Ashes To Ashes: Volcano Stops The Lines

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The volcano on Iceland spews trouble for auto manufacturers. Ever since most of Europe has been declared a no-fly zone, just-in-time bit the dust. Literally.

Today, the lines stopped at the BMW factory in Dingolfing, writes Automobilwoche [sub]. On Wednesday, the lines will stop moving in Regensburg and on Thursday in Munich. More than 7000 bimmers are affected. The reason: Electronic parts that usually get flown in. Icelandic ash brings production lines all over the globe to a grinding halt …

In Spartanburg, SC, production of the X5 and X6 is affected. Their transmissions are air freighted from Europe to the U.S. Now, they languish in containers and wait fort he dust to clear.

Even something as mundane as seat covers can bring the production to a stop. Der Spiegel reports that many seat covers are made in the Mid East, and get flown to Europe. Now, they get flown as far as possible, and get trucked for the rest of the way. Just-in-time has no provision for that.

You think that’s a boon for manufacturers in Asia? Think again. The world of of manufacturing is inter-meshed.

Tomorrow, Nissan will stop its lines in Kanagawa, near Tokyo. The Murano, Rogue and Cube are waiting for air pressure sensors. They are made in Ireland. No flight leaves Ireland or the UK. According to The Nikkei [sub], two production lines at a plant in Fukuoka will also be affected. A company spokesman said it hasn’t been decided whether the suspension will continue. Britain’s Britain’s National Air Traffic Service said in an overnight statement that the volcano eruption was strengthening and a new ash cloud was spreading south and east toward Britain, reports Reuters.

If the parts are there, then often the people are missing. Many had an extended Easter holiday. Workers are stuck in Mallorca. Managers are grounded in Singapore, where hotels are fully booked because of a cloud of dust over Europe.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Pig_Iron Pig_Iron on Apr 20, 2010

    As long as Trollhättan is not effected, I'm O K.

  • Neb Neb on Apr 21, 2010

    @ Mr. Carpenter The answer is that if you spend money on a contingency plan then your costs are greater vs. the guy with no contingency plan. So nobody using the just in time production system has contingency plans. Now this is in many ways quite bad, since like the article shows, it makes for a quite brittle and easily breakable system, since even small effects can cause enormous consequences. It's a system that fails anytime anything becomes suboptimal, and all things considered, you wouldn't fly in a airplane that fails when something unexpected happens. Of course, if say, a few governments got together and mandated some robustness on everyone, then that would solve the problem (while slightly increasing the cost of production.) But of course that would be COMMUNISM, and ITS BETTER THAT A RANDOM EVENT CAUSES A NEW DARK AGE THEN FOR ME TO THINK ABOUT EXTERNALITIES THE SLIGHTEST BIT, etc, etc. @ Mr. Schmitt: I know Toyota pioneered the just in time production system, but unlike later adopters their suppliers were still physically close to the assembly plants. Is Toyota having less problems because of this?

    • JeremyR JeremyR on Apr 22, 2010

      Of course, just one contingency plan wouldn't be enough. You'd need various contingency plans to cope with the various types of disasters that might occur. So be prepared to commit a lot more resources to develop your portfolio of contingency plans. Did you really just say that this sort of thing should be mandated? Who should be subject to such mandates--just manufacturers, or other industries too? What processes would be required to have contingency plans? For what circumstances would development of contingency plans be required? Will we also need contingency police to enforce that the contingency plans are actually followed? Yep, sounds like the perfect thing to regulate...

  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
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