The global auto industry just can't catch a break: automobile wire harnesses made on picnic tables because of a war in Ukraine, semiconductor plants halting production from an earthquake in Japan and backed-up ports in China amid rising COVID-19 cases are straining vehicle supply chains — again.
Forecasters expect millions of vehicles will be cut from production schedules this year and next as these events keep pushing automaker procurement departments, more than two years on, to work overtime navigating the bottlenecks. And that may be forcing automakers to rethink the just-in-time delivery model they've relied on to keep costs low.
"We’re looking for ways to move bearings, stampings, some wire harnesses," said Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners LLP consulting firm. "So it’s not massive components that are being held up, but it is a problem. The unfortunate reality is it's not the first supply crisis we’ve had in the past two years."
