I've just discovered that they have rebuilt 150 km of a road in 6 days.
What else can I say!?
Toyota, Struggling With Part Shortages, to Restart Car Lines
TOKYO — Toyota Motor said Thursday that it will restart production of its Prius and Lexus hybrid models next week, while Honda extended the shutdown of two of its factories until next month — illustrating how Japanese automakers are still struggling to recover from the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
What else can I say!?
Toyota, Struggling With Part Shortages, to Restart Car Lines
TOKYO — Toyota Motor said Thursday that it will restart production of its Prius and Lexus hybrid models next week, while Honda extended the shutdown of two of its factories until next month — illustrating how Japanese automakers are still struggling to recover from the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Lee Jin-Man/Associated Press
A Toyota showroom in Tokyo that was closed temporarily after the earthquake.
Related
Toyota Says Scarce Parts to Idle Some U.S. Plants (March 24, 2011)
A major problem for all the automakers, including those outside Japan, is ensuring a reliable supply of parts from Japanese component makers. Shortages of an electronic sensor from Hitachi, for example, have led to slowdowns this week at Peugeot and Opel factories in Europe.
With parts supplies uncertain, Toyota has been changing its forecast for reopening shuttered plants on an almost daily basis. Its vaunted just-in-time manufacturing system depends on parts being delivered to factories as they are needed, with minimum stockpiling.
The company closed 18 Japanese assembly plants after the March 11 quake, as well as seven facilities that make parts and engines.
Only Wednesday, Toyota had told its workers in North America that it expects to halt production at one or more plants because of shortages of Japanese-made parts, and that its overseas operations would be affected in some fashion.
On Thursday, Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman in Tokyo, said production of three hybrid models — the Prius and two Lexus brand hybrids — would resume Monday.
“There’s pretty strong demand for our hybrid vehicles around the world, so we’re focusing on them,” he said. The Prius will be made in the Tsumi plant in Toyota City, while the Lexuses will be made by Toyota Motor Kyushu in Kitakyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s three main islands.
Mr. Nolasco acknowledged that Toyota’s supplies of electronics, rubber and plastic resin parts remain uncertain, and would not predict when full production would return.
“We’ve been able to reestablish the supply chain for these three models,” Mr. Nolasco said. “But when we start production Monday, we have to keep a careful eye on the flow of parts in the supply chain to make sure that can be maintained.”
Leandro Cantoni (from The New York Times)
With parts supplies uncertain, Toyota has been changing its forecast for reopening shuttered plants on an almost daily basis. Its vaunted just-in-time manufacturing system depends on parts being delivered to factories as they are needed, with minimum stockpiling.
The company closed 18 Japanese assembly plants after the March 11 quake, as well as seven facilities that make parts and engines.
Only Wednesday, Toyota had told its workers in North America that it expects to halt production at one or more plants because of shortages of Japanese-made parts, and that its overseas operations would be affected in some fashion.
On Thursday, Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman in Tokyo, said production of three hybrid models — the Prius and two Lexus brand hybrids — would resume Monday.
“There’s pretty strong demand for our hybrid vehicles around the world, so we’re focusing on them,” he said. The Prius will be made in the Tsumi plant in Toyota City, while the Lexuses will be made by Toyota Motor Kyushu in Kitakyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s three main islands.
Mr. Nolasco acknowledged that Toyota’s supplies of electronics, rubber and plastic resin parts remain uncertain, and would not predict when full production would return.
“We’ve been able to reestablish the supply chain for these three models,” Mr. Nolasco said. “But when we start production Monday, we have to keep a careful eye on the flow of parts in the supply chain to make sure that can be maintained.”
Leandro Cantoni (from The New York Times)
Completly crazy!
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