The Wall Street Journal (March 24,2011) reports today that a small electronic part that measures airflow to car engines (and retails for $90)
Here is the ripple effect from the one part you probably never heard of before:
GM Shreveport, assembly halted March 21.
GM Buffalo engine plant, 10% of workers laid off.
Peugeot-Citreon and Vigo in Spain, and Peugeot in France, production cut in half.
Opel in Germany, Zaragoza in Spain, and Trnava in Slovakia, output slowed.
Hitachi also supplies Ford, Renault, Nissan, Toyota, and VW. “Ford is monitoring availability of sensor supplies ‘hourly’ as it runs low on the same part”, says The Journal. But this may be just the tip of the iceberg. Auto makers keep different supply levels (say 10 days for this part), and since the sensor arrives by ship, it may take another few weeks for the full impact to be felt. The last shipments made before the quake should arrive in the US next week.
On a more positive note, an accompanying article in The Journal announces that Japanese chip makers are gradually resuming operations in northeastern Japan. The problem for Fujitsu, Renesas, and Toshiba is that power supplies are still inconsistent. Designed to operate 24/7, when systems are shut down, it takes up to a week to reboot all the machines in the plant.
Discussion questions:
1. What can auto makers do to prevent this situation from happening in the future?
2. How can the restart process be speeded up?