If you built a real factory, you’d basically never want it to be dark. You’d want a culture of getting wrenches out to inspect the cars being built. You’d want to care about small details. Not because we need to build cars by hand. But because looking at the real product (cars, code, etc) is the best way to make the factory better. It’s the best way to know what problems aren’t being measured, what processes need to improve, and how automation can produce a better end product.

https://softwaredoug.com/blog/2026/07/09/write-code.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_out_(manufacturing)

> Xiaomi has an 860,000 square foot factory in Changping, Beijing capable of manufacturing 10 million smartphones a year across 11 fully automated production lines.

> ASE Group, a Taiwanese company that handles outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing have 56 lights out factories.

It has always been the goal to make factories go dark.

> If you built a real factory, you’d basically never want it to be dark

This statement seems to be factually untrue as the fully automated factories in China are indeed not illuminated for most of the time

In USA/Europe we just don't have that level of automation

don't forget the andon cord