Asia's aging manufacturers must innovate

Many of the industries that laid the bedrock for economic success in Asia in the 1970s and 1980s now face the same pressures as their older rivals in the West. Whether it is auto parts, machine tools or transport, they are seeing margins squeezed as demand stagnates or shrinks while technological change advances. Although Asia is still growing faster than Europe and North America, that growth is now benefiting new industries.