Toyota wants to stick with current suppliers, not planning to find new ones

Toyota Motor Corp. will continue to single-source to suppliers in Japan and isn’t interested in finding alternative sources for parts that are in short supply after the March 11 earthquake in Japan. In a global conference call with financial analysts, Toyota Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi said that the company is working hard to restore output throughout the world. Niimi, who oversees Toyota's production control, production engineering and manufacturing, revealed that Toyota's reliance on single suppliers is more common at the lower levels of its supply chain.

Niimi also said that Toyota has been “multiple-sourcing among different Tier 1 suppliers", according to Autonews. Toyota said last week that the production of 150 critical parts was damaged. Vehicle production is expected to get back to normal levels throughout the globe only in November or December.

Niimi said that some of those 150 parts used content or subparts that were focused in Tier 3 through Tier 4. Niimi explained that it is at these levels that a “sole source is sometimes relied upon." Specifically, the critical parts included microcomputers and rubber-related items. These had a single supplier. Niimi clarified further that since these suppliers are “renowned” for having very high engineering capabilities, switching to other sources won’t be simple.[via - 4wheelsnews]