Four years ago, when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Kumamoto crippled Sony’s plant for image sensors in southern Japan, the company immediately sought the advice of chipmaker Renesas Electronics to restore its operations.
Sony and other companies have benefited from lessons passed on from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, when car factories worldwide ground to a standstill after Renesas halted production of microcontrollers used in vehicles.
After the coronavirus outbreak in China, those earlier experiences of sudden disruption have proved vital in helping Japanese companies adapt. Toyota and other major carmakers have mostly been able to determine which parts would start running low — and when — after supply chains became more transparent over the past decade.