Robots Ride to the Rescue Where Workers Can't Be Found

Many are doing brisk business as companies around Eastern Europe accelerate an automation drive. At Rittal, a maker of switch gears and control cabinets for industrial robots, orders rose 15 percent last year and have jumped 25 percent since January. "Companies aren't able to produce more, so their competitiveness is falling," said Jaromir Zeleny, Rittal's managing director. "They don't want to be so dependent on people." Eastern Europe became a manufacturing powerhouse by luring multinationals with low wages. That advantage is ebbing, though.