大學英語精讀第一冊UNIT 6. Sam Adams, Industrial Engineer

San set out to improve efficiency at the shirt factory but, as we find out later in this unit, his plans turned out not quite as he had expected.

Sam Adams, Industrial Engineer

    If you ask my mother how I happened to become an industrial engineer, she'll tell you that I have always been one.
    She means that I have always wanted everything to be well organized and neat. When I was still in elementary school, I liked to keep my socks in the upper left-hand drawer of my bureau, my underwear in the upper right drawer, shirts in the middle drawer, and pants, neatly folded, in the bottom drawer.
    In fact, I was the efficiency expert for the whole family. I used to organize my father's tools, my mother's kitchen utensils, my sister's boyfriends.
    I needed to be efficient. I wanted to be well organized. For me, there was a place for everything and everything was always in its place. These qualities gave me a good foundation for a career in industrial engineering.
    Unfortunately, I was also a bit bossy and I wasn't a very good listener. You'll see what I mean when I tell you about the first project I ever did after I finished my bachelor's degree at the university.
    After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn't have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father's, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.
    I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really amazed at what I saw.
    Most curious of all, there was no quality control whatsoever. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, even a sleeve sometimes!
    The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn't gone on strike.
    Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim," who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn't fired.
    After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings. I covered my major points by telling him the following:
    "If you have a quality control inspection, you will greatly improve your finished product."
    "If the assembly line is redesigned, a smooth work flow can be achieved and time and energy can be saved."
    "If you decrease the height of the worktables, the machine operators will work more comfortably."
    "If the management provides pleasant background music and beautifies the dull setting, the factory will be much more productive."
    "If the workers have a fifteen-minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon, they will be more efficient."
    "If excellent work results in frequent pay increases or promotions, the workers will have greater incentive to produce."
    Mr. Hobbs thanked me for this report and told me he would talk over my suggestions with his brother, the co-owner and manager of the factory. "We're interested in progress here," he said. "We want to keep up with the times."
    He also gave me a check for $ 100 and a box of shirts with his compliments.


NEW WORDS

    efficiency               
n.  the state or quality of being efficient 效率
    industrial               
a.  of industry  工業(yè)的
    neat                     
a.  orderly and clean 整潔的
    elementary               
a.  of or for beginners 初等的，初級的
    sock                     
n.  短襪
    drawer                   
n.  抽屜
    bureau                   
n.  a chest of drawers for bedroom use 衣柜
    underwear                
n.  內衣
    pants                    
n.  trousers
    expert                   
n.  a person with special knowledge or skill 專家，能手
    kitchen                  
n.  room used for cooking　廚房
    utensil                  
n.  any tool or container used in the house, esp. for cooking　用具，器皿
    quality                  
n.  the degree of goodness which a thing or a person possesses　質量；品質
    foundation               
n.  基礎
    career                   
n.  profession; way of making a living　職業(yè)；生涯
    engineering              
n.  工程學；管理
    unfortunately            
ad. 不幸的是；遺憾的是
    bossy                    
a.  always telling other people what to do and how to do it, like a boss 愛指揮人的；專橫的
    project                  
n.  a piece of work; a big plan　項目；方案
    bachelor                 
n.  a person who had the first university degree　學士
    graduation               
n.  completion of an educational course　畢業(yè)
    graduate                
vi.
    short-term               
a.  involving or lasting a short period of time 短期的
    basis                 　　
n.  基礎；根據(jù)
    consultant               
n.  a person who gives professional or technical advice 顧問
    consult                 
v.             
    amaze                    
vt. fill with great surprise or wonder 使大為驚訝，使驚愕
    curious                   
a.  strange 奇怪的
    whatsoever               
a.  of any kind, at all 任何的，絲毫的
    inspect                  
vt. examine 檢查
    shipment                 
n.  the act of wending, carrying or delivering goods 裝運。運送
    miss                     
vt. be without; lack
    button                   
n.  鈕扣
    collar                   
n.  領子
    sleeve                   
n.  袖子
    relieve                  
vt. make less or easier 減輕
    boring                   
a.  uninteresting and tiresome 令人厭煩的
    workroom                 
n.  a room specially kept for working in  工場（間）      
    dull                     
a.  not bright or clear 陰暗的
    flow                     
n.  a smooth steady movement or supply 流（動）
    work flow               
a.  工作流程
    irregular                
n.  uneven; not continuous 不規(guī)則的，不穩(wěn)定的
    regular                 
n.
    absent-minded            
a.  so concerned with one's thoughts as not to notice what is happening, what one doing, etc.  心不在焉                
    absent                   
a.  not present
    inspection               
n.  the act of examining (sth.) closely or in detail 檢查
    assembly                 
n.  組裝；集會
    assemble                  
v.
    assembly line          
n.  裝配線
    shift                    
n.  班；輪班
    daydream                 
v.  have pleasant dreamlike thoughts (about) 做白日夢，空想
    fire                     
vt. make (sb.) leave his job  解雇
    observation              
n.  the act of watching carefully 觀察
    observe                  
vt.
    observe                  
n.
    oral                     
a.  spoken, not written 口（頭）的
    findings                 
n.  the results of any research or enquiry 調查（或研究）的結果
    major                    
a.  important 較大的；主要的
    redesign                
vt. 重新設計
    design                  
vt. 設計
    achieve                 
vt. get by effort  （經(jīng)努力）得到；實現(xiàn)
    decrease                 
vt. make smaller or fewer 減少
    worktable                
n.  a table at which work is done 工作臺
    operator                 
n.  a person who makes sth. work 操作人員
    operate                 
vt.
    management               
n.  資方；管理（部門）
    background               
n.  背景
    beautify                 
vt. make beautiful 美化，裝飾
    setting                  
n.  surroundings  環(huán)境  
    productive               
a.  producing much; able to produce 多產(chǎn)的；富有成效的
    frequent                 
a.  happening often 頻繁的
    promotion                
n.  提升；促進
    promote                 
vt.
    incentive                
n.  刺激
    suggestion               
n.  an idea or plan put forward for people to think about 建議
    co-owner                 
n.  a joint owner 共同所有者
    manager                  
n.  a person responsible  for running a section of a business 經(jīng)理
    compliments              
n.  formal respects or greetings；賀詞；問候


PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

    find out            
    learn or discover 查明；發(fā)現(xiàn)
    turn out             
    happen to be or found be in the end 結果是
    quality control     
the activity of checking that products are all of satisfactory standard and quality, usu. by testing samples of them 質量控制（管理）
as a result         
    because of  作這結果，因此
    except for          
    apart from; with the exception of  除了...外
    go on strike        
    refuse go continue working 罷工
    hold up             
    delay 延遲，耽擱；阻礙
    result in           
    have as a result; cause 結果是；導致
    talk over          
    discuss  商量；討論
    keep up with        
    go or move as fast as 跟上                                                                                  

PEOPER NAMES

    San Adams           
    薩姆.亞當斯
    Indiana               
    印第安納（美國州名）
    Hobbs                
    霍布斯（姓氏）