Toyota is attempting to establish a more secure supply chain that could withstand natural disasters better, it has been reported.

The automaker, which recently lost its position as the world's number one automaker to General Motors, has suffered continued supply shortages and production problems since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Six months on, output is still affected across its global operations and production is not predicted to return to normal until October.

Now, Toyota aims to disaster-proof its supply chain to ensure any future earthquakes cause less chronic disruption.

Executive vice-president Shinichi Sasaki told Reuters: "We're making checks now to see what needs to be done to enable a recovery within two weeks when the next one - expected in the Tokai region - hits."

He explained to the news provider that this would involve a three-stage process, the first of which is to standardise parts across Japanese car makers so they could share components.

Secondly, suppliers may be asked to hold larger inventories of parts, while technology could be developed to provide alternatives to parts and materials currently used.

The third stage, he told Reuters, would involve making each region's procurement more independent, to prevent an earthquake in Japan being felt across its global production operations.

Toyota, in addition to losing out to GM, was overtaken by Volkswagen in terms of vehicle sales in the first half of 2011.

Between March 11th and the end of that month, Toyota suffered approximately 220,000 units of lost production globally. The company has estimated 450,000 units will be lost in the fiscal year ending March 2012.

Source:
Toyota aims for quake-proof supply chain (06/09/11)

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