Instead, the PGMs could be underpinned by the restarting of auto production in Japan after it was taken mostly off-line following the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.
It is hard to overstate how revolutionary that rope and Andon board were for the auto industry: Allowing a mere blue-collar worker to stop the line would have been heresy in Detroit a few decades ago, as managers were more concerned about keeping up volume than quality.
And thankfully, because of that conviction, today the auto industry is back, and new cars are rolling off the line at proud American companies like GM -- today.