GM to shut plant amid shortage of Japanese parts

[highplainsdem]

Source: CNN Money

By Ben Rooney, staff reporterMarch 17, 2011: 3:36 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- General Motors has suspended production at a facility in Louisiana due to a shortage of parts stemming from the natural disaster in Japan, the automaker said Thursday.

The Shreveport Assembly plant, where GM makes the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, will be closed for the week of March 21, according to a statement.

GM (GM) said it will resume production at the plant "as soon as possible," adding that it currently has "sufficient vehicles to meet customer demand." All other GM plants in North America will continue to run as normal, the company said.

Tom Wilkinson, a GM spokesman, declined to specify which parts are in short supply. He said the automaker hopes to resume normal operations soon, but could not say when. "We're really evaluating the situation day by day," he said.

-snip-

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/17/autos/gm_suspends_production_japan_supply_shortage/

[tabatha]

1. Bring manufacturing back.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. I'm sure there's not a single company from California to Maine

that could produce those parts. . . .


:sarcasm:

[xchrom]

3. doesn't say how many people that affects. nt

[Poll_Blind]

4. How long would it take to ramp up fabrication here in the US, I wonder?

PB

[sakabatou]

5. Hey, why don't you bring the offshored jobs back?

[OHdem10]

6. Globalization has its problems, huh. As I understand it from another

report the IT Companies may run into part shortages.

[elleng]

7. The tsunami felt around the world.

Nothing like 'progress.' Not being sarcastic at all, seems to me human progress will always take a toll in some way, and usually in unknown ways.

We'll survive because we're adaptable, human beings that is, but it won't be simple.

[eilen]

8. Ride a bike

decrease the carbon debt and burn some fat cells. Environment and Obesity-- 2 birds with one stone.

I guess the situation GM is facing is one of unintended consequences. Pushing more and more union shop American suppliers to close operations stateside and produce offshore has boomeranged to bite them in the hatchback.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. So much for "just in time" inventory.

Back in the "old" days, a plant would have weeks of inventory on hand, which came in handy for those
glitches in the system. And, the inventory was usually made not too far from the plant, in some cases.

Then some smart guy figured out how much money they could "save" by not storing as much inventory on-site, passing the storing costs on to the manufacture in some other country.
That works fine, until/unless you have fuel cost issues, transportation issues, or serious problems
where the parts are manufactured.

[Bardley]

16. 'just in time' too ofter becomes 'just ran out, you're SOL'

and buh-bye savings

[lbrtbell]

17. Yeah, I'll do that tomorrow.

Especially when I live about 30 miles from the nearest grocery store, and have to haul two weeks' worth of groceries from there to my home. Oh, yeah, Mom has to go to the doctor, too, so I'll just strap her disabled ass on the bike, and ignore her screams of agony while I'm pedaling.

Or better yet, I'll drive my GM car for that 60-mile round trip, and vote for politicians who want to bring manufacturing back to this country.

P.S., I'm not obese, and Mom's underweight, thank you very much.

[JJW]

9. Free Trade

How much does it cost to have that plant sit idle. At least we know, they have plenty of wing-nuts in stock.

[needledriver]

10. So where in the USA

can you get US made car radios, cd/dvd players, and flatscreens? Even if the truck's radios and electronics are assembled in the US, where do the parts; transistors, memory, controllers - all those silicon bits no modern vehicle can do without - come from?

[FLPanhandle]

12. This will happen to more and more manufacturing sites around the world

Japan supplies a high percentage of electronic components even in items manufactured elsewhere. Companies keep low inventories now a days, so expect this to see this more and more as the weeks drag on.

[MrNJ]

13. That's what you get for outsourcing.

No sympathy here.

If you want to be called an "American" car company, source your components from - oh I don't know - America?

[lbrtbell]

18. +1!!

[williesgirl]

14. So make them here with American workers - if not, fuck you.

[Bardley]

15. GM - the lame ass company that cant run without taxpayer dollars or japanese parts

just so we can 'Buy American'

(what percent of their IT guys are from India on H-1b visas?)