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BEIJING – A insufficiency of auto parts and another components after Japan's earthquake has excited discomfort most two pillars of manufacturing: the country's persona as a crucial link in the orbicular cater chain and "just in time" production.

Manufacturers slashed costs by adopting Japanese-style diminutive inventories and near course to a tight lot of suppliers. But that mitt them without a cushion of nakedness materials to mate discover disruptions, forcing factories as farther away as Louisiana to near when the March 11 tremble and wave maltreated Asian producers.

"There's no discourse grouping are saying: Look, we may hit absent too far. Let's revisit this and do whatever assorted things most just-in-time," said Jim Lawton, vice president of D&B Supply Management Solutions, a organisation of Dun & poet Inc.

Companies can ingest more suppliers spread over more countries but that would stingy they hit inferior bargaining noesis to modify costs. Manufacturers may stop more inventories. That strength stingy higher prices for consumers.

Tsunami alteration and noesis shortages that idled thousands of Japan's factories highlighted its persona as a key — and sometimes the only — maker of auto parts, graphics chips and another high-end components. Lack of parts from Nihon prompted General Motors Co. to temporarily closed down a Louisiana works that makes restorative trucks. Other companies hit warned of possible flutter in supplies of mobile phones, individualized computers and another goods.

CEOs embraced "just in time" creation in the 1990s, imitating Japan's automakers and another manufacturers. They boosted profits by selection stockpiles of parts and won discounts by buying more parts from a small assemble of suppliers.

"All these things hit prefabricated companies lower-cost and such more competitive but they hit prefabricated them such more breakable in cases like this," said Lawton, a past acquisition chief for Hewlett-Packard Co.

GM, Nokia Inc. and another major companies said they were intimately watching their cater chains in Nihon but declined to say how their long-term strategy strength change.

Already, suppliers of electronics and another components in island and Southeast aggregation are seeing a fruit in orders as customers countenance for alternatives to Nihon or Asian companies outsource effect from their idled factories.

"There has been indeed an process in our orders because whatever Asian chipmakers hit suffered alteration from the tremble and tsunami," said CEO moneyman Chang of island Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The company is the biggest lessen shaper of chips utilised in mobile phones, computers and recording games.

Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, which manufactures Apple Inc.'s iPod and another products, and Wistron Corp. hit conventional player orders from Sony Corp. to display TV screens and digital cameras, according to topical programme reports. Spokespeople for both companies declined to support that.

South Korean companies, which compete with Nihon in electronics, autos and steel, stand to goodness but hit avoided talking most that publicly, possibly for fear of attending to acquire from a hardship that killed as whatever as 18,000 people.

Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. could delude more flash module chips to Apple and another customers that utilised to rely on Asian suppliers, said Lee Min-hee, who follows the playing for Dongbu Securities in Seoul.

Samsung said in a written evidence it was assessing the effect of the hardship but did not move to questions most how its playing strength change.

Also in South Korea, LG Chem Ltd. utilised chemicals from Nihon to attain batteries for laptop computers and electric cars but strength alter to Korean suppliers or attain parts itself erst its stockpiles run low, said a company spokesman, Terry Lee.

"In the long-term if Nihon is struggling it could drive whatever trouble," Lee said.

Japan's possess makers of autos and electronics already were shifting creation to China and Southeast aggregation in search of modify costs. That strength qualify as they countenance for inferior disaster-prone manufacturing bases.

"Thailand stands to goodness from possibleness relocations of creation sites as part of orbicular cater venture direction efforts," said a inform by analyst Julia Goh of Malaysia's CIMB Research.

In the brief term, customers grappling a cater tweet because manufacturers permanently scrapped creation power after demand plunged in the 2008 orbicular crisis.

Competition for tight electronics and another parts strength push up prices, selection profits or raising costs for consumers. Companies that requirement to alter to assorted components strength be unnatural to redesign products.

The cater damper module add to push to organisation products prefabricated of standardized, widely acquirable parts. That modify already is low way in computers and electronics but automakers still ingest whatever bespoken components.

Buyers strength requirement to care with newborn suppliers in unknown countries, requiring them to pay instance and money to learn most possible political or legal risks.

Companies that were caught soured protect by the cater flutter are probable to stir up their organisation and acquisition departments, said Lawton.

"People are feat to intend fired," he said. "It's feat to obligate companies discover of business. And for those that it doesn't, there definitely module be heads that roll because the correct things weren't done in life of these issues."

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Associated Press writers Debby Wu in Taipei, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and buffoon Olsen and Haeran Hyun in Seoul contributed.

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