首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Read the following article about Grasmere, a small British company that manufactures steel components, and the questions on the
Read the following article about Grasmere, a small British company that manufactures steel components, and the questions on the
admin
2013-04-20
33
问题
Read the following article about Grasmere, a small British company that manufactures steel components, and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(15-20), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
In a tough climate for UK manufacturers, Malcolm Drake thinks he has hit on a way for his company, Grasmere, to succeed: by becoming a bespoke manufacturer This involves working very closely with customers to produce precisely what they want. As a result, Grasmere has become indispensable to its big customers, which are based around Europe. Grasmere makes a range of small metal items that are tailored to fit into much larger products, and its customers include big electronics and electrical goods manufacturers. ’When we start talking to customers about an order; they often have only a rough idea what they want,’ says Drake. ’We assist them in identifying and specifying their needs, and we advise them on the best way to manufacture the product. Then we fulfil the order, which could involve making anything between 40 and one billion parts in a year’
Grasmere’s main tools are press machines that stamp out metal items in its Birmingham premises. The company was started by Drake’s great-grandfather in 1903, when its best-selling products were pen nibs, and the company prides itself on never having fallen below the exacting standards which it set then. While today’s range has moved a long way from those pen nibs, some of the original machinery stands in the reception area, as a memento of the company’s roots. Only in the last year has the company relocated from the cramped and grimy workshop it moved to in 1910, to a more modern and open-plan building on the outskirts of Birmingham, an operation that involved a major logistical exercise to move the machinery. The new site has allowed Grasmere to make itself more efficient. The company has cut staff from 150 to 125 by shedding low-skilled employees without reducing turnover
Malcolm Drake says that 18 of Grasmere’s customers each contribute revenues of more than £100,000 a year with half of all turnover coming from three of them. ’It isn’t the usual supplier-customer relationship,’ he explains.’We are very open with them and provide them with a lot of internal information about costs. But we select them as much as they select us. If we are asked to do something that is too difficult or expensive, we say "no". We educate the customer as to what is possible. If you allow yourself to be dictated to, that’s not a partnership -it’s grovelling.’
Grasmere’s business has spread more widely to other parts of Europe in the past few years, though not because of any deliberate strategy to push up exports. As Drake points out, if a company such as his is keen to yoke itself to successful companies that think strategically, inevitably this will mean more overseas sales to relatively far-flung divisions of these businesses, to meet their own demand for the components Grasmere can produce.
The company depends on having technically literate people who can talk intelligently to customers. Hence 90 of Grasmere’s employees are engineers employed in a range of jobs including making products, sales, marketing and purchasing. While about 100 of the staff are directly involved in shop-floor production work, they frequently also have an outward-facing role, such as talking to customers about design or manufacturing.
Malcolm Drake sums up his company’s strengths as offering five attributes that customers want: quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and low costs. As a result, the company is flourishing.
What does Malcolm Drake say about the company’s relationship with its customers?
选项
A、Grasmere works on equal terms with its customers.
B、Grasmere has a better relationship with some customers than others.
C、Grasmere can learn a great deal from its customers.
D、Grasmere is expected by some customers to provide too much information.
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/TiFsFFFM
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
Whatdoesthecompanywanttodo?
A、 B、 C、 C本句是询问更喜欢新电脑中的哪一台的Which疑问句。一定要注意听题目的核心词Which…computers.
Whattypeofbusinessdoesthespeakerworkfor?
Whathasthecompanyrecentlydone?
BigChunkChocolateChipCookiesNutritionalInformationIngredients:Wheatflour,ChocolateChips,Coco
A、 B、 C、 B问变更的设计内容的How疑问句。(A)是重复问句中的design和change、有重复词错误的错误选项;(C)是使用和问句中的design形态类似的designer、有派生词错误的错误选项。因此对问产
WhatdoestheEZFlooringCompanysell?
FortwocandidatesCustomerInvolvementYourcompanyhasdecidedtotrytoincreasecustomerinvolvementintherangeandqualit
Theinterlocutorasksyouquestionsonanumberofwork-relatedandnonwork-relatedsubjects.
•YouwillheararadiointerviewbetweenawomanjournalistandMichaelDell,ChairmanofDellInc.andhisnewCEO,KevinRolli
随机试题
以下药物中,归心、肺、肾经的是
小儿骨髓外造血时,末梢血中可出现
以下属于油溶性抗氧剂的是
关于基金份额分拆,下列说法错误的是()。
根据《证券公司风险控制指标管理办法》的规定,下列关于证券公司经营证券自营业务的规模及比例控制,说法正确的有()。I.持有一种权益类证券的成本不得超过净资本的30%Ⅱ.持有一种权益类证券的成本不得超过净资本的100%Ⅲ.
在买卖合同中,下列()属于买受人负有的义务。
绩效指标体系的设计程序包括:①工作分析;②理论验证;③修改调整;④指标调查。正确的排序是()。
根据下列材料回答问题。2006年,全国农村外出从业劳动力中,男性劳动力8434万人,占64%。从年龄构成上看,20岁以下占16.1%;21—30岁占36.5%;31一40岁占29.5%;41—50岁占12.8%;51岁以上占5.1%。从
两个或两个以上的法人合并为一个新法人,是()。
WhenisJim’sbirthday?
最新回复
(
0
)