Freight News, Logistics

Toyota makes its supply chain earthquake -proof

[ September 7, 2011   //   Chris ]

Toyota is working on a more robust supply chain capable of recovering within two weeks of another disruption such as the earthquake that hit Japan in March. The earthquake and tsunami had a serious effect on the Japanese car industry from which production is only just beginning to recover. Executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki said that Toyota was standardising components with other Japanese manufacturers, asking downstream suppliers to hold more inventory of more specialised parts manufactured at a single site or take other measures such as anti-tremour precautions. It was also encouraging its regional organisations to procure parts independently.