Mac Kenae» Ion

management 1 .18 marketing

Working Conditions

EXERCISE 1
Complete the text using the words in the box:
Absenteeism- colleagues contracts duties flexitime-
holiday -leave- -manual- -maternity morale-
-satisfaction- security- sick pay- -workforce- vacation-
My working conditions? I'd say they're really good. The working hours are very reasonable — 38
hours a week, Mondays to Fridays only, and I get four weeks paid ( l ) VACATIONI always go on a
two-week (2)HOLIDAY in the summer and I like to take another week to go skiing in the winter. That
still leaves a few days if I want to take time off for something else. I think we're even allowed to take
unpaid (3) LEAVE. if it's really necessary. They introduced a (4) FLEXITIME . system last year, so I
can start any time between 7.30 and 9.30 in the morning, so I sometimes leave at 4 in the afternoon. Of
course this means we now have to clock in and clock out, so we have to do the right number of hours.

Women get generous (5) MATERNITY leave, although that doesn't concern me yet, and
there are a lot of women employed half-time or part-time here, so they have time for their children.

Of course I'm a full-time white-collar worker, hoping to make a career here. My (6) . COLLEAGUES .
and I have permanent (7)CONTRACTS . At least we think so, it's hard to be sure about job
(8)SECURITY these days. We are consulted if they want to change our (9) DUTIES. or anything.

The entire (10) WORKFORCE is well-treated, not just us. The company's blue-collar workers, doing
(11) MANUAL jobs, also have good conditions of employment.

It all makes a change from when I was a student, when I did casual, unskilled, seasonal work for a fruit
company, paid by the hour, with no (12) SICK PAY or holiday pay or anything. They treated workers
really badly, so (13) MORALEwas low, nobody was motivated, productivity was minimal, and there
was a lot of (14) .ABSENTEEISM . and high turnover — I used to see nesv people almost every day.
There was no job (15)SATISFACTION, and nothing changed if our performance was good or bad, so
we all did the minimum.

EXERCISE 2
Match up the following words and expressions into logical pairs:
l . career a. blue-collar
worker
2. flexitime b.job satisfaction
3. having a baby c. clocking in
4. manual labour d. permanent job
5. motivation e. maternity
leave
 6. office work f. white collar
worker
1 d 2 c 3 e 4 a b 6 f
5
manage men,' 1 .19 market i n g

Industrial Relations

EXERCISE 1
Match up the following words with the underlined words in the text.

-complaints dismissed enemy-

group negotiations -ignored- trade-
pay - role- staff –
stop working- unfairly-treated- unprofitable-

Workers in many industries are organized into unions which attempt to protect their members'
interests. These are known as labor unions in the US, and as trade unions in Britain, because they are
largely organized according to ( l ) area of work GROUP NEGOTIATIONS or skill: there are unions
for railway workers, electricians, bank (2) employees,STAFF teachers, and so on. In other countries,
such as France, unions are largely political: workers in different industries join a union with a
particular political position.

The primary (3) function ROLE of unions is to attempt to ensure fair (4) wages PAY, reasonable
working hours and safe working conditions for their members. Unions take part in (5) collective
bargaining TRADE with employers. They can also pursue uith management the (6) grievances
COMPLAINTS of individual employees, and defend workers who consider that they have been (7)
victimized.UNFAIRLY TREATED For example, they might insist on the reinstatement of a worker
who was unfairly (8) sacked DISMISSED

When unions are dissatisfied with the results of collective bargaining, their most powerful weapon is
to (9) go on strike.STOP WORKING Workers on strike sometimes picket their place of work i.e.
they stand outside the entrance, trying to persuade other workers and delivery drivers not to enter. Of
course striking workers do not get paid, so unions sometimes take other forms of industrial action
such as a go-slow (GB) or slowdown (US), or a work-to-rule, when they begili to obey every rule
and regulation, including those which are generally (10) disregarded,IGNORED which severely
reduces the amount of work done.

