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                 UNIT 6
  
TEXT

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 Ч
    industrial                
a.  of industry  ҵ
    neat                      
a.  orderly and clean 
    elementary                
a.  of or for beginners ȵģ
    sock                      
n.  
    drawer                    
n.  
    bureau                    
n.  a chest of drawers for bedroom use ¹ 
    underwear                 
n.  
    pants                     
n.  trousers 
    expert                    
n.  a person with special knowledge or skill רң
    kitchen                   
n.  room used for cooking
    utensil                   
n.  any tool or container used in the house, esp. for cookingþߣ
    quality                   
n.  the degree of goodness which a thing or a person possessesƷ
    foundation                
n.  
    career                    
n.  profession; way of making a livingְҵ
    engineering               
n.  ѧ
    unfortunately             
ad. ҵǣź
    bossy                     
a.  always telling other people what to do and how to do it, like a boss ָ˵ģר
    project                   
n.  a piece of work; a big planĿ
    bachelor                  
n.  a person who had the first university degreeѧʿ
    graduation                
n.  completion of an educational courseҵ
    graduate                 
vi.
    short-term                
a.  involving or lasting a short period of time ڵ
    basis                 
n.  
    consultant                
n.  a person who gives professional or technical advice 
    consult                  
v.              
    amaze                     
vt. fill with great surprise or wonder ʹΪȣʹ
    curious                    
a.  strange ֵ
    whatsoever                
a.  of any kind, at all κεģ˿
    inspect                   
vt. examine 
    shipment                  
n.  the act of wending, carrying or delivering goods װˡ
    miss                      
vt. be without; lack
    button                    
n.  ť
    collar                    
n.  
    sleeve                    
n.  
    relieve                   
vt. make less or easier  
    boring                    
a.  uninteresting and tiresome ᷳ
    workroom                  
n.  a room specially kept for working in  䣩       
    dull                      
a.  not bright or clear 
    flow                      
n.  a smooth steady movement or supply 
    work flow                
a.  
    irregular                 
n.  uneven; not continuous ģȶ
    regular                  
n.
    absent-minded             
a.  so concerned with one's thoughts as not to notice what is happening, what one doing, etc.  Ĳ                 
    absent                    
a.  not present 
    inspection                
n.  the act of examining (sth.) closely or in detail 
    assembly                  
n.  װ
    assemble                   
v.
    assembly line           
n.  װ
    shift                     
n.  ְࣻ
    daydream                  
v.  have pleasant dreamlike thoughts (about) Σ
    fire                      
vt. make (sb.) leave his job  
    observation               
n.  the act of watching carefully ۲
    observe                   
vt.
    observe                   
n.
    oral                      
a.  spoken, not written ڣͷ
    findings                  
n.  the results of any research or enquiry 飨оĽ
    major                     
a.  important ϴģҪ
    redesign                 
vt. 
    design                   
vt. 
    achieve                  
vt. get by effort  Ŭõʵ
    decrease                  
vt. make smaller or fewer 
    worktable                 
n.  a table at which work is done ̨
    operator                  
n.  a person who makes sth. work Ա
    operate                  
vt. 
    management                
n.  ʷţ
    background                
n.  
    beautify                  
vt. make beautiful װ
    setting                   
n.  surroundings     
    productive                
a.  producing much; able to produce ģгЧ
    frequent                  
a.  happening often Ƶ
    promotion                 
n.  ٽ
    promote                  
vt.
    incentive                 
n.  ̼
    suggestion                
n.  an idea or plan put forward for people to think about 
    co-owner                  
n.  a joint owner ͬ
    manager                   
n.  a person responsible  for running a section of a business 
    compliments               
n.  formal respects or greetingsشʣʺ

PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

    find out             
    learn or discover 
    turn out              
    happen to be or found be in the end  
    quality control      
the activity of checking that products are all of satisfactory standard and quality, usu. by testing samples of them ƣ
as a result          
    because of  
    except for           
    apart from; with the exception of  ... 
    go on strike         
    refuse go continue working չ
    hold up              
    delay ӳ٣飻谭 
    result in            
    have as a result; cause ǣ
    talk over           
    discuss  
    keep up with         
    go or move as fast as                                                                                    
PEOPER NAMES

    San Adams            
    ķ.ǵ˹ 
    Indiana                
    ӡڰɣ
    Hobbs                 
    ˹ϣ                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       









