Уч.пос. Кузякин А.С., Попова Т.Г. Английский язык для управления цепями поставок

emissions, using new technologies such as stop-start. They combine this with using lightweight materials when building the car, fitting low-profile tyres, etc. These cars use more environmentally friendly materials that can be more easily recycled at the end of the car's life.

Which approach you think is better and why? What kind of car would you buy?

Unit 18 Making the supply chain greener

Demand spreads along the supply chain

by Dan Ilett

Large international companies are used to dealing with compliance regulations - someone publishes a new rule, the company obeys, ticks a box and moves on to the next. But they now face the problem of meeting the ethical expectations of customers as well. Part of this means showing the world they have environmentally friendly credentials, which is not so easy to prove.

According to Gareth Pickles, of environmental consultant Delta-Simons Shining Earth, ‘there’s been a shift from the government driving this, to the customer. Consumers are looking to businesses to improve their environmental credentials.’

While eco-campaigners have criticised drivers of large vehicles for some years, the spotlight is turning toward companies and their technology. For example, Greenpeace criticised Apple's first iPhone when it was launched, claiming it contained hazardous chemicals.

This means companies have to look harder at the technology they use - not only at energy consumption but at the manufacture of components - and that means choosing suppliers that can also prove the environmental credentials of their suppliers. Hewlett-Packard, for example, claims it has audited its top suppliers around the world on health and environment.

Bonnie Nixon-Gardiner is the Global Manager for HP’s supply chain and environmental programme. On her way to China to test how green 60 of the company’s suppliers really are, she says: ‘People were asking: “are you aware of the mining and extraction practices of metals you use?” The industry said it could not possibly influence the sourcing of that, but we weren’t happy with that answer, so we’ve been trying to find out whether our suppliers know where they’re sourcing from.’ She says: ‘Many laws do exist in emerging markets, but it’s a matter of

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inspecting them. Maybe there is corruption or bribery. If you take a place like Shenzhen in China, there are 1.5m residents but 9m immigrant workers. The infrastructure isn’t there to deal with that many factories, so we have our own health and safety officers.

‘For example, it’s not good enough when a company comes in and picks up chemicals for disposal. We really try to make sure no one dumps them somewhere,’ adds Ms Nixon-Gardiner. The demand for greener credentials is here to stay: ‘It makes good business sense to do it.’

IT vendors seem to realise the importance of at least talking the green talk. And many have tried to set environmental standards that all component suppliers around the world have to respect. For example, Dell, Intel, Apple, HP, Sun and others have signed up to the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, an initiative to improve conditions in the electronics supply chain, especially in countries such as China, where much equipment is made.

A report from analyst Gartner adds: ‘Vendors that achieve this - get their timing right, and exploit the opportunities that an environmentally sensitized market and supply chain will present - are likely to become more successful in the market.’

Ex. 1 Translate the article above using the vocabulary and comments

Ex. 2 Which of the following statements are true and which are false?

4.The focus of eco-campaigners shifted from nature-damaging T/F technologies to drivers of large vehicles polluting the soil and atmosphere.

5.Greenpeace criticized Apple’s first iPhone for the poor quality of sound T/F and fragile display.

6.The companies cannot affect the choice of 2nd and 3rd -tier suppliers, T/F which makes the demand for eco-credentials limited to top suppliers only.

7.HP has not attempted to know how green its suppliers’ sourcing of T/F metals is.

8.Many good laws related to nature preservation may be inefficient in T/F emerging markets because of corruption and bribery.

9. The company’s own health and safety officers render help in making the T/F infrastructure in Shenzhen more effective.

10.It makes commercial sense for HP not to care where a third T/F company, which is charged with waste disposal, actually dumps the chemicals.

11.Talking green helps vendors nowadays to sell more IT goods to T/F environmentally sensitized buyers.

12. EICC Code of Conduct works well in many countries of the world, T/F but not in China.

Ex. 3 Translate from Russian into English

1.Многие компании вынуждены идти навстречу этическим ожиданиям своих клиентов в отношении экологичности покупаемых товаров

2.Экологические активисты не раз критиковали водителей большегрузов за вред наносимый природе

3. Компании должны присмотреться к экологичности не только энергопотребления, но и производства компонентов

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4.Много хороших законов существует и на развивающихся рынках, да вот только проследить за их соблюдением трудно.

5.Продающие компании пытаются установить экологические стандарты для своих поставщиков компонентов по всему миру

Ex. 4 Match these words from the article (1-10) with their meanings (a-j).

Ex. 5 Complete these verbs and verb phrases using the prepositions in the box.

at of out to to to towards up up with

Ex. 6 Replace the words in italic with verbs + prepositions from Exercise 5. In one case, you will need to change the word order slightly.

1.When a company collects chemicals for disposal, it is important that they are not just dumped.

2.Consumers expect companies to improve their environmental credentials.

3.Most of the big international IT manufacturers have agreed to follow a code of conduct about how they source their components.

4.Many companies are accustomed to dealing with compliance regulations.

5.An important task for companies is to discover where their suppliers are sourcing their materials from.

6.In many emerging countries, the local authorities are not equipped to handle the full range of health and safety issues.

7.For many years, environmental concerns have focused on emissions caused by road transport, but now attention is being directed at the manufacturing process itself.

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8.It is important for companies to know what processes their suppliers use when producing components.

9.In order to be fully environmentally sensitive, companies need to examine carefully the technology they use both in transportation and manufacturing.

Ex. 7 What nouns can be formed from these verbs?

What verbs can be formed from these nouns? In two cases, a preposition needs to be added.

Ex. 8 Use nouns and verbs from the answers to Exercise 7 in the correct form to complete these sentences.

1.Companies need to _____ ______ government regulations or they risk being

fined.

2.An ________ is a person who checks various processes both in their own company and in suppliers.

3.In recent years, there has been a big _________ in the way companies have established their environmental credentials.

4.If companies use hazardous materials in their products, it is important that these ________ _______ ______ correctly, rather than just being dumped.

5.Transporting goods byroad _______ a lot of energy.

6.When companies do environmental audits of their suppliers, they are looking for _______ that they are operating in an environmentally sensitive way.

7.Customers of large companies _________ them to carry out their business in an ethical and environmentally sensitive way.

Ex. 9 Listen to the dialogue “Blowing the Whistle at Work” and commentaries coming after it. Give English definitions to the words and expressions

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in bold print. Learn the dialogue by heart and dramatize it with another student in class.

Becky: What are we going to do?

Saeed: I don't know. I need time to think about the ramifications of blowing the whistle.

Becky: There are no two ways about it. If we step up and do the right thing, we are putting our jobs on the line.

Saeed: But we can't keep quiet about this. If it gets out, and we knew about it all along, we’ll get into even more trouble. And plus, think of how many people would be hurt if we kept our mouths shut. Could we live with that?

Becky: Maybe there is a way for us to protect our interests and still do the right thing. Maybe we could be anonymous whistleblowers.

Saeed: Don't count on being able to remain anonymous. When this thing blows up, we’ll be in knee-deep. There's only one thing to do.

Becky: What?

Saeed: I have to put my money where my mouth is and go public with what we know. I’ll just have to let the chips fall where they may.

Becky: Don’t be too hasty. Let's sleep on it and talk about it tomorrow.

Saeed: You can do that if you want to, but I've made up my mind. The question is: Are you with me?

(from ESL Podcast 572)

Ex. 10. Questions for discussion

1.As an environmental auditor of suppliers of components, what aspects of the supplier's business will you inspect?

2.What questions would you ask a supplier to check that they are working in compliance with health and safety regulations and with environmental issues?

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Tests

Introductory skills assessment test 1

1. Choose the appropriate number that matches the bar code.

A.2374596312

B.2374569312

C.2314569312

D.2374569212

2. Choose the appropriate number that matches the part number.

00645189-30012546

A.00645189-30012546

B.00945189-30012546

C.00645189-30072546

D.00645189-30013546

Answer questions 3 – 4 based on the diagram below.

3. How many reams of legal paper are in inventory?

A.2

B.10

C.15

D.10315

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4. How many items with part number 10-419-669 are in inventory?

A.2

B.10

C.15

D.11141

5. The cubes in this illustration represent boxes in a warehouse. How many boxes are there?

A.21

B.22

C.23

D.24

Use the Part List below to answer questions 6 – 8.

6. According to these reference tables, what is the price of # 32, opaque grade, crimson paper?

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