LOS ANGELES--If you want to keep making products in Orange County, there’s really only one way to make money doing so: automate.

The ability to cut down on labor hours by using automation equipment, software and robots long has been the ideal for factories. For most local manufacturing operations, it’s been the only way they could stay here and compete with cheaper production in Asia.

But now with the price of oil driving shipping costs higher and the weak dollar hitting imports, some companies who chose to move their factories to Asia are looking at automation as a substitute for Asian production and as a way to bring operations back here.MORE

If you want to keep making products in Orange County, there’s really only one way to make money doing so: automate.

The ability to cut down on labor hours by using automation equipment, software and robots long has been the ideal for factories. For most local manufacturing operations, it’s been the only way they could stay here and compete with cheaper production in Asia.

But now with the price of oil driving shipping costs higher and the weak dollar hitting imports, some companies who chose to move their factories to Asia are looking at automation as a substitute for Asian production and as a way to bring operations back here.MORE