CHAPTER 15 – ON THE PRODUCTION FLOOR
Situation: To better understand the operation at Lintel, John pays a visit to the Production manager on his second day at work. He tries to get some information on the manufacturing process at Lintel.
John: Good morning, Steve. My name is John, and I am the new person in the Finance Department.
Steve: Good morning, John. What can I do for you?
John: As a new person, I need to understand the operation at Lintel. So, I wonder whether I can ask you some questions about the manufacturing process in your department now.
Steve: Hold on a second, John. Let me post this production schedule before we sit down and talk.
Steve: OK, where do you want to start?
John: Well, you can describe the production flow in your department.
Steve: The production process is based on the customer-order information that I receive from the Sales department. First, we order raw materials from our suppliers. Once the materials arrive at our plant, they are transferred to the production floor where they will go through five different processes before they become finished goods.
John: How many suppliers do we deal with? Are they all local suppliers? Do any materials come from overseas?
Steve: We have a very limited number of suppliers. We deal with approximately ten main suppliers in the US, and we only have a handful of suppliers overseas.
John: How do you control the quality of the purchased materials?
Steve: One of the reasons for having a limited number of suppliers is to ensure the quality of raw materials. My Quality Control group works very closely with our suppliers to make sure that they meet our quality requirements.
John: Do you maintain a high level of inventory?
Steve: No, we keep a very low level of inventory.
John: How do you move materials from one department to the next?
Steve: Very easily through the Material Request form. If department B needs materials from department A, it will fill out a Material Request form and give it to department A.
John: A very simple process. How about labor? How do you calculate the labor cost?
Steve: The Engineering department has done a study on the production process. It has calculated the time required by each different process.
John: So, under normal situations, the actual production time of each product should be close to the estimated time calculated by the Engineering department?
Steve: That is right.
John: How do you make sure that we only ship good products to our customers?
Steve: We definitely do not want to send out defective products. My employees are always reminded that product quality is Number One priority at Lintel.
John: Do they understand that they should always give their best and that defective products raise the cost of production?
Steve: Yes, they perfectly understand that. As a matter of fact, our defective rate is lower than one tenth of one percent. We are very proud of our record.
John: How do you maintain this excellent record?
Steve: We adopt the Continuous Improvementspirit. We evaluate our operating results very often and strive to excel in our job. And, those posters on the wall also help. See the slogan Nothing But Excellence over there?
John: Yes. What is good for the company is ultimately good for the employees, right?
Steve: Definitely.
John: Next question. How many production shifts do you currently have?
Steve: There are two shifts. The first one is from 8:00AM to 4:30PM and the second one is from 2:00PM to 10:30PM.
John: Do the employees earn the same hourly rate?
Steve: No, the pay rate of the second shift is ten percent higher than the rate of the first shift.
John: That makes sense, Steve. I think I have enough information for now. I might come back and bother you again if I have more questions. Thanks a lot for your help.
Steve: Any time, John. You know where I am.
Questions/Answers Practice
Q: Where do you receive raw materials?
A: We have a receiving dock in the back of the building.
Q: How do you move heavy products around?
A: We use a forklift to move heavy products around.
Q: Do you package the goods in house?
A: Yes, we package the products ourselves.
Q: How do you ship our products to the customers?
A: We use a shipping company.
Q: How do we make our products?
A: We use an automated system to make our products.
Q: Who takes care of quality control? A: We have a Quality Control department.
Q: Who is in charge of the Production department?
A: Steve is in charge of the Production department.
Q: How much inventories do we carry?
A: We carry a very limited amount of inventories.
Q: When are our employees required to work a overtime?
A: Overtime is required when there is possibility of running behind schedule.
Q: How do you reduce downtime?
A: By taking good care of our equipment, and by keeping track of our inventory level.
3) Comprehension test a) Who is Steve?
- Why does John want to talk to Steve?
- What does John want to talk to Steve about?
- What starts the production process at Lintel?
- What happen to raw materials once they are received?
- Does Lintel deal with a large number of suppliers?
- What is the reason for having a limited number of suppliers?
- How much inventory does Lintel carry?
- How are materials moved from one department to another department?
- How is labor cost calculated?
- How does Steve promote production quality to his employees?
- How does Steve maintain the excellent productionrecord at Lintel?
- What are the production shifts at Lintel?
- Do employees of both shifts receive equal pay?
4) Discussion
- How do you keep control of inventories in your company?
- Why is quality control so important to a company?
- Should we care to produce perfect merchandises? Why? Why not?
GRAMMAR REVIEW
ADVERBS
Adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, while adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns.
Is Jessica well? (Well is an adjective because it describes Jessica)
Does Jessica play the piano well? (Well is an adverb because it describes the verb play)
My Quality Control group works very closely with our suppliers. (Very describes closely which is an adverb)
My kids are rarely sick during the cold seasons. (Rarely describes sick which is an adjective)
Adverbs usually specify how, when, where, and how much when they are used with verbs.
The baby screams loudly. (how)
He will come soon. (when) He will be here. (where)
He eats a lot. (how much)
Formation of adverbs
- Most adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an adjective.
close, closely different, differently
perfect, perfectly
- When an adjective ends in –ly, the adverb retains the same form.
daily, daily
early, early
- Other adverbs are formed from adjectives ending with –le by changing –le into –ly.
simple, simply
ample, amply
1) Other adverbs are formed from adjectives ending with –y by changing –y into –i then add
–ly. easy, easily.
busy, busily.
- Other adverbs are formed from adjectives ending with a vowel and –l by adding another –l and –y. beautiful, beautifully
cultural, culturally
- Other adverbs are simply adverbs by nature. Some of them are:
Again. I will do it again with no regret.
Almost. I am almost done with my homework.
Also. I will also eat the strawberry cake.
Already. I already ate my lunch.
Enough. I have enough problems for today.
Just. The plane just landed.
- Other adverbs are classified as interrogative adverbs because they are used to ask questions. They are:
Where. Where are you going?
Why. Why do you put so much sugar in your coffee? When. When did you go to France?
Questions/Answers Practice
Pair the students and have them practice the following questions and answers. Ask them to come up with similar questions and answers.
| Q: How did Mary play yesterday? | A: Mary played well yesterday. |
| Q: When will John arrive? | A: He will arrive soon. |
| Q: What did the baby do when her mother left? | A: She cried loudly after her mother left. |
| Q: How was she dressed at the party? | A: She dressed very simply. |
| Q: Will you visit me again? | A: I will visit you again whenever I am free. |
| Q: Did you finish your homework? | A: I have already finished my homework. |
| Q: Did you have enough to eat? | A: Yes, I had enough to eat for lunch. |
| Q: Where did you go yesterday? | A: I went to Dallas yesterday. |
| Q: Why are you so late? | A: I am late because I missed the bus. |
| Q: When will I see you again? | A: I will see you when I come back from my trip. |
| Q: When did he leave? | A: He just left. |