Japan's earthquake shock waves gradually show off the global supply chain of automotive electronics

The Great Earthquake in Japan has had a lot of impact on companies around the world. Some foreign media pointed out that in response to the consequences of the Japanese earthquake, many companies are rushing to reorganize their supply chains. For many multinational companies in the electronics and automotive industries, the post-earthquake situation in Japan has exposed some of them. Important weaknesses.

At present, many companies around the world are slowing down production or finding new suppliers to avoid product interruptions of parts that rely mainly on Japanese production.

General Motors Corp. of the United States became the first US company to shut down its factory due to the Japanese crisis on Thursday. The company plans to close a factory in Shreveport, Louisiana next week, which will mainly produce small pickup trucks. According to GM, the reason for shutting down the plant was attributed to a supply shortage of a Japanese-produced component.

Expert analysis said that the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan will continue to bring widespread impact to North American car manufacturers, and even stop work.

Select supply chain should take precautions Market research institute VLSIResearch said that about one-fifth of the world's wafers for semiconductor production are manufactured in Japan, and Japan has a large number of manufacturers producing an important material for liquid crystal display panels. This country also provides about 90% of the world's BT resin, a chemical raw material used in the production of circuit boards and mobile phones. Yogesh Malik, a partner in the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, said that a good company treats the supply chain as a film rather than a photograph. A well-prepared company should not judge the supply chain's merits by using what the suppliers can provide at a certain moment. They should keep rising oil prices when judging whether the existing supply chain should be maintained for another 5 years. Factors such as environmental protectionism, and regulatory risks are taken into account. Malik said that the problem is not whether there will be problems, but when it will go wrong.

The hidden supply chain openness to be evaluated further complicates the supply chain problem. Manufacturers of parts and components for enterprises often need their own raw materials or smaller parts to depend on another area, such as Japan. Many companies are currently rushing to find out exactly what their exposure to this hidden supply bottleneck is. Honda’s Thai operations division said that the division is searching for information on the extent to which Japanese electronic systems can guarantee supply. Atsushi Fujimoto, head of Thailand's Honda business unit, said that the company’s parts will be enough to keep Honda’s car production in Thailand until mid-April. If Honda’s Japanese plant continues to close, the company will consider alternative suppliers.

Yuji Nakamine, management executive of Mazda Motors, said that the company's Thai operations are waiting for information on spare parts supply in Japan and are slowing down the production rate of factories near Bangkok.

Some companies claimed that they were not affected by the Japanese crisis, but their wording also used restrictive terms such as “to date” and “not yet”. South Korea's memory chip maker Haishi Semiconductor said that the company's silicon wafer inventory can continue to operate normally in the short term.

The zero-inventory delivery system is vulnerable to impact analysts. By accumulating inventory and decentralizing suppliers, companies can save themselves from the general anxieties in Asia and other regions, even if the accumulation of emergency stocks may bring higher the cost of.

Some logistics professionals have reminded that zero-stock delivery systems are vulnerable to supply shocks. This system was pioneered in Japan and is often used by the technology industry and the automotive industry. Parts and raw materials are only shipped when needed. Many manufacturers around the world have also reduced the number of suppliers in recent years in order to obtain discounted prices at cooperating suppliers. However, if the supplier group can't ship after it becomes smaller, this approach will bring risks.