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The Takata global airbag recall is a big exception. It affects many (most?) major automakers. Lexus had no control over the availability of spare parts in this

The Takata global airbag recall is a big exception. It affects many (most?) major automakers. Lexus had no control over the availability of spare parts in this case.

ploxiln 10y ago
Of course they "had control". They could have evaluated airbags and suppliers better, they could have made sure they had two different suppliers they could use for any particular model, or alternatively that they have plenty of spares. This is commonly done for many kinds of components. I happen to be more familiar with computers of course, and it's commonly done for SSDs, batteries, screens, and more.
- cstejerean 10y ago
  Having plenty of spares doesn't help when the entire product line gets recalled. That's not a thing you plan for when buying spares.
  - ploxiln 10y ago
    I don't mean a couple of spares, I mean a warehouse good for a year (thus "plenty"). Or, multiple suppliers. There are multiple options that can work, but you have to do one correctly. I'm particularly bothered by throwing hands up and saying "it's not our fault, it's because of a problem at X, it can't be helped", where X is Microsoft, or Oracle, or Fujitsu, or Samsung, or whatever. It can be helped. Yes, it's more expensive, and yes, consumers probably won't pay for it. Just be honest, it's to control costs, things were not set up to keep working if conditions weren't perfect.
    - alblue 10y ago
      Lexus' production line, along with Toyota, is based on a "just in time" production line schedule. They don't have warehouses of stock lying around the place. They probably don't even have a day's worth of excess stock on the line, let alone a week's. To expect that they would stockpile one particular component for a year in advance is laughable.
    - cstejerean 10y ago
      It's not about a couple of spares vs a warehouse. Spare inventory levels are determined by expected failure rate x install base and also the expected lead time to buy more. But when the entire product gets recalled then suddenly you need to replace every instance at once, and that's not a thing you ever buy spares for. Even if you had multiple suppliers every manufacturer is also placing orders all at once for the remaining suppliers and they don't have the production elasticity to respond that quickly. Supply chains are complex systems and it's never as simple as "buying more spares" and "having multiple suplliers".

The Takata global airbag recall is a big exception. It affects many (most?) major automakers. Lexus had no control over the availability of spare parts in this case.

ploxiln 10y ago

Of course they "had control". They could have evaluated airbags and suppliers better, they could have made sure they had two different suppliers they could use for any particular model, or alternatively that they have plenty of spares. This is commonly done for many kinds of components. I happen to be more familiar with computers of course, and it's commonly done for SSDs, batteries, screens, and more.

cstejerean 10y ago
Having plenty of spares doesn't help when the entire product line gets recalled. That's not a thing you plan for when buying spares.
- ploxiln 10y ago
  I don't mean a couple of spares, I mean a warehouse good for a year (thus "plenty"). Or, multiple suppliers. There are multiple options that can work, but you have to do one correctly. I'm particularly bothered by throwing hands up and saying "it's not our fault, it's because of a problem at X, it can't be helped", where X is Microsoft, or Oracle, or Fujitsu, or Samsung, or whatever. It can be helped. Yes, it's more expensive, and yes, consumers probably won't pay for it. Just be honest, it's to control costs, things were not set up to keep working if conditions weren't perfect.
  - alblue 10y ago
    Lexus' production line, along with Toyota, is based on a "just in time" production line schedule. They don't have warehouses of stock lying around the place. They probably don't even have a day's worth of excess stock on the line, let alone a week's. To expect that they would stockpile one particular component for a year in advance is laughable.
  - cstejerean 10y ago
    It's not about a couple of spares vs a warehouse. Spare inventory levels are determined by expected failure rate x install base and also the expected lead time to buy more. But when the entire product gets recalled then suddenly you need to replace every instance at once, and that's not a thing you ever buy spares for. Even if you had multiple suppliers every manufacturer is also placing orders all at once for the remaining suppliers and they don't have the production elasticity to respond that quickly. Supply chains are complex systems and it's never as simple as "buying more spares" and "having multiple suplliers".