Toyota to deploy advanced robots to fill labor shortages

TOKYO January 6, 2005; Japan Today reported that Toyota Motor Corp is planning to introduce multitasking high-function industrial robots at its 12 domestic factories to cope with a labor shortage, a Japanese economic daily reported Thursday.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that Toyota hopes that the new robots, developed with Yaskawa Electric Corp, will produce vehicles as efficiently as or better than human workers, the report said, adding it currently uses 3,000 to 4,000 conventional industrial robots at its domestic factories. (Kyodo News)