You will hear two colleagues, Sam, a production manager, and Julia, his assistant, discussing changes at the furniture manufactu

Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.
You will hear two colleagues, Sam, a Production Manager, and Julia, his assistant, discussing changes at the furniture manufacturing company they work for.
For each question, 23-30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
You have 45 seconds to read through the questions.
[pause]
Now listen, and mark A, B or C.
[pause]
Woman: ... so can we discuss these operational changes that you’re putting in place in the factory, Sam? It’s going to be an enormous change, isn’t it? But I think it’s the right thing to do.
Man: Yes, Julia ... I think the operational side is critical because we have to look at what can be achieved by investing in new machinery and introducing Just-in-Time systems. It’s all about making and selling things better and more cheaply than the opposition. If we put ourselves in that position, then whether we decide to sell directly or through outlets, it will allow us to make substantial inroads into our competitors’ customer base. The end result of the change may be that we have to lose some of the manufacturing staff, but it shouldn’t be too bad. And we’re building for our stake in the future.
Woman: Well, yes - you’re right - we do have to look ahead. If you look at the way that the business is going, you can see what customers’ needs are going to be over the next few years. It used to be all about cost and being very price conscious, putting that across to the customer in a straightforward way. Now though, we’ve got to look at ways of making manufacturing more versatile, and react instantly to demand, rather than just churning out a huge range of goods and having them sitting on the shelves.
Man: Well, I’ve worked out that, once we’ve streamlined operations, we’ll free up some space in the factory. The testing unit can be moved down the road to the Western Avenue site. I want to go back to vertical integration. Outsourcing our components is costing us too much and we should be able to handle it ourselves. Production want us to put in extra machines so we can make more of the best-selling goods, but I don’t go along with that.
Woman: Yes - and we must look at how we’re going to push these changes in the market. We should publicise what we’re doing - to our customers in the domestic market and abroad. I mean, we seem to be constantly in discussion with them about cutting our delivery so that they can get stuff within a week or whatever - but we’re setting up a system that effectively reduces the notice they have to give us for orders quite considerably, and I think we ought to play on that.
Man: Well, also I think if we aim for operational excellence we will be able to get a better class of customer.
Woman: What do you mean?
Man: We need to make ourselves the preferred supplier for companies that are the winners in the market place: companies that are leaders in their own field. Because they’re the ones who have a vested interest in working with their suppliers and working with them in producing innovations. If you are only supplying companies that put out to tender every year, the future becomes uncertain and so you’ve no time to build a relationship that will move your company forward.
Woman: And the other thing is, the changes should really benefit staff morale. I know we’re changing to a system of staff bonuses for productivity, and that should prove motivating. But I think morale will improve because most of the staff are so well-trained in what we’re doing, they will be able to contribute fully. Their feedback will be valuable in enhancing our systems all round - which will save us money in the end.
Man: Yes, after everything has settled down I’m planning to refine things further. The Board have made a decision to change the lines of reporting for managers, which should make communication smoother. My brief is to get the design teams to work together better and to be more focused on their common goal. We’ve got some highly specialised staff now and we’re coming up with some innovative products, but it’s taking too long. They’re doubling up on things or going off at tangents - some sort of group training should sort it out.
Woman: Yes. I suppose the principal thing now is trying to keep all this under our hat. I think, on the whole, the staff will have a positive response to the changes, though there may be some objections. And, if all goes according to plan, the time limit we have set to introduce it all seems reasonable. But we don’t want other companies having access to this information because they then may implement something similar, and we won’t be ahead of the game.
Man: Umm . .. yes, well, we’ll have to discuss the process . . .