TOKYO/BANGKOK -- Surging wages in Southeast Asia have local manufacturers increasingly seeking relief in the form of factory automation. The trend has industrial robot makers rubbing their hands together in anticipation that the region will follow in China's footsteps to become a major market.
Major global players are not wasting any time in leveraging the opportunity. Last year, for example, Swiss automation technology company ABB established an exhibition site in Bangkok, and Kuka of Germany and Japan's Yaskawa Electric are building sales networks in Thailand and Vietnam.
