Toyota addresses production system malfunction that put the breaks on Japanese production

In a recent press release, Toyota expressed apologies to its customers, suppliers and related parties for the inconvenience caused by the suspension of its domestic plants due to a production order system malfunction at the end of August.

The fault was traced back to the unavailability of multiple servers responsible for processing parts orders, according to Toyota. The sequence of events leading to the malfunction began with regular maintenance work conducted on August 27th; the day prior to the system failure.

The OEM said that during this maintenance procedure, accumulated data was deleted and organised, inadvertently leading to an error due to insufficient disk space.

This error caused the entire system to come to a halt.

Unfortunately, the backup function, which relied on the same servers, also experienced a similar failure, preventing a seamless switchover and resulting in the suspension of domestic plant operations.

The automotive giant says it has identified the root cause of the issue, implemented corrective measures and assured the public that the incident was not a result of a cyberattack.

According to an official press release, following a data transfer, the system was restored to a server with a larger capacity; the procedure being completed on August 29th, allowing the plants to resume their operations the following day.

The company has confirmed that the identified events were indeed the cause of the system malfunction, and it has taken steps to replicate and verify the situation to prevent a recurrence.

The carmaker sought to allay any concerns in this regard and reaffirmed its commitment to the highest standards of cybersecurity.

The incident underscores the importance of robust IT infrastructure and diligent maintenance procedures in the modern manufacturing landscape.

Looking ahead, Toyota says it is taking proactive steps to prevent any similar disruptions. The company has pledged to review and strengthen its maintenance procedures to ensure the reliability and stability of its production systems.