Labour relations are usually better in companies, or industries, or whole countries, where employers
consider unions as necessary partners,' to be regularly consulted on matters which concern them.
Where both sides treat the other as an ( l l ) adversary,ENEMY there are likely to be a lot of strikes
and disputes. But there will always be problems when employers want to abolish (12)
uneconomicUNPROFITABLE jobs and working practices, and workers want to preserve them
 EXERCISE 2
Match up the following verbs and nouns:

l . to go a. a factory
2. to join b. industrial action
3. to picket c. on strike
4. to reinstate d. a union
5. to take e. a worker
1 C 2D 3 E 4 A 5 B
 management 1 .20 marketing

Redundancy

Insert these words in the text:

core
competition created decision-making delayering
dismiss
demand employ globalization -merged
-recessi
outsource -reports sub-contractors temporary
on
There are several verbs in English that mean to ( l )EMPLOY one or more new members of staff,
including to hire, to engage, to appoint, and to take on. Significantly, there are a far greater number of
verbs and expressions that mean to dismiss staff.

If you do somethinu •wrong, your employer can you (or give you the sack) or fire you. Other idioms
include to give someone the boot or the elbow or the chop. But even if you have done nothing wrong, your
employer can easily choose to lay. you off or make you redundant, i.e. to (2) DISMISS. you because you
are no longer needed. There are various reasons why companies might need fewer staff:

• because they have taken over, or been taken over by, or (3) DELAYERING with, another company, in
which case existing jobs can often be combined; because they are suffering from declining sales in a
(4) RECESSION because hiring (5) TEMPORARY staff— people doing occasional, casual, part-tinw
work; people on short, fixed-term contracts; and people working for employment agencies — allows a
company to respond to fluctuations in (6) DECISION-MAKING because they are experiencing greater
(7) COMPETITION following deregulation and the (8)GLOBALIZATION of the world economy;

• because (9)MERGED . , i.e. flattening the organizational structure by stripping the hierarchy of several
levels of middle nvanagers, might make (10)OUTSOURCE . quicker and easier; because many
companies find it cheaper to concentrate on their central or ( l l ) CORE activities, and to contract out or
(12) . DEMAND. other services from specialized external companies;
• and because jobs that were formerly done by several people can now be done by a single computer.

Yet in their press releases and annual (13) REPORTS , most companies do not write that "we have laid Off
50 members of staff." They generally prefer other expressions and phrases, such as re-engineering or re-
structuring the corporation, or refocusing business strategy, or right-sizing, or down-sizing, or dehiring, or
outplacement, or readjusting the company's skill-mix, or increasing capital effectiveness, or tightly
controlling operating costs, and so on.

Yet whatever they call it, many large companies are employing fewer and fewer staff. Most Of the jobs
currently being (14) CREATED are in small and medium sized companies, including those acting as
(15) .SUB-CONTRACTORS to larger organizations.

Now translate the highlighted expressions in the text into your own language.
Give you the sack= a te concedia
Give someone the boot= a-ți da papucii
The elbow or the chop= a prinde osul sau cotletul
Lay you off=a te concedia
 Cultural Stereotypes and Management

You have probably heard jokes like this (British) one:

What is the difference between heaven and hell? In heaven, the French are the cooks, the
Germans are the engineers, the British are the politicians, the Swiss are the managers, and the
Italians are the lovers. In hell, the British are the cooks, the French are the managers, the Italians
are the engineers, the Germans are the politicians, and the Swiss are the lovers.

Do you find such stereotypes amusing or offensive? Is there any truth in national stereotypes? Do cultural habits
have an effect on business practices and management styles?

EXERCISE 1
Match up the following adjectives into pairs of opposites:
Arrogant chaotic Hardworkin devious
generous hospitable g noisy tolerant
lazy lively mean modest
narrow-minded individualistic progressive public-spirited
quiet relaxed reserved serious
conservative trustworthy unfriendly well-organized

Arrogant- modest

Generous - individualistic

Narrow minded- progressive

quiet- noisy mean

Conservative- relaxed

Chaotic- well-organized

Hospitable- unfriendly

Lazy- hardworking

Chaotic- well-organized

Trustworthy- reserved

Lively-serious

Devious- tolerant
 Do you think any of these descriptions could apply, in general, to the people in your country, or in
neighbouring countries?

