For reference automotive manufacturing finally ended in AU in 2017 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/world/australia/holden-automaker-factory-closes.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/world/australia/holden-au...</a> and now mayor brands dont even bother updating models for that market <a href="https://www.drive.com.au/news/every-car-discontinued-in-australia-in-2021/" rel="nofollow">https://www.drive.com.au/news/every-car-discontinued-in-aust...</a><p>Nothing is surprising about fab not keeping up with maintenance and institutional knowledge when they are aware of being run for only a couple more years before permanent shutdown.
When the process is flawed, expect problems. And if some (old) employees are gods and the new (young) are slaves you will have more problems. It's good that the guy changed job -this is the right thing to do in such a company.
I knew that water --> steam explosions were bad... but I had no idea that the aluminum could react with the water in the same way as sodium, thus massively increasing the energy available, yikes!