UnitSam Adams Industrial Engineer課文翻譯大學(xué)英語一

1、Unit 6 Sam Adams, Industrial EngineerSan set out to improve efficiency at the shirt factory but, as we find out later in this unit, his plans turned out not quite as he had expected.If you ask my mother how I happened to become an industrial engineer, shell tell you that I have always been one.She m

2、eans that I have always wanted everything to be well organized and neat. When I was still in elementary school, I liked to keep my socks in the upper left-hand drawer of my bureau, my underwear in the upper right drