If you’ve ever realized that your computer or phone has slowed down due to insufficient disk space, only for it to be too late to do anything, fear not – you’re not alone. Toyota has released a statement that attributes its August 28th shutdown of 14 plants across Japan to a lack of hard drive space.
Of course, while you may have lost a few photos trying to free up space for your device to work correctly, Toyota is estimated to have lost $356 million from the stoppage.
The shutdown affected the factories of Toyota and its associated brands, including Lexus, Daihatsu, and Hino. The computer problem, which was initially described as a “glitch,” is said to have prevented the company from ordering new components to fulfill its lean manufacturing Just-In-Time (JIT) production system.
Related: Toyota’s One-Day Japan Plant Closure Due To Computer Glitch Could Cost $356 Million
Toyota released a statement to the press apologizing to their customers, suppliers, and related parties for the disruption. The release went on to state that the system malfunction was caused by multiple servers being unavailable to order parts, triggered by routine maintenance. This tallies with earlier reports which described a system update to have been the source.
During the maintenance of the server, data was deleted and reorganized when an error occurred due to insufficient disk space, causing the system to stop. The Japanese automaker further elaborated that the servers were working on the same system as the backup, meaning that a similar issue was encountered there, with Toyota unable to switch.
Systems were back online by the next day, and the company reassures us that the problem was identified and countermeasures have been put into place to ensure it never happens again.
A similar shutdown was enacted in 2022 when Kojima Industries, a supplier of plastic parts, revealed that one of its file servers had been infected with a virus. But in its statement, Toyota reaffirms that there was no evidence of a cyberattack.
