Well... part of the purpose of just in time is to surface problems quickly. Transient problems in an upstream process can be papered over by inventory on the re

Well... part of the purpose of just in time is to surface problems quickly. Transient problems in an upstream process can be papered over by inventory on the receiving end, but when you remove that inventory everyone gets a clearer view of where the problem is, and everyone can do a better job of fixing it. So just in time over the oceans works precisely as intended: it gives us information immediately when there is a problem. Whether or not it's within any manufacturers power to fix those problems is a separate issue. (And I'm going to guess that there's no easy way to fix those problems, given that Toyota has opted for more inventory to hide those sorts of transient issues when it comes to certain parts.)