Oct 16, 2019 (Nikkei) - As a fuller picture of the damage from Typhoon Hagibis emerges, Japan faces weeks of delays in restoring some train service, but supply chains weathered the storm relatively well, attesting to the rise of disaster planning.
East Japan Railway said Tuesday that full service on the Hokuriku shinkansen bullet train line connecting Tokyo with Kanazawa in central Japan will not resume for at least a week or two after weekend flooding that killed at least 74 people.
The disruption has resulted in canceled business trips and vacations along affected parts of the line, hitting local hotels.
But many companies that took precautions, including preemptive factory closures, managed to minimize the toll from the typhoon, which brought torrential rains that overran river banks and burst levees.
Toyota Motor decided Friday to shut three plants Saturday, when the storm slammed into eastern Japan. The factories resumed normal operations Monday.
Toyota procures 75% of a vehicle's 30,000 parts from external sources, so a break in the supply chain would deliver a heavy blow.
Learning from 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Toyota developed a risk management database called Reinforce Supply Chain Under Emergency, or Rescue.
