Read the article again and answer these questions.

1.	What is Keith Harrison’s job, and when did he start it?
2.	How big is P&G’s supply chain?
3.	What pressure are retailers and suppliers under?
4.	What is one thing that P&G is trying to do with its supply chain?
5.	What else is P&G trying to do with its supply chain?
6.	How does supply-chain management usually operate in a company?
7.	How can a supplier’s effective supply chain help retailers?
8.	What does P&G want from its customers if it improves its supply-chain performance and reduces their out-of-stocks and inventory levels?
9.	How important a customer is Wal-Mart for P&G?
10.	What kind of co-operation do Wal-Mart and P&G have?
11.	Is P&G the only company to have access to Wal-Mart’s Retail Link data?
12.	What is special about P&G’s Missouri factory?

 

Vocabulary

Find words or phrases in the article which fit these meanings.

1.	something that gives a company an advantage over others (paragraph A)
2.	fight against (paragraph A)
3.	extremely valuable and rate, which a lot of people want (paragraph A)
4.	in the leading position (paragraph B)
5.	rapidly increasing (paragraph B)
6.	the way goods are arranged in a store so they are easily seen by customers (paragraph D)
7.	a test done on a small scale to see how something works (paragraph E)
8.	information about sales, which is current or in real time (paragraph F)
9.	replacement of what has been used or sold (paragraph F)
10.	put together in a certain way (paragraph F)

 

Use the words and phrases in the box to complete the sentences.

 

cost control	freight costs	growth targets
inventory	replenishment deliveries	road congestion
sales data	vendors	working capital

 

1.	To keep costs down, it is important for retailers to keep their __________ levels as low as possible.
2.	If retailers carry too much stock, they will use a lot of their __________ __________.
3.	A more cost-effective way to operate is to schedule _________ _________ on a just-in-time basis.
4.	If suppliers have live access to a customer’s __________ __________, they can prepare deliveries specially for each store.
5.	Suppliers are also known as __________.
6.	Delivering goods by truck now takes longer in many countries due to increased __________ __________.
7.	With rising oil prices, __________ __________ are also going up.
8.	A traditional aim of supply-chain managers is __________ __________, keeping costs down.
9.	P&G is using its supply chain to meet sales __________ __________.

 

Complete the chart.

noun	verb	noun	verb
shipment	__________ 1	investment	__________ 6
distribution	__________ 2	replenishment	__________ 7
growth	__________ 3	storage	__________ 8
improvement	__________ 4	competition	__________ 9
delivery	__________ 5	manufacturer	__________ 10

 

Choose the best explanation for each phrase from the article.

1.	‘ … capacity issues ’. (line 14)
		a)	problems about the company’s expertise
		b)	problems about production volumes
2.	‘ … input costs ’. (line 21)
		a)	costs of materials purchased by a company
		b)	costs of manpower employed by a company
3.	‘ … top-line sales growth ’. (line 23)
		a)	increased sales turnover
		b)	better sales of the most profitable products
4.	‘ … a growth engine for the company … ’ (lines 23-24)
		a)	something that will make the company bigger
		b)	something that will help the company increase sales
5.	‘ … bottom-line performance ’. (line 27)
		a)	better sales of poor performing products
		b)	better profitability
6.	‘ … sharper pricing … ’ (line 36)
		a)	more competitive prices
		b)	more risky prices

 

We often use the passive form of the verb to describe a process.

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form of the passive.

Rather than shipping the required volume to a distribution centre, where it ________ then ________¹ (divide) up for each store, the shipments ________ instead ________² (prepare) at the factory for individual stores. So, when the goods arrive at the Wal-Mart distribution centre, they ________ ________³ (move) directly from P&G’s truck to the appropriate Wal-Mart truck, with no time in storage. It ________ ________⁴ (assemble) for a store, and it is just flowing through the system.

 

Speaking practice

1.	Imagine you are the supply-chain manager at a consumer goods manufacturer like P&G. Hold a meeting with your customer, a large supermarket chain. Argue for things such as sharper pricing and better display of your products in return for reducing the customer’s costs of holding inventory levels because of the efficiency of your supply chain.
2.	Give a presentation to the board of your company to explain how using your customers’ live sales data can help reduce their inventory levels and at the same time increase sales of your company’s products.

 

 

SUPPLEMENTARY UNIT 2