Toyota Japan Shuttered Production for a Day to Deal With System Failure
Toyota’s manufacturing processes are the stuff of legend, as the automaker’s focus on quality and efficiency is unmatched in the industry. It relies on a production philosophy known as just in time, which means its raw materials flow into factories “just in time” to be used for production. The methodology reduces costs and waste, but it leaves the automaker susceptible to disruptions if one or more parts of its supply chain or operations have issues.
That was the case with Toyota’s Japanese production lines, causing it to shutter operations for a little more than a day to resolve a systems malfunction. The problem impacted all 14 of the automaker’s Japanese plants, but operations are expected to return to normal today. Toyota reported a significant 29 percent increase in June, its largest in the last two years, making even short stoppages impactful.
The automaker is investigating the cause of the problem but said it does not believe hackers or a cyberattack are to blame. Toyota paused operations for a day last year after a cyberattack limited its ability to order parts for production, but it was able to resume production using a backup system in that case.
Though short, the day-long shutdown will have an impact on Toyota’s production numbers. On average, the automaker builds 13,500 vehicles in Japan daily and was running at capacity before the shutdown, so it will be difficult to add volume to make up for the downtime.
[Image: Jasen Wright via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Parts Silo connected to Production Silo. Who knew.
Everyone back to your cubicles! Your Silo is calling.
Yay Coders.
(Note how many Top Automotive Executives have a Coding background)
It's fine, adding on a few dealer adjustments will make up the lost profit.
sounds like someone tested in production. Something to keep in mind when you cut the budget for your IT department’s lab environment which always is the first thing cut. Someone probably pushed a Windows update or something that wasn’t able to be thoroughly tested. A key logistics system that could shut you down if it fails is something that should be thoroughly modeled in simulation. Usually a tough sell though until something like this happens. And this is Toyota. Imagine the corners cut at companies where you are having to absorb 50 percent higher labor costs.