Let's not sugarcoat this. The world's manufacturing base is at war with COVID-19 and its destructive, disruptive effects on everything from supply chains to daily production levels and, ultimately, the health of everyone. Getting ahead of this curve will require a much more aggressive approach to using data.

Robots and other automation technologies have greatly increased productivity in today's factories. However, they still have one major limitation: They require people to tell them what to do.

TOKYO—Kawasaki Heavy Industries has unveiled a new collaborative robot that uses artificial intelligence to copy the expert motions of people.

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI—Fanuc, one of the world’s largest makers of industrial robots, is working with Nvidia, a Silicon Valley chipmaker that specializes in artificial intelligence, to add learning capabilities to its products.