Turning to automation to offset manpower shortages and rising labor costs is nothing new. But precision electric motor maker Nidec is going at it full speed.
The Japanese company is increasingly relying on smart manufacturing -- processes that utilize robotics, artificial intelligence and other automation technologies -- to power its Asian production bases. This shift toward automation has dramatically reduced its factory workforce in the region, from some 80,000 at the end of March 2017 to 48,000 at the end of June.
