NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Toyota Motor Corp. will extend a partial production halt in Japan through Wednesday following an explosion at a supplier this week, the automaker said Tuesday, the latest in a series of problems highlighting issues related to the manufacturing system at the world’s largest carmaker.
Toyota has halted 10 production lines at six factories in central Japan as it is having difficulty procuring springs used for suspension and other car parts.
The automaker will keep the affected production lines shut through Wednesday and has decided to stop operations at another plant in the region in addition to the six factories, it said. It is unknown when it will be able to resume operations at the plants.
The accident happened Monday afternoon at Chuo Spring Co.’s factory in the city of Toyota in Aichi prefecture, the automakers said. Two male workers, one in his 30s and another in his 40s, were injured with one taken to hospital for treatment, according to Chuo Spring.
The explosion occurred at the factory’s drying furnace that cools hot steel and the cause of the accident is still being investigated, Chuo Spring said.
Toyota is known for its just-in-time manufacturing in which it aims to produces the right amount of cars to meet demand without excess or deficiency at all times.
Such a system is highly cost-effective but is susceptible to a production halt when emergencies occur as the automaker only has a limited amount of parts to assemble at hand at any given time.
Toyota has 14 assembly factories across Japan which produce cars for both domestic and overseas markets.
The affected lines include those that assemble the popular Land Cruiser and RAV4 sport utility vehicles.
The trouble is the latest in a series of production problems Toyota has experienced in recent years.
Production at all of its 14 factories in Japan stopped in March last year after one of its suppliers suffered a cyberattack. Its domestic production stopped again in August this year due to a glitch in its system to order parts.