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When Shopping is Serious Business 商业采购的重要性

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Recently, one of the major computer giants was forced to recall over 100,000 monitors because they were built with a faulty component that presented a potential fire hazard. The computer giant can’t be blamed directly for shoddy production (it purchased the monitors from an oversea manufacturer), but its reputation suffered a lot because of the incident. This underscores how important it is to choose a good vendor and enforce strict quality control measures.

近来某大计算机公司被迫收回全球十万多台计算机屏幕，因为制造这些计算机屏幕的某项零组件有瑕疵，其实不能直接责怪这家计算机公司，（因为它是向海外一家制造商购买的），但这家计算机公司的商誉却因此受损颇大，这说明慎选一家好的代工和严格执行品管的重要性。

The first step in choosing a supplier is determining exactly what you need in terms of quality, and how much you’re willing to pay for it. Insisting on buying only the best quality can bankrupt a company. Meanwhile, substandard products aren’t acceptable at any price, so a balance needs to be struck.

要选择一家好的供货商，首要步骤是你确定对质量的要求，和所愿意付出的费用。一味坚持要最高级质量，有可能拖垮一家公司；但在标准以下的产品不管多么便宜都不能买，所以必须在两者之间寻求一个平衡点。

Once the price range is set, purchasing managers have to decide whether to establish an exclusive relationship or purchase from a variety of sources. An exclusive relationship with a vendor generally leads to price cuts, but reliability may become an issue. One way of ensuring reliability is insisting on guarantees and warranties. Fortunately for the computer giants, it set up the contract with its monitor maker in such a manner that it won’t bear any of the recall costs.

一旦决定好价格区间，采购经理就必须决定是否要实行独家供货，或是从多处来源进行采购。独家供货的价格通常可以压低，但产品可靠度就可能打折扣，要确保产品可靠度的一个方法，就是坚持可退换货品的质量保证条款。很幸运地，这家大计算机公司就与屏幕制造商订有合约，所以无需负担这次收回产品的成本。

Vocabulary

单词发音

recall [rɪˋkɔl] n. 叫回，召回

faulty [ˋfɔltɪ] adj. 有缺点的；不完美的

hazard [ˋhæzɚd] n. 危险; 隐患; 会造成危害的事物

shoddy [ˋʃɑdɪ] adj. 劣质的﹐ 粗制滥造的

incident [ˋɪnsədnt] n. 事件；事变

underscore [ʌndɚˋskor] v. 强调

in terms of  就...方面来说

substandard [sʌbˋstændɚd] adj. 不够标准的；不合规格的

exclusive [ɪkˋsklusɪv] adj. 唯一的; 独有的，独占的

reliability [rɪ͵laɪəˋbɪlətɪ] n. 可靠；可信赖性

guarantee [͵gærənˋti] n. 保证；商品保证

warranty [ˋwɔrəntɪ] n. 担保; 〔产品的〕保证书

bear [bɛr] v. 承受；承担

Sentence of the Day

You don't want to pay through the nose for something.

你不会想为那件事(某件事)付那么多钱。

pay through the nose  付出极大代价

课文讲解

Sophie and Andre are tracking down new supplier for their company at a computer trade show in Shanghai:  苏菲和安德雷正在上海的计算机展中替公司物色新供货商：

S: Here you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.

原来你在这儿，我刚才到处找你。

A: Any luck finding a new monitor supplier?

找到新的屏幕供货商了吗？

S: Barely. There are some attractive deals, but nobody with a proven track record.

不算有。是有些满吸引人的提案，但他们都没有过去的贸易记录做担保。

A: We might have to take a chance. There’s no way we can afford our current supplier with the new budget cuts.

或许我们得冒点风险。我们新预算删减，买不起现有供货商的东西。

S: If you take everything into account, we really can’t drop costs much further. Of the vendors that meet our quality standards and have the production capacity to fill our orders, the vendor we’re using now is the cheapest.

如果考虑各项因素，我们真的无法再杀价了。供货商要能符合我们的质量标准，又要能生产我们订单所需求产量的供货商当中，我们现有的这家，已经是最便宜的。

A: We could lower our standards.

我们可以降低标准。

S: Sure, just don’t hold me responsible when orders get bungled or we have to issue a recall.

当然，但若是订单搞砸了，或是搞到必须全面收回产品，我可不负责。

A: Okay. How about pushing for an exclusive contract with our current vendor?

好。与我们现有的供货商订定独家代理合约，你觉得如何？

S: I reckon they’d knock off as much as 5 percent if we agreed not to source from anybody else.

我想如果我们同意不向其他货源进料，大概最多可以杀价百分之五。

A: Fantastic. You go close that deal. I’ll keep working on this.

很不错。你就去负责把那桩交易完成，我留在这儿负责我这件。

S: Working on what? None of these companies make anything we need.

你的哪件？这些公司的产品都不是我们需要的呀。

A: No, but I might be able to line up a date with that mouse pad model.

是不需要，不过我或许可以把那位鼠标板代言小姐约出去。

－by Charles Yonts

Vocabulary

单词发音

track down  经追踪或搜索而发现

track record〔个人或机构在工作﹑解决问题等方面的〕成绩记录﹐业绩记录 the record of the performance of a person, organization, etc. as in some activity or on some issue

take … into account  考虑,对…加以考虑

of [ɑv] prep. ……之中的；……的成员

vendor [ˋvɛndɚ] n.【律】卖主

bungle [ˋbʌŋg!] v. 搞糟（事情）

push for 力图得到〔某物〕﹐敦促〔某人〕做某事

reckon [ˋrɛkən] v. 认为，把……看作; 【口】觉得，猜想

knock off 【口】(从价格、账单等中)减去, 除去 to get rid of; eliminate

line up 安排〔某事〕to arrange in or form a line

Sentence of the Day

He's got a one-track mind.

他的脑筋很固执。

one-track mind  思路偏狭