Nikkei Business reports on Komatsu’s “nearly unmanned” factory, with work time cut 90%

On September 24, 2026, Nikkei Business Digital reported on Komatsu’s efforts in factory operations. The article says the effort includes a 90% reduction in work time.

As this is a report on Komatsu’s factory operations, how to advance labor savings and digitization in manufacturing is a point of interest. In particular, viewed alongside this newspaper’s related coverage of collecting training data for physical AI, the question appears to be whether factories themselves will be designed as sources of data.

This report shows how Nikkei Business Digital covered efforts involving Komatsu’s manufacturing sites. The headline points to a context in which factory operating time itself is being sharply compressed, rather than merely reducing staffing, but the specifics cannot be established without reading the full article. A related article in this newspaper reported that the government, DMG Mori Seiki and Komatsu, among others, are moving toward cooperation on collecting training data for physical AI (Nikkei Shimbun reports that government, DMG Mori Seiki and Komatsu will cooperate on physical AI data collection). Viewed in the same context, preparing training data and automating worksites may not be separate issues; how manufacturing equipment is operated and how data is collected may need to be considered together. However, it is necessary to check the original report for details on how much it covers actual equipment upgrades or operational changes. Structurally, a key question appears to be whether discussion will progress from data collection linking factory machines to operating plans, process automation and maintenance. For heavy equipment and manufacturing companies such as Komatsu, how far real-world operating data can be standardized and which processes can be shifted away from human labor directly affect competitiveness. However, the headline alone does not identify the processes or equipment involved, the scope of implementation or the definition of the performance metric. Those points need to be checked against the original report.

In Japan, the issue may relate to how operating data from manufacturing equipment can be standardized and linked to automation on the factory floor. However, this report alone does not clarify the processes involved or the scope of standardization, limiting its direct implications for domestic industry.