Toyota Motor Corp’s Motomachi Plant in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, has experienced a suspension of operations due to a computer system glitch. The glitch, which occurred during a system update, resulted in the closure of 14 assembly plants. Toyota’s lean manufacturing system, known for its efficiency in reducing inventory, was severely affected by the disruption.
According to sources, the cause of the outage was not a cyber attack. This incident raises concerns about the cybersecurity of Japan’s supply chains, as a similar shutdown occurred last year when one of Toyota’s suppliers was infected with a virus.
The one-day loss of production could have significant implications for Toyota, as the company’s domestic output has been recovering this year. In the first half of 2023, Toyota’s production in Japan saw a 29% increase, marking the first such rise in two years. The suspension of production at the 14 plants could potentially result in a loss of $356 million in revenue, based on the company’s average global vehicle sale price.
Toyota’s production and supplier management system, known as the “kanban” system, has been highly influential in the auto industry. The system, which relies on visual cues to manage workflow and minimize inventory, was developed by Toyota engineer Taichi Ono in the 1950s. It has since been adopted by other industries, including software development.
Since the leadership transition in April, Toyota has faced some challenges, including safety test rigging in affiliate Daihatsu vehicles and the inadvertent exposure of customer data online. Despite these setbacks, the company is focused on overhauling its approach to electric vehicles and competing with Tesla, the leader in the EV market.
Toyota has not yet disclosed how it plans to recoup the lost output caused by the system glitch. The company is currently ramping up production at its Japan-based factories to mitigate the impact of the disruption.