Japan's wary manufacturers resist Abe's call to spend

Kusatsu

HIROTOSHI Ogura, a self-described "factory geek", is Daikin Industries' master of doing more with less - and part of the reason Japan's recovery remains stuck in the slow lane.

As Japan heads into the season of peak demand for room air-conditioners, Mr Ogura and other Daikin managers have been tasked with figuring out how to boost output by some 20 per cent at a plant in western Japan that six years ago the company had almost given up on as unprofitable.