The notion of making products close to where you sell them may be coming back into vogue among manufacturers worldwide, but it’s nothing new to Japanese tractor manufacturer Kubota. The company started manufacturing here in 1988, and it has continued to invest heavily in its U.S. presence ever since.

Multistation automated assembly systems are a wonder to behold. A well-designed system can mass-produce hundreds of assemblies per minute with minimal human intervention.

Manufacturers today are producing a wider range of products than ever. Life cycles are shrinking and demand for customization is increasing. As a result, assembly lines must be as flexible as possible without compromising efficiency. That’s why companies producing everything from pumps to pistols and caskets to chainsaws depend on mixed-model assembly.