See also index and open telephony
Regarding privacy we have the challenge to achieve double fairness (for customers):
- Make sure our privacy is treated fairly
- make sure everybody involved in the production is treated fairly.
For production our duties on fairness are multi-fold:
- deliver information on supply chains and working conditions. With transparency lots of little steps to improve the supply chains become visible.
- request information from producers and vendors about supplied hardware including
- information on origin of used resources
- details about assembly lines, shifts and working conditions in general
- (re)publish information on working conditions
- 1 campaigns
- 2 products with efforts on transparent supply chains
- 3 articles on labour conditions
campaigns¶
- Products that make us feel good - yes please (petition, publications, gallery: mining indonesia)
- Where does the gold in your phone come from?
products with efforts on transparent supply chains¶
Nager IT¶
fair computer mouse
Sebastian Beschke
I mainly wanted to announce that we (at FIfF 1) have just started to
develop a tool for NagerIT 2 whose aim is to display and edit their
supply chain in an easily accessible way. Nothing to see yet, but it
will be a JavaScript tool replacing this PDF:
www.nager-it.de/static/pdf/en_lieferket...
“Nager” means “rodent” in German and Nager IT is a company that created some buzz in Germany by offering a partly fair computer mouse. Partly fair is – although precise – some understatement because they tried hard to purchase all parts fair but
have encountered major difficulties for some. Before they will have their international break-through among well-meaning fair trade
enthusiasts they will probably have to change their name to a less offensive one.
Fairphone¶
fair in the sense of conflict free minerals and working conditions
Already Fairphone have announced going towards fair gold. Conflict minerals are most probably avoided by Apple and Samsung by buying from Australian miners. Fairphone is going another path because the Dodd-Frank act and its enforcement by the SEC have let to a quasi embargo of all miners in Congo and not only the mines controlled by war lords. Fairphone is working closely with NGOs that help conflict-free miners of Congo to improve their conditions. Although they cannot exclude child labor completely that looks like a good step towards transforming the supply-chain of mobile phones into a humane community.
The effect of Fairphone’s workers’ welfare fund, which is supposed to somewhat empower employees even in spite of the difficult situation in China wrt. labour unions, has yet to be determined.
It can be doubted that Apple is making similar efforts.
GTA04¶
open hardware mobile phone openphoenux.org
Nikolaus Schaller (goldendelicious): So I think it is a really good idea, but it is almost impossible to trace down the full supply chain (unless big market forces or regulation requires manufacturers to provide this information, e.g. something like ROHS and REACH). Anyways, if we find volunteers who want to manage/update/maintain such a supply chain tree I can try to provide some background information.
- Here is a BOM list of the GTA04A4 board: GTA04A4-BOM.xls - 31.23 kB
- For the A5 board there isn’t one since it is not yet in production and some things will definitively change.
- For some chips we know that they are manufactured in Malaisia, for others we know (from export declaration documents) that they have apparently been assembled (the last production step) in Yemen. But that may even change for the next batch of components we receive.
- Another example: the backup battery for the RTC is no longer a LiIon type as in the GTA01/02 but a mechanically compatible supercap But I have no idea how we get more information how this capacitor is produced and where and by whom. And who provides the raw materials.
- for many components (almost all Si chips) there is no alternative. I.e. we have to take what Texas Instruments and Micron are delivering to us. And they won’t change any process or their supply management because we ask for it…
The complicated supply chain in the electronics business makes it a real challenge. The problem is usually not the first level (parts). It is just a question to ask where they get e.g. the capacitors or Si-Chips from. Then we know or learn they come from Vishay, Epcos, TDK, Taiyo Yuden, Murata, TI, Micron, Silicon Labs etc. and some other big brands. But the next step becomes difficult to find out where those get their materials from.
Basically we have two topics that we already can control:
- where we produce: For the GTA04A4 boards have been assembled in Munich (near “Ostbahnhof”) and the plan for the GTA04A5 is to do it in Oberhaching (the same facility where the OpenPandora is produced). So we know the people and the machines. And that they use ROHS production and are required to follow German working safety regulations with hazardous materials (e.g. solder paste, flux) and others (daily work time, social security etc.).