EXERCISE 2
More seriously, which countries or parts of the world do you think the following descriptions might apply to? Do
stereotypes help or hinder business relationships? Are they unfair?

l . They believe that personal relationships and friendships are more important than rules and formal procedures.
2. They believe that rules are very important, and exceptions shouldn't be made for friends.
3. They're collectivist, so they dislike the idea of one person in a group earning much more than his or her
colleagues.
4. They're efficient, punctual, and highly organized.
5. They're great believers in analysis, rationality logic and systems.
6. They're individualistic, so paying people according to their performance is highly successful.
7. They like to spend time getting to know people before doing business with them.
8. They place great stress on personal relations, intuition, emotion, feeling and sensitivity.
9. They seem to be very disorganized, but on the other hand, they get their business done.
10. They accord status and respect to older people, and promotion comes with age. l l . They're very keen to find
a consensus and to avoid confrontations.
12. They're very short-term oriented, thinking only of quarterly results.

All the words in the box form strong collocations with the word business. Complete the sentences below using
words from the box:

Verbs: get down To set up

Adjectives: go in
Nouns: core Give into
do big go out of
card ethic
class cycle hours
leade s
plan trip
rs class scho
partners ol

. English language teaching is .SCHOOL . . business in this town. Thousands of students come here
every year.
2.
.SET UP IN business there.
 3. I travel business . TRIP . because it's comfortable, and I arrive relaxed and ready to GO INTO business
straight away.
4. Look, I told you, we have to invite him tor dinner because I think he's going to .GIVE ME lot of business.

5. She has such good ideas she really ought to . DO . business.

6. She's over in Hong Kong looking for new business .LEADERS

7. That's the last time I go on a business . CLASS to Canada in January: I waited two days in the airport for the
snow to stop.
The bank refused to lend me any money because they weren't convinced by the business CARD. . I showed them.
9. The opposition spokesman claimed that the government had clearly lost the confidence ot business PLAN

10. He . .GOES OUT OF. . . . . business just three days after leaving business PARTNERS. . l l . The
trouble with this job is that I deal with Japanese and Latin American customers who phone me at
home at night, because thev're in bed during our business . .HOURS. . .
12. Wait a second, let me give you my e-mail address; I don't think it's on my business . . CORE. . .
13. We're going to divest the subsidiaries we bought in the 1980s and concentrate on our . BIG business.

14. Well, if there isn't an upturn in the business CYCLE. . soon, about a quarter of the firms in this town
are going to . DO business.
15. We seem to have different conceptions of business ETCHIS I'm talking about our responsibilities to our
employees; you're talking about maximi:ino profits.

w many of these collocations can be directly translated into your language?

2 .] nit' r k erulk'

Production and Operations Management

EXERCISE 1
Read the text and then decide whether the statements on the next page are TRUE or FALSE.

Manufacturing companies require three basic functions: finance, production or operations, and marketing.
Finance raises the capital to buy the equipment to -start the -business, production or operations makes the
product, and marketing sells and distributes it. Operations management is also of crucial importance to service
companies.

The objectives of the production department are usually to produce a specific product, on schedule, at minimum
cost. But there may be other criteria, such as concentrating on quality and product reliability, producing the
maximum possible volume of output, fully utilizing the plant or the work force, reducing lead time, generating
the maximum return on assets, or ensuring flexibility for product or volume changes. Some of these objectives
are clearly incompatible, and most companies have to choose between price, quality, and flexibility. There is an
elementary trade-off between low cost and quality, and another between low cost and the flexibility to customize
products or to deliver in a very short lead time.

