Japan auto, electronics manufacturing face disruption due to quake damage

By Naomi Tajitsu and Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said on Sunday it would suspend production at plants across Japan after earthquakes in the country's south disrupted the automaker's supply chain, while other manufacturers extended stoppages due to damaged factories.

Japanese companies have been affected by supply chain disruptions caused by natural disasters in the past few years, most notably when a devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in March 2011 temporarily knocked out part of the auto supply chain.

Some manufacturers have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy to limit any repeat of that costly disruption, but the weekend warnings showed some sectors remained vulnerable.

Toyota said it would suspend operations in stages at most of its vehicle assembly plants across Japan beginning Monday as it was unable to source parts from some of its suppliers in southern Japan following the deadly earthquakes in the region.

Electronics giant Sony Corp said production would remain halted at its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, which has been pummelled by a series of powerful earthquakes since Thursday, as the electronics giant assessed structural and equipment damage.

Sony said it had resumed full operations at its plants in nearby Nagasaki and Oita which also produce image sensors - used in smartphone cameras, including Apple Inc's iPhone.

Toyota, the world's biggest-selling automaker in 2015, said a shortage of parts for doors and engines produced by its affiliates Aisin Kyushu and Aisin Kyushu Casting were contributing to a bottleneck in its supply chain. It was checking the status of damages at its other suppliers, the automaker said.

Also on Sunday, semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp confirmed it had sustained damage to some equipment at its plant in Kumamoto which produces microcontroller chips for automobiles.

Having suspended operations following the first earthquake on Thursday, the chipmaker said it would assess damage at the entire facility before deciding when to resume production.

Renesas, which suffered significant damage at its semiconductor plants in northeastern Japan following the 2011 quake, has previously said it had not been stocking extra inventory for risk management purposes since that disaster. However, it has begun to standardize more parts across various models to enable in house production at alternative plants during emergencies.

(Editing by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast)