Activity 1 Reading
Read the following dialogue and answer the following questions.
Howard: Tom, do you remember Mr. Gao, our factory director?
Tom: Of course. Good to see you again, Mr. Gao.
Mr. Gao: Good to see you, Mr. Chambers. Welcome to our factory.
Tom: Thank you. Howard told me you’ve been changing the factory.
Mr. Gao: Yes. We make many things better now.
Howard: We have been able to improve our production methods since the last time you were here. We changed from batch production to flow production.
Tom: That’s sure to improve your efficiency and productivity.
Mr. Gao: We also have computers helping us as a part of production system.
Howard: Right. The computer system helps us check productivity. Let’s show you around the factory, so you can get a good idea of how things work.
Tom: Everything looks great. I’m happy to see that working conditions have gotten much better. The workers must be happier.
Mr. Gao: Yes, they look better.(https://www.daowen.com)
Howard: That’s another reason why productivity has shot up. Here, let’s look at some samples of the new tennis rackets.
Tom: Hmm. The weight and balance are good. I like the new handle. Compared to the ones I saw in Korea and Hong Kong, these are much more durable.
Howard: What do you think about the design?
Tom: The new design looks good, too. These will sell like hotcakes.
Mr. Gao: I’m glad to hear that.
Howard: Me too. Well, we’ll start rolling on these very soon, so we can begin shipping in a month or so.
Tom: That’s great, but we still have to talk about a few things before I can decide if I want to make an order.
Howard: Of course. Let’s get something to eat, and then we can go back to Taipei to talk things over.
Questions:
(1) What kind of production methods are they using now?
(2) Do they use a computer system? If yes, what does the computer system do?
(3) How are the working conditions?
(4) When can the tennis racket company ship the order?