Japan, Australia, India and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are promoting cooperation on sharing the production data of key industries such as cars and electronics, as the supply chains for such industries are expanding into many countries and regions. Entities from both the public and private sectors are expected to participate in the scheme, according to sources.
Production data on parts and materials used in these key Japanese industries is difficult to trace because production bases have been dispersed overseas, and supply networks and logistics systems have become complicated.
The aim is to establish a system to quickly share information on factories that can assume production alternatives, as well as on inventory status, to apply a lesson learned from the coronavirus crisis, which caused stagnation in parts supply and distribution.
The industry ministry and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) hosted an online forum on supply chains for two days through Friday, at which government officials and businesspeople from countries and regions that have many production bases of Japanese companies agreed on the need to share data.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry aims to make it easier to monitor the status of production and inventory at plants in various countries and regions by using digital technology. It plans to establish a system to minimize the impact on production in the event of a large-scale disaster or an infectious disease outbreak, by means of finding factories that can assume production alternatives for parts.
The ministry will hold these forums on a regular basis and discuss tangible ways to cooperate through opportunities such as ministerial-level meetings.
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