U.S.-based Japanese automakers will run out of electronic components in five weeks

U.S.-based Japanese car makers have about five weeks before they will run short of sophisticated electronic components, Japan's consul-general said Tuesday.

"We are all concerned," Kuninori "Matz" Matsuda, said in a meeting with The Plain Dealer editorial board. "Right now most companies in the United States have about week's worth of parts in ic components stock and about another month's in transit."

Matsuda is stationed in Detroit. He is spending time in Ohio to talk about expanding Japanese manufacturing in the state. There are already 388 Japanese companies in Ohio that employ more than 56,000 people, he said.

Japanese are particularly interested in locating new facilities in northern Ohio, Matsuda said, because of its growing reputation in medical technology, advanced energy such as solar and wind, and materials science involving polymers.

The problem facing Japanese automakers here is that many of the high-tech electronics used in automobiles are currently made only in Japan. And some of those electronics factories were located in the area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

These companies are feverishly trying to re-configure their supply chains to keep the car companies supplied, Matsuda said. They are scrambling to ramp up production in their factories located in western Japan, which was unaffected by the earthquake, and may even attempt to change production to other countries.
More than 130,000 buildings were destroyed by three intense earthquakes and the tsunami that struck some areas closest to the sea within 15 minutes, he said. Because the devastated area in northeast Japan is remote and agricultural with few main roads, recovery efforts are far from over.

In areas affected by the quakes but not the tsunami, employees have continued to show up for work in an effort to get the plants back into production more quickly, he said.

"The recovery of land and air logistics will take time. But they are working very hard. Japanese workers don't go away," Matsuda said.
reproduced:cleveland.com