Production and operations management obviously involves production plants and factories or service branches,
and the equipment in them, parts (raw materials or supplies), processes (the steps by which production or services
are carried out), and planning and control systems (the procedures used by management to operate and monitor
the system). But it also involves people — the personnel or human resources, who will always be necessary in
production and operations, despite increasing automation. People are particularly important in organizations
offering a service rather than making a product. Such organizations exist to serve the customer, but it can also be
argued that they have to serve their workforce, because workers will often treap the public the same way that
management treats them, so staff training and motivation are clearly important.

Manufacturing companies all have to decide how much research and development (R&D) to do. Should they do
fundamental or applied research themselves, or use research institutes, universities, and independent research
laboratories, or simply license product or service designs from other organisations as necessary? Companies are
faced with a 'make or buy' decision for every item, process or service.

Decisions about what products to make or what services to offer have to take into account a company's
operational capability, and labour, capital and equipment requirements. Introducing new products obviously
requires accurate sales forecasting. If it is necessary to construct a new plant or facility, decisions have to be
made concerning its location, its size or capacity, the floor layout, the hiring of staff, the purchase of equipment,
the necessary level of inventory of parts and finished products, and so on.
managemen: 2.] mar k c ling
. Production or operations management is important to all businesses. TRUE/FAL
SE
TRUE/FALSE
2. Production departments usually concentrate on quality,
quantity, and flexibility.

3. Workers who are treated well will probably be more productive. TRUE/FALSE

TRUE/FAL
4. Large companies are generally obliged to
do their own research and development. SE

5. Decision-making concerning new products or the TRUE/FALSE

building of new production facilities follows sales
forecasting.

EXERCISE 2
Match up these words to make collocations:

1. human a. companies
2. lead b. laboratories
3. manufacturing c. management
4. operations d. materials
 5. raw e. on assets
6. research f. resources
7. return g. time
8. staff h. training
1- b, 2- a, 3- g, 4- h, 5- f, 6-d, 7-e, 8-c

EXERCISE 3
Match up the following verbs and nouns:
1. do
a. capital
2. make b. customers
3. forecast c. a plant
4. hire d. a product
5. purchase e. research
6. raise f. sales
7. serve g. staff
8. utilize h. raw-
materials
1-f ; 2- e, 3- b; 4- h; 5-c 6-a; 7- c; 8- g

Now translate the highlighted expressions in the text into your own language.
 2 .2

EXERCISE 1

Factory Location
facility
components infrastructure
lead time
layout retailers
subcontractors utilities wholesalers

Match the words in the box with the definitions below:

1.layout.=a factory or plant in which production is carried out
2. subcontractors= companies providing goods or services for another organization
3. wholesalers= shops and stores which sell to the final customer or end-user
4. infrastructure=roads, railways, airports, telecommunications, and so on
5. utilities=services supplied to houses, factories and public buildings, such as electricity, gas, water and
sewage, and telephone lines
6. facility= intermediaries between producers and retailers, who stock goods, and deliver them
7. components=the pieces or parts that make up a manufactured product
8.retailers= the placement of departments, workstations, machines and so on in a factory
9. lead time = the time needed to manufacture 0T deliver a product

EXERCISE 2
Complete the text using the words in the box above.

The decision to make a new product usually involves changing equipment and altering the. (1)
INFRASTRUCTURE. . of an existing factory, or constructing a new production (2) . LAYOUT When
deciding where to locate a plant or factory, a company has to take into consideration a number of factors,
including the efficiency of the region's (3) . SUBCONTRACTORS, including telecommunications, and
road and rail transport; its (4) COMPONENTS. — the supply of energy and so on; the cost of land and
construction; and local tax rates. Land usually becomes cheaper the further you go from a city centre, but
a company must make sure that it will be able to find appropriate labour skills at a suitable price. It also
needs determine the availability and cost of raw materials, (5)UTILITIES . and supplies, and the (6)
FACILITY to acquire them. The company must also take into account the cost of transporting raw
materials and components from suppliers and (7) . RETAILERS and shipping or distributing products to
(8) .WHOLESALERS
warehouses, (9) . LEAD TIME. . . . . . . . , or other plants in the network. Transport costs and time
constraints make it logical to produce close to the customer.
 2 .3

EXERCISE 1
EXERCISE 3
Match up these words to make collocations from the text:
1. production 2. rail 3. tax 4. labour 5. lead 6. transport 7.
time
a. transport b. facility c. skills d. constraints e. time f. rates g.
costs
1 B 2 G 3 F 4 C 5 E 6 D 7 A

managem c n: mark-cuing
Factory Capacity

Ten sentences in the text are unfinished. Choose the correct sentence endings from a to j below.

