Honda says it's cutting production at its Swindon plant, in southern England, by 50% from next week, as it grapples with shortages of key components from Japan.

Wide swathes of Japanese industry are working at well below full capacity due to power shortages, following the nuclear accident at Fukushima. The earthquake and tsunami devastated a region that's home to some key parts suppliers to the motor and electronics industries. The effect is being felt in the supply chains of many companies around the world, not just Japanese ones, that rely on Japanese made components.

The problem's been exacerbated by the prevalence of so-called 'just-in-time' production systems, where manufacturers don't keep large stockpiles of parts on-site. Instead, they rely on timely deliveries made just before the parts are needed, more efficient when things are going well, but prone to disruption if the parts don't arrive on time.

Mark Gregory, BBC News

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Vocabulary

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production

here, the number of cars made

grapples with

struggles to deal with

key components

crucial or important parts

wide swathes

here, large parts

devastated

wrecked or ravaged

the supply chains

the systems used to get parts or materials for production

rely on

depend on

exacerbated

made worse

prevalence of

common use or regular occurrence of

prone to

likely to suffer from