Sony Corporation issued its latest update on the status of its manufacturing operations affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern region of Japan on March 11, 2011.
According to the statement, Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation’s Tagajyo Plant in Miyagi Prefecture plans to resume optical disc manufacturing at the end of May and magnetic tape production at the end of July.
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Unedited press release follows:
Status of Sony Group Manufacturing Operations Affected by the East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Related Power Outages
(Tokyo, April 28, 2011) — Sony Corporation (“Sony” or the “Company”) today updated the status of Sony Group manufacturing operations affected by the March 11 East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and related power outages, as of April 28, 2011.
As of March 14, 2011, operations at ten Sony Group sites and facilities had been suspended as a result of damage caused by the Earthquake, tsunami and related power outages. As of today, manufacturing operations at nine of these ten sites have resumed or partially resumed, and at the remaining site, Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation’s Tagajyo Plant in Miyagi Prefecture (“Tagajyo Plant”), plans are in place to resume its manufacturing operations.
Although the Tagajyo Plant sustained significant earthquake and flooding damage caused by the tsunami, as a result of extensive restoration and repair efforts, the site’s core manufacturing operations are now expected to resume. Optical disk manufacturing operations, including Blu-ray, are expected to resume around the end of May 2011, and magnetic tape manufacturing operations are expected to resume around the end of July 2011. Manufacturing of other products and components previously carried out at the Tagajyo Plant will be transferred to Sony’s core manufacturing facilities for these products and components located in Miyagi, Fukushima and other prefectures, in order to quickly restore full production capacity.
Following the resumption of operations at the Tagajyo Plant, Sony plans to coordinate with the appropriate local authorities to consider how the Company can continue to assist with regional recovery efforts, for example by offering vacant building space at the Tagajyo Plant to businesses in the area, and assigning employees to assist with local support activities.
As announced on April 6, 2011, Sony continues to respond to fluctuations in material or component supply from time to time by adjusting production levels at certain domestic and overseas manufacturing sites that were not directly damaged by the Earthquake and tsunami. Sony will continue to monitor the availability of raw materials and components and endeavor to improve such availability. For any products affected by adjustments to production levels, the Company also plans to take further measures as necessary, including reallocating available materials and components among Sony Group companies, using alternative components and expanding procurement channels in order to restore full production capacity as early as possible.
The Company is continuing to evaluate the full impact of the Earthquake, tsunami and related power outages, including the impact of these production level adjustments, on Sony’s businesses and consolidated financial results.