Manufacturing companies have to make difficult decisions concerning the size of their production capacity.
Having a large capacity enables a firm to meet unexpected increases in demand. When there is strong market
growth and insufficient capacity you have to move fast: insufficient capacity, leading to a long lead time and slow
service, may cause customers to go to other suppliers, and [1.
Furthermore, lost sales and lost market share tend to be irreversible. On the other hand, occasional
overdemand has to be balanced against overcapacity, which might lead to under-utilizing the workforce,
which is clearly expensive, or make it necessary to reduce prices to stimulate demand,

Yet most companies budget for a certain capacity cushion — an amount of capacity in excess of
expected demand. it is also necessary to plan for occasional downtime, [3. .
Capacity can also be affected by external considerations such as government regulations concerning
working hours, safety, pollution levels, and so on, trade union agreements, and [4. There are also inrernal
considerations such as the training and motivation of the personnel, the capabilities and reliability of the
equipment, the control of materials and quality, and [5. .
Producing in large quantities allows a firm to take advantage of quantity discounts in purchasing, and lowers
the average fixed cost per unit produced, as each succeeding unit absorbs part of the fixed costs, giving [6• .]. The
best operating level is the level of capacity for which the average unit cost is at a minimum, after which there are
[7. .]. There are also disadvantages to having large-scale facilities. Finding staff becomes more difficult, and [8. . l.
Moreover, the working environment, and consequently industrial relations, are [9. .
A plant's ideal capacity is very likely nor maximum capacity — e.g. operating 24 hours a day, with three shifts
of workers — as this may be inefficient in terms of higher labour costs (shiftwork or overtime payments), [1 0. . .
1.
 2 .4

EXERCISE 1
a. allow competitors to enter the market
b. diseconomies of scale
c. economies of scale
d. frequently less good in large factories
e. higher maintenance expenses, and so on
f. the capabilities of the management
g. the capabilities of suppliers
h. the logistics of material flow become more complicated

i. to produce additional products that are less profitable

j. when production stops because of equipment failures

EXERCISE 2
Match up the following collocations from the text:

l . capacity 5. market a. costs e. flow

2. expected 6. material b. cushion f. levels
3. fixed 7. pollution c. demand g.
regulations
4. government 8. working d. environment h. share

ma rice 'i n Inventory

Match the words in the box with the definitions below:

delivery discounts inventory
obsolescence opportunity cost production run
shortages storage theft
l. a business's stock of raw materials, component parts, supplies, work in process, or finished products
2. a period of producing one particular product without adapting the production equipment 3.
becoming out of date; being replaced by something newer and better or more fashionable
4. keeping things for use in the future
5. taking something that belongs to someone else; stealing
6. supplying the customer with something that has been ordered
7. the benefits or advantages lost by spending money in one way rather than another
8. price reductions
9. insufficient supply to meet demand
 2 .5

EXERCISE 1
EXERCISE 2
Complete the text using the words in the box above.

There are obviously advantages to having a large ( l ) . of raw materials and component parts. It gives you
protection against temporary price rises, and delays in the (2) . of raw materials, due to (3)
, strikes, orders that get lost, incorrect or defective shipments, and so on. You can also take
advantage of quantity (4) . . . . . in purchasing. Having a large inventory of finished goods allows you to
meet variation in product demand, and to be more flexible in product scheduling, with longer production
lead times and reduced costs because of larger (5) with fewer set-ups. If you have a long
delivery lead time there is always a risk that some customers may go to other suppliers, or that new
competitors will enter the market.

