Toyota's 'quake-proof' supply chain that never was

© Luckydoor

Forbes has published an interesting analysis of Toyota’s – frankly mislabelled – “quake-proof supply chain”. The article doesn’t mention which, if any supply chain companies helped Toyota put together its risk mitigation strategy, but the result was “could do better”’.

After the March 2011 earthquake, which revealed the carmaker’s supply chain as pretty fragile, the company said it would put in place a more robust network of suppliers and information database. Fast-forward to this month, and 26 of its 30 production lines were suspended, affecting 80,000 units. Only five have since been reopened. Operating profit is expected to be down by $277m. A worthwhile read – and not too long.