Review Car

Computer Chip Plant Not to Reopen in Japan

With all the news that has been coming out of Japan due to the earthquake and tsunami that struck the area, there comes more bad news for automakers. The biggest plant that produces computer chips for vehicles has decided not to reopen their plant that is located in Japan due to the damage that it has sustained. Freescale Semiconductor Inc., has stated that they are trying to make up for the parts shortage by making sure that they are using their other plants to the maximum level in order to make up and get these parts out to the automakers that are in need of them. 

The plant was located near the center of where the earthquake occurred, and did receive a lot of damage. So much so that the company is finding that they would be better off to not even try to open the plant back up. Luckily for Freescale Semiconductor, they had started to stockpile some of their computer chips at other plants in the event that they were needed. However, these extra parts are just not meeting the demands that are out there. They were never really intended to take on having to replenish a supply that took the plant weeks to meet. 

The company produces over thirty different kind of computer chips that are used for various things in the vehicle, such as the brakes, the engine and other components. Therefore, they are needed parts as they simply cannot be included by the automaker. Many automakers have already shut down their plants for a short period of time hoping that things will straighten out. For Freescale Semiconductor, they are trying as fast as they can to get back up to production levels so that they are not having workers out of work and that the automakers can start reproducing once again and getting the economy back on the right track.