress in equipment innovation, material innovation, process optimization, and scientific layout.

In the current trend of green development, Apple and fruit chain enterprises in China are also accelerating their transformation together. The relevant person in charge of Apple stated that Apple is working with its supplier partners to promote the practice of 100% renewable energy transformation and accelerate the achievement of the company's 2030 sustainable development goals.

The two companies visited by Sabih Khan this time are also participants in Apple's renewable energy transformation practice. Ruisheng Technology has joined Apple's supplier clean energy project, zero waste project, and clean water project, actively adopting a variety of recycled materials, such as using 100% recycled copper materials in the production line. Lansi Technology also uses renewable energy in all products produced for Apple, with a water recovery rate of over 80% in the anode process, and the aluminum shavings produced are recycled and reused.

Apple is one of the important leaders in green manufacturing, and BlueThink Technology is a supporter and implementer of green manufacturing. Under Apple's leadership, the concept of green environmental protection has been implemented in our daily production at BlueThink, inspiring us to continue to increase development investment in the field of environmental protection and develop together with nature, "said Zhou Qunfei.

In addition, Apple also provides education and training resources for fruit chain enterprises through a series of training programs under the framework of the Supplier Employee Development Fund. The two fruit chain companies visited this time have participated in multiple training programs launched by Apple, including industrial robots, automation technician training, line leader programs, apprenticeship programs, personal leadership, and education and development for disabled employees. Both companies' participating employees stated that through the training, they have become more adaptable to automated production modes and improved work efficiency. After receiving training, many employees became internal trainers within the company, teaching their knowledge to more colleagues and further improving the automation level of the enterprise.

Without our Chinese partners, Apple would not have achieved what it is today, "Cook said at the second Chain Expo. Through years of accumulation in China, the relationship between Apple and fruit chain enterprises in China has gone beyond the traditional "upstream and downstream" relationship. Through continuous investment in intelligence, greenness, and talent, Apple and its Chinese partners have worked together to upgrade, achieving both product and mutual success.

Source: China Trade News