Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Our deepest heartfelt condolences go out to the people of Japan following the tragic earthquake that struck northern Japan on 11th March 2011. The earthquake measured 8.9-magnitude (upgraded by some to a 9.0) on the Richter scale was determined to be the third largest earthquake in recorded history.  The death toll now stands at over 9,000 people with over 14,000 more missing and unaccounted for.  The tragedy also has caused near terminal damage to one nuclear power plant leading to severe power outages throughout northeastern Japan.

According to the ECIA aka Electronic Components Industry Association (http://www.eciaonline.org/) over two dozen board level component manufacturers and counting have suffered minor to severe damage and ongoing bouts of power, water, and gas outages.  The Denver post has an excellent ongoing general narative of the situation as it develops (http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/03/japan-struck-by-major-earthquake-tsunami-%E2%80%93-day-11/). 

Component Manufacturers are performing ongoing assessments of their capabilities going forward in light of the existing challenges.  The following is by no means exhaustive, however it gives a clear view of some of the individual situations as they stand today:

The situation at AVX/Kyocero has been adressed by the headquarters and for more information please click AVX.

Renesas brand product has had a mixed impact on their capabilities.  Several plants have restarted production, while some have been temporarily shuttered.  More detailed information can be garnered here CEL.

Epson has significant manufacturing assets in Japan and has shuttered at least two plants and is assessing the situation rigorously and continuously.  More information can be gathered here Epson Toyocom.

Japan represents approximately 12% of their manafacturing capacity and FCI spokespersons have provided some detailed reports here FCI.

Freescale is working feverishly to assess damage, delays, power outages and other challenges facing their Japanese production facilities and their most recent updates can be viewed here Freescale.

Fujitsu has experienced damages to buildings and production equipment including the ceilings, walls, and drain pipes of the Fujitsu Group's plants and offices have affected business operations. Furthermore, planned rotational electricity blackouts have affected operations of Fujitsu Group companies based in the Kanto region of Japan.  More information is here Fujitsu.

Hirose has suffered some slight to severe damage which as led to some delays as well as some closures.  They have 70 locale supplier plants of which two have been completely destroyed.  The assessment of impact on total operations is still in progress and more can be read here Hirose home page.

Hitachi has suffered slight to heavy damage at several facilities.  They are also assisting in the repair to the nuclear power plant and are working in conjunction with the goverment and power agencies to get those assets back on line Hitachi

Murata Electronics has suffered significant delays and damage to several product families which can be reviewed on the above link.

NEC LCD Technologies operations, deliveries, and production have been temporarily halted with restart dates uncertain.  Updates are at the above.

Though there was limited damage directly to Omron assets there are a large number of Omron suppliers in the disaster area and we are working to assess the situation. We will contact you as soon as possible if we foresee any significant impact on production or supply Omron EMC

ON Semiconductor currently owns and operates a total of three production facilities in Japan, located in Aizu, Niigata and Hanyu. Additionally, the company operates another three production facilities leased from SANYO Electric Co. Ltd located in Gunma, Gifu and Kasukawa. Initial reports indicate all six sites have sustained only minimal physical damage and remain structurally sound as a result of the earthquake and tsunami. Production has been restored at Niigata, Gifu, Kasukawa and Hanyu and was initially restored at Aizu. However, infrastructure services such as fuel, electricity, gases, water, chemicals and logistics to ON Semiconductor’s factories and those of its customers and suppliers in Japan have nevertheless been impacted by the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami. Based on currently available information, this infrastructure disruption is now expected to result in a temporary shutdown of operations at the company’s Aizu and Gunma facilities until services can be reliably restored. The potential for intermittent supply of these services may cause temporary production disruptions at other locations as well. The company currently anticipates infrastructure services will improve towards the end of the first quarter. The company is identifying options to shift production to other facilities to support supply continuity for customers.  On Semi

Like many companies Optrex suffered only moderate damages yet the ongoing logistical challenges may ultimately prove more damaging to supplying customers per normal schedules Optrex

Panasonic appears to have suffered many of the challenges associated with logistics but appears to still be in the assessment stage prior to fully disclosing the situation at its various plants and facilities Panasonic

Powerex procures much of its supply in conjunction with Mitsubishi who have clearly been significantly affected in a number of areas.  At the bottom of the CEO is also the communication from Mitsubishi CEO detailing the situation in a more detailed manner Powerex

Rohm appears to be making headway but challenges with the water supply is having a negative effect on restart projections Rohm

Sanyo appears to have been affected yet their communications are understandably vague Sanyo Denki

TDK appears to have a number of sites that are offline at the moment with projections being unclear due to the rolling black-outs and other material disruptions associated with regional infrastructure challenges TDK

TI has suffered significant damage to it's Miho plant which represents about 10% of TI's worldwide capacity.  The company estimates it will reinstate production in stages, beginning with several lines in May and returning the factory to full production in mid-July, which translates to full shipment capability in September.  This schedule could be delayed if the region's power grid is unstable or if further complications prevent the re-start of equipment.  TI is moving quickly to shift production to other fabs and so far has identified alternate manufacturing sites for about 60 percent of Miho's wafer production.  Work is underway to increase this percentage by moving the production of additional products.  Texas Instruments

It would appear that  overall semiconductor production hasn't been as severely damaged as first thought, however analysts are predicting that the material supply, basic traffic reconstruction, and overall infrastructure challenges including rolling black-outs, water shortages, gasoline shortages and more, will have more of an impact on the supply of semiconductor (and associated finished goods products) than production line damage. http://www.evertiq.com/news/19130

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