GM's CEO Roger Smith Thought Toyota Had Magic,

Thanks to this post by Bruce Hamilton (aka "Toast Guy" or "Old Lean Dude"), I was reminded of the old General Motors effort, spearheaded by then-CEO Roger Smith (of "Roger&Me" fame), to fully automate car factories. Their concept was the "lights-out factory" that could run without people (other than a security guard).GM invested $90 BILLION dollars over 10 years in this quixotic (if not foolhardy) quest. The robots often famously painted each other instead of painting cars, as described in this book: http://leanblog.org/audio148