On the other hand, keeping an inventory involves various costs. (6) requires warehousing
facilities, handling goods involves labour costs, and unsold goods have to be insured. All this money
could perhaps be more profitably spent in other ways: it is always necessary to consider the . of
the capital involved.

Furthermore, there is always a risk of (8) especially for high-tech products with a short life
cycle, and of (9) . or breakage. If an inventory of finished goods gets too large, it may be
necessary to reduce prices to stimulate demand.

All these disadvantages led to the development of the just-in-time (JIT) production system, which does
away with inventories.
 2.6

tnanaocnten,• marketing Jast-In-Time

Production

e responses on the right a. American companies have developed

questions on the left: versions of JIT, which they call lean
production, or stockless production, or
continuous flow manufacture. But over
here there's always the risk of strikes or
other problems, so companies prefer to
keep reserve inventories. Not so much just-
in-time as just-in-case ...

b. It's a system in which products are 'pulled'

through the manufacturing process from
the end, rather than 'pushed' through from
the
t's Just-ln-Tnne production, then? beginning.
 2.7
c. Several. There's no risk of overproduction if
ean, exactly? demand falls, or of idle workers waiting for
panese idea? work-in-process to arrive. It shortens
throughput time, which increases
s are delivered just when productivity. And it probably means that
, so there's no inventory? defects or quality problems are noticed
more quickly.
rous? I mean, if just one
deliver on time, or delivers d. Sure, but the big Japanese manufacturers
onents have large networks of subcontractors, and
the whole system is based on long-term
ther advantages, apart from relationships and mutual trust.
ory costs?
e. That's the idea. JIT regards inventories as
e do it in Europe and the
avoidable costs, rather than as assets.

f. Well, nothing is bought or produced until it

is needed. Each section of the production process makes the necessary units
only when they are required by the next stage of the manufacturing process,
or by distributors or customers.

g. Yes. The system is usually credited to Taiichi Ohno at Toyota in the early
1950s, but he said he got the idea from looking at American supermarkets.
ma na g cm e n

Factory Layout

Complete the text using these words:

batches changeover construction continuous
equipment flexibility functions location shut-
placement rehandling series downs

The layout of a production facility — the (1) bf departments, workstations, machines,

stockholding points, and so on — obviously depends on the type of production being carried out. Some
plants, especially those involving furnaces that take a long time to heat up, as in steel and glass production,
are designed for a single (2) . . . . . . process, without any start-ups and (3) . Other plants are
designed for assembly line production, in which the same (4) of steps is repeated again and
again, but not 24 hours a day. Yet assembly lines are generally designed and equipped to give the (5) . . to
make different products without needing to change the layout, and with (6) . . times between production
processes that are as short as possible. This is especially the case today when product life cycles are tending
to shorten.
 2.8
There are three basic production layouts. The first is product layout or flow-shop layout, as in a standard
production line or assembly line, in which (7) . . or work processes are arranged according to the progressive
steps by which the product is made. The ideal is perhaps a straight-line flow pattern, in which workstations
are close together, and there is a smooth work flow between departments and work centres, without any
backtracking or (8) . . of materials, or the need to store materials between different stages of production.

Some assembly lines produce the same basic product for months at a time; others are used to making
(9) . . . . of different products, or even smaller job lots.

The second basic production layout is process layout or job-shop layout or layout by function, in which
similar equipment or (10) . are grouped together. This layout is used in some factories and, outside
of manufacturing, in buildings such as schools and hospitals. Schools, for example, often have classrooms
close together in one part of the building, science laboratories in another, offices in a third, and so on;
hospitals have general wards, specialised departments, operating theatres, and so on.

The third production layout is fixed position layout, in which the product remains at one (11) .
because of its large size or shape. This is used, for example, in shipbuilding and on (12) . . sites.

Since it is not always possible to use one layout exclusively, many manufacturing facilities are a
combination of two types. For example, some car factories are based on a flow-shop layout with an
assembly line, but also have elements of a process layout, such as separate areas for spray-painting and
vehicle testing.

