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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via Autobuzz Today
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