The panel also pointed to one potential immediate problem with the airbags: The inflator propellant is often loaded by hand, not machine.
"Some of the safety-critical aspects of Takata's operations are done manually," it said.
"In particular, Takata should move toward full automation of propellant loading and look for opportunities to increase machine assistance in airbag folding," the panel said.
The panel pointed to other key weaknesses in Takata's corporate organization: It can move product designs to production even with outstanding questions unresolved and it has no clear "ownership" of a product, that is, an individual or team charged to watch how it performs after it is developed.
"Takata product programs (i.e. propellants, airbag inflators, and airbag modules in development) undergo multiple handoffs during their lifetimes," the report said.
"No one person or team is currently specifically tasked with monitoring a product once it is in the fleet."