Now translate the highlighted expressions in the text into your own language.

Safety

EXERCISE 1
Complete the text using these words:
contamination
emergency enforce fire drills protective
fire hazard
first aid injury clothing working
safety
record toxic environment
procedures
As the Safety Officer, I am responsible for ensuring that the (1) . . is safe. There are some potentially
dangerous machines in this factory, so I carry out regular inspections, to see that they are functioning
correctly. And some of the materials we work with are (2) , so there is a risk of (3 ) .
Other chemical agents represent a potential (4) . , so we have to make sure that they are stored and handled
properly.
 2.9
I have to ensure that all the (5) . . are. correctly carried out, and that people wear rhe correct
so that preventable accidents never happen. Of course, some accidents are unforeseeable,
but I have to (7) the safety regulations and make sure that no one suffers an because of our
negligence.

I organize regular (9) . . courses, so everyone knows how to treat someone who is hurt. We also have regular
(10) . , so that people will know what to do if there is a fire — where the fire alarms and emergency
exits and fire extinguishers are, and so on.

Would you like to come up here to get a better view of the factory floor? OK, be careful, this is a steep
staircase.

I would also have to co-ordinate operations in the event of an ( I l ) . But since I've been here we've
never had a serious accident. No, please don't lean over the railing like that. In fact we have a remarkably
good safety (12) . . . . . . . . . here, and everybody seems to respect the — CAREFUL! I said DON'T. .

EXERCISE 2
Match up the following verb-noun partnerships. Looking back at the text may help.
l . carry out a. an accident victim
2. enforce b. accidents
3. handle c. an injury
4. prevent d. an inspection
5. respect e. dangerous chemicals
6. suffer f. protective clothing
7. treat g. regulations
8. wear h. safety procedures
ma nag e 'net,"

The Manufacturing Cycle

Read the text and then complete the empty boxes in the chart:

The Manufacturing Cycle both begins and ends with customers, in the sense that new product ideas often
come from customers, via the sales and marketing departments, and because, of course, when it is made, the
new product is sold to these customers.

The marketing people have a big input into product design, but of course, the designers have to work with
the manufacturing engineering people, who have to make sure that the product is producible, who in turn
work with the industrial engineering department, which is responsible for acquiring the machines and
equipment necessary to make the new product.

Central to the manufacturing process is production planning and control, which has direct links with the
procurement of supplies of materials or components, with production, and with inventory control.
 2.10
Of course quality control is necessary in several areas: the supply of components, the receiving of
components, the production department itself, and the shipping of the finished product.
 m a n kcting

Make and Do

The use of the verbs make and do often causes difficulties for learners of English. As a generalisation,
we can say that make means to bring Into existence (like making things in a production department) or
to produce a result (e.g. make a profit, make changes), and do means to perform an action (e.g. do an
exercise, to do your homework).

an enquiry an application an offer a deal a

requestan excuse money a profit or a loss an appointment
arrangements or plans a complaint an apology make
a decision a choice a forecast a mistake
progress a phone call an effort an attempt certain
or sure a business trip changes, or an
improvement

business a job some work an

exercise homework good wrong the accounts do
your duty an experiment research well, or better
someone a favour damage or harm repairs something to, or
for, or with someone something for a living

Complete the following sentences with the correct form of either make or do, and one of the words or
expressions from the boxes above.

1. Janine, can you try to . . . me . . . . . . . . . with my dentist for this afternoon, please?
2. Michael, can you . . . . . me . . ? i need to borrow a car.
3. No, we don't know what went wrong yet, but we're . . . . . . . some .
4. He said I wasn't working hard enough and I'd really have to .. . . . an . .
5. I can't tell you now, but we expect to . . . . . . early next week.
6. We're . . much . than last year; we're definitely . procress.
7. We spent three days . . . . . . . . . to the warehouse roof after the storm last week.
8. . . . . . . . . a lot of .in Japan, and since the profit margin is high, we . lot of
9. I checked the figures last night and found that I'd a lot of
10. It's either one or the other. You'll have to .