Jon Lancaster Toyota

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 forced Toyota to temporarily shut down all of the county's plants except for three. But now, for the first time since Japan was struck by the brutal double blow, Toyota has successfully resumed production at all of its facilities.

This doesn't, however, mean things are back to business as usual. As Toyota continues to struggle to secure 150 various auto components, the plants resuming production will operate only at half capacity. Regardless, the plants return to production comes as a most welcome development for not…

Toyota, like all Japanese car manufacturers, is still working fast and furious to recover from the recent blow of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. According to a statement made last week, Toyota will be forced to temporarily shut down all of its North American factories, until parts inventory from Japan resumes  normal levels.

Up until now, Toyota's North American plants have been using inventory they had in stock or parts that were shipped just prior to the disaster. The temporary shutdown is likely to happen later this month. While the move will affect 25,000 workers, no layoffs…