Some of us have been watching manufacturing for a good long time and in the words of the great Yogi Berra, "You can observe a lot by watching."
Presumably, watching helps us to separate reality from fantasy. A reliable mine canary can help, as there are many reality gases and fantasy shafts along the way. As Lewis Carroll warned, "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"
Manufacturing has seen its share of Jabberwocks, Bandersnatches, and Jubjub birds. For example, when automation was introduced, many people saw it as a cure-all. The idea that everything could be immediately automated turned out to be a myth. Often, automation proved far costlier than imagined, and worker issues remained unresolved. Without sufficient advances in communications, integrating tasks was impossible.
In another example, when industrial robots came on the scene, they were believed to be universal solutions for just about any application. Indeed, some applications were sheer genius, but others failed miserably.