- which type of components we use: we know (but did not spread the word) that we only us ceramic capacitors and don’t use a single Tantalum capacitor which is always mentioned with the Fairphone. So we can’t even say that we look where the Tantalum is coming from, because we have none inside.
producers¶
| Company | Component | Factories | Working conditions | Resource origins | contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acron | speaker | mission | |||
| Bosch Sensortec | MEMS | ||||
| Comchip | |||||
| ECS Inc. | |||||
| Fairchild | |||||
| Johansson | |||||
| Harvatek | |||||
| Hirose | |||||
| Honeywell | |||||
| Fairchild | |||||
| Invensense | motion sensors | ||||
| KYCON/Amphenol | |||||
| Linx/Connector City | |||||
| LittleFuse | “more than 30 sales, manufacturing and engineering facilities and a global network of distribution channels.” | 8755 West Higgins Road Suite 500, Chicago, IL, 60631 USA, 773-628-1000 | |||
| Micron | flash | ||||
| Molex | |||||
| Murata | |||||
| NEC | display | ||||
| NXP | |||||
| OPTION | |||||
| Panasonic | |||||
| Pericom | |||||
| Projects Unlimited | |||||
| SMSC | |||||
| STMicro | |||||
| Taiyo Yuden | |||||
| TDK | |||||
| TI | |||||
| Toshiba | |||||
| Vishay | |||||
| Wi2Wi | |||||
| Zetex (Diodes Incorporated) | diodes and transistors | Waterhead (Oldham/UK), Gem Mill and Lansdowne Road |
Acron¶
In order to increase the production capacity and offer the most competitive prices, Acron has established two factories in Dongguan, China, focusing on tooling design, plastic injection, pinning and assembly.
- Company Name: Acron Precision Industrial Co., Ltd.
- Business Owner: Mr. Tsan-lan Ou Yang
- Employees: Above 1000 People
- Main markets: North America South America Eastern Europe Southeast Asia Mid East Eastern Asia Western Europe
- Business Type: Manufacturer, Trading Company, Distributor/Wholesaler
- Product/Service: Sim card connector,Battery connector,RJ45 with Lan transformer,Pogo Pin,RF connector,USB connector,SATA connector,PROBE PIN,Pin header,Mini PCI Express,RF cable assembly,RJ45 modular jack
- Contact Person: Mr. Jack Po Hsiung Fan
- Zip Code: 33452
- Website: www.acron.com.tw
- Address: No. 55, Sinsing Rd., Bade City, Taoyuan County, Taiwan
- Telephone: 886-3-3629889-110
- Fax: 886-3-3664917
Acron, a leading Russian and global mineral fertilizer producer, will spend US$400 million by 2015 to build an ammonia plant with a 700,000 tpa capacity at its main production site in Velikiy Novgorod after opening on March 31 a US$95 million urea factory that can process 335,000 tons, boosting capacity almost 75 percent. Acron, which is controlled by Russian billionaire Viatcheslav Kantor, has a diversified product portfolio consisting of multi-nutrient fertilizers such as NPK and bulk blends, and straight nitrogen-based products such as urea, ammonium nitrate and UAN.
Acron has three production facilities – Acron (Veliky Novgorod, Russia), Dorogobuzh (Smolensk Region, Russia) and Hongri Acron (Shandong Province, China). Acron’s logistics and transportation capabilities include its own fleet of railway cars and three sea port trans-shipment facilities on the Baltic Sea – at the Kaliningrad port of Russia, at the Estonian Sillamäe port and at the Estonian Muuga port. The Group operates distribution networks in Russia and China.
Acron plans to enhance its vertical integration and secure supplies of phosphate and potash inputs through the development of its own mineral resource base. The Group owns licences to develop two apatite-nepheline ore deposits in the Murmansk region and a potassium-magnesium salts deposit in the Perm region (both located in Russia). Russia: Acron Expands Nitrogen Capacities
Fertiliser and chemical transport company Acron-Trans is taking delivery of 400 mineral fertiliser hopper wagons ordered from United Wagon Co’s leasing business
Bosch¶
Bosch Sensortec is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH, the leader in automotive MEMS sensors. Bosch Sensortec offers micromechanical inertial and pressure sensors especially designed for consumer electronics applications. The company was founded in early 2005 and is headquartered near Reutlingen to the south of Stuttgart (Germany) with regional offices in the US, Japan, Korea and China.
The product portfolio of the company includes triaxial geomagnetic and acceleration sensors, triaxial gyroscopes, barometric pressure sensors and a broad range of software solutions for various applications. It develops and markets micro-mechanical sensors for mobile phones, consumer electronics, safety systems, industrial technology and logistics. The company’s products also find application in toys and gaming, sports and outdoor activities, security, health, and logistics sectors.
