Special issue on present and future of production in Asia Pacific countries This special issue discusses the present and future of production in the Asia Pacific region, which drives the current world economy. When we classify the world into three regions, Europe and Africa, North and South America, and Asia and Pacific, each region occupies roughly one-third of Earth's land. However, the population is highly concentrated in the Asia Pacific region, which accounts for more than 60% of the overall global population. The region incorporates more than 60 countries, ranging in size from a large country with a population of more than 1.3 billion to a small country with a population of only 10,000, featuring varied economic levels and cultures. Based on the region's massive working population, production in the Asia Pacific region has led to economic growth, and the GDP share of this region has increased from 20% to 30% in the past 40 years, almost equalling that of the other regions. Economic growth is expected to continue, not only in this region but also in the other regions. Although the GDP share of this densely populated region is almost the same as that of the other regions, GDP per capita is still less than in the other regions, at about 40% of the level in the Europe and Africa region and about 20% of the level in the North and South America region. The economic power of the Asia Pacific region is still far different from that of the other regions. Therefore, to create a bright future, it is important to develop production systems that are based on the situation and features of the Asia Pacific region, consider the relationship with other regions, and lead to the acceleration of economic growth not only in the Asia Pacific region but also in other regions. Considering the above background, this special issue was planned for selecting and presenting interesting and meaningful research papers that deal with current and future production, not only just productions but also services, in the Asia Pacific region. Then, the special issue would like to propose a bright future of production research in which the three regions strive to co-create new values. The prepared call for papers by setting the deadline to submit on 30 September 2018 was announced through the web site of journal, and 49 papers have been submitted to this special issues. After the careful review of all the submitted papers, the following seven papers have been selected and included in this special issue.