In recent years U.S. companies have conceded one homegrown industry after another to more aggressive and competitive foreign rivals. First came cameras, then televisions, tape recorders, stereo equipment and semiconductors. Last week Cincinnati Milacron, the last independent U.S. producer of heavy industrial robots, agreed to sell the business to a subsidiary of Switzerland's Asea Brown Boveri.
Milacron is retreating from the $4 billion market after 13 years because its share of the business has dwindled from a commanding 75% to just 10%, and its losses from robotics have been mounting since the mid-1980s. The company will concentrate on its traditional lines...
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