MEMS Conference Session Speakers: Frank Melzer, Ph.D., General Manager and CEO of Bosch Sensortec
Headquarters
Postfach 106050, 70049 Stuttgart,Germany
Bosch Sensortec GmbH
Gerhard-Kindler-Straße 8
72770 Reutlingen / Kusterdingen
Phone: +49 7121 35 35900
Fax: +49 7121 35 35909
Bosch Sensortec in Dresden
Development Office
Königsbrücker Strasse 180
Gebäude 48
01099 Dresden
Bosch Sensortec in Munich
Development Office
Truderinger Str.191
81673 München
Bosch Sensortec in USA
Bosch Sensortec, Claus Stetter
Palo Alto, CA, USA
94303, 2400 Geng Road – Ste. 200
Phone: +1 650 690 9264
Regional Sales Office Midwest , Afzal Saeed
Mount Prospect, IL, USA
60056, 1800 W. Central Road
Phone: +1 224 232-2348
Asien
Bosch Sensortec in Taiwan
Bosch Sensortec, Peter Hsieh
Sec 1, Taipei, Taiwan
10491 6F, No. 90, Jian Guo North Road
Phone: +886 2 77349599
Fax: +88 6 2 2515 0693
Bosch Sensortec in Korea
Bosch Sensortec Korea, Sooho Kim
Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
446-913 298, Bojeong-dong, Giheung-gu
Phone: +82 31 260 3478
Fax: +82 31 260 3429
Bosch Sensortec in China
Bosch Sensortec, Lily Tan
Changning District Shanghai, P.R. China
200335 333 Fuquan Road North, IBP
Tel: +86-21-2218-5251
Fax: +86-21-2218-2387
Bosch Sensortec in Japan
Bosch Corporation, Tetsuya Hirai
150-8360 3-6-7, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku
Phone: +81 3 5485 6964
Fax: +81 3 5485 4166
tetsuya.hirai@jp.bosch.com
Comchip¶
vendors¶
| Distributor | Branch | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| DigiKey | ||
| Avnet | ||
| Mouser | ||
| Invensense USA | ||
| RS-Components | ||
| Telegärtner | ||
| Farnell | ||
| Macnica | ||
| Silica (Avnet) |
articles on labour conditions¶
Apple¶
english
- iSlaves – Workers’ Struggles at Foxconn
- 23.12.2013 Six areas where Apple and Foxconn failed to fulfil their promises:
- Sep 11, 2012 The Undercover Report on How the New iPhone 5 is Made Inside Foxconn Factory, 9,481 views
german: faire-computer.de blog twitter
- 17. Dezember 2013 Foxconn-Türkei: „Sie behandeln uns wie Roboter“
- 21. November 2013 Schuldknechtschaft bei Apple-Zulieferer Flextronics
- 25.09.2012 Foxconn-Fabrik produziert wieder (taz) 5.000 Polizisten gegen 2.000 Foxconn-Arbeiter. Kurz nach den gewaltsamen Protesten wird beim chinesischen Apple-Produzenten die Produktion wieder aufgenommen.
- 24.09.2012 "Made in China" kann auch bedeuten "im Gefängnis von Zwangsarbeitern gemacht" Immer mehr Produkte kommen aus China. Die Schweiz verhandelt im Moment als erstes europäisches Land über ein Freihandelsabkommen mit der Volksrepublik. Dabei sollten eigentlich Menschenrechte einen wichtigen Stellenwert haben. Bundesrat Johann Schneider Ammann liess jedoch verlauten, dass es wohl keinen Menschenrechtspassus im Abkommen geben werde. Immerhin, es wird über Menschenrechte diskutiert. Bekannt sind zum Beispiel die schlechten Arbeitsbedingungen unter denen viele Fabrikarbeitende leiden. Weniger bekannt ist, dass viele Produkte Made in China unter Zwang in Gefängnissen hergestellt wurden. Benedikt Bachmann hat mit einem ehemaligen Gefangenen gesprochen. mp3
- 12.09.2012 Wallraff des iphone - Journalist berichtet undercover über Foxconn (spiegel)
- iSlaves – Ausbeutung und Widerstand in Chinas Foxconn-Fabriken (book)
Preis- und Kostenrecherche zum iPhone5 (Quelle: handelsblatt vom 20.9.2012, S. 20):
- nach einem Marktforscher Isuppli kostet das neueste Topmodell 849$
- Produktionskosten sind 238$ (also der Rohertrag 72 % – davon sind zu bezahlen Forschung und Entwicklung und Marketing – und der Rest ist der Profit für Apple)
- Die Produktionskosten teilen sich in 230$ Materialkosten und Kosten für den Zusammenbau von 8 $. Wieviel Foxconn davon als Lohnkosten ausgibt, ist nicht bekannt.
- Bei dem billigsten Modell sind die Materialkosten 199$, Kosten für Montage auch 8$.
Apple ist damit weitaus profitträchtiger als seine Konkurrenten, weil die hohen Preise ohne Probleme “vom Markt” akzeptiert werden.
