Toyota Factory Shutdown Impact "Production Affected by Over 10,000 Units"

Malfunction in Ordering System on 28th
Operations Halted at 14 Factories Previous Day
Estimated Impact on Vehicle Production of Over 10,000 Units
Just-in-Time Production Method Cited as Cause

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation announced on the 30th that 14 factories, which had been halted due to a malfunction in the parts ordering system, will sequentially resume operations. Toyota expects that vehicle production will decrease by at least 10,000 units compared to the planned volume due to this incident.

According to NHK, 12 factories located in the Tokai region of central Honshu and the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu resumed operations on the morning of the same day. Two factories in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture are expected to start operating from the evening to night.

Toyota confirmed on the 28th that there was a problem with the system managing parts orders from suppliers. Subsequently, the operations of 12 factories were suspended on the morning of the previous day, and factories in Kyoto Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture also stopped production in the afternoon. Toyota estimates that the factory shutdown will affect the production of about 10,000 vehicles. Domestic factories produce approximately 14,000 vehicles per day.

The Mainichi Shimbun reported that Toyota’s unique production method, which minimizes parts inventory to efficiently manufacture vehicles, may be the background reason for the factory shutdown.

Previously, in March last year, Toyota temporarily halted operations at all domestic factories when a supplier was hit by a cyberattack. However, Toyota stated that this incident is not related to a cyberattack.

Concerns are reportedly spreading among parts suppliers due to the consecutive factory shutdowns. A Japanese company in Aichi Prefecture that supplies parts to Toyota expressed to Mainichi, "There is still some space to store parts inventory, but if the shutdowns continue, it will inevitably impact the ordering plans of suppliers," showing their concern.

Meanwhile, Toyota announced that last month’s global automobile production volume increased by 15% compared to the previous month, reaching 809,400 units. This is the highest monthly production volume since 2015. Domestic production led the overall increase with a 39% rise, recording 308,686 units.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.