Tom's Hardware Visits PCPartner In Dongguan, China
Have you ever wondered where your graphics card came from? There's a good chance it’s made by PCPartner in China. Zotac, PCPartner’s in-house brand, invited us on a tour of its factory in Dongguan, China, right after Computex, and we couldn't pass it up.
Boxing The Box
Again, the final step in the process is packaging and preparation for shipping. From here, the HTPCs go to stores and, finally, the customer.
Impressions, Part I
We’ve shown you a lot of close-ups focusing on the assembly process. However, those don’t do the scope of PCPartner’s operation justice. Here’s a look at a typical production line for Zboxes.
Impressions, Part II
And this is a broader view of the area where that passive GeForce GT 520 was put together. Note that not all production lines crank out Zotac cards. For example, take a look at those suspiciously unmarked boxes.
Life On The Zotac Campus, Part I
As our tour was wrapping up, the on-duty shift took a lunch break. Here’s a shot of the first employees leaving the cafeteria.
Life On The Zotac Campus, Part II
This is what the PCPartner campus looks like, and it’s pretty much a self-contained town. The plant counts about 6000 workers, most of whom live on campus (without their families) in apartments like the ones you see in the background. There are three shifts that each last for eight hours, with the average normal wage coming in at about 2000 RMB, or roughly 309 bucks. However, most workers actually ask for a ten-hour workday so they can claim overtime and earn a little more to support their families. We were told that if PCPartner didn’t let them work overtime, most would actually quit and look for other employment. Here, people are actually asking for a 50-hour work week.
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soccerdocks Get rid of the "read more" button and just make the text appear all the time and I'll consider actually reading this article.Reply -
jestersage It's pretty fair wage over here (not exactly in Dongguan) especially if you are single. For comparison, thing of $2 Big Macs. I figure those on campus can write off rent, electricity and water (yes, we pay for tap) from their monthly bills as well.Reply -
steelbox "We were told that if PCPartner didn’t let them work overtime, most would actually quit and look for other employment."Reply
Right... let me correct that.
"We were told that if the employee didn’t accept working overtime, most would actually be fired and forced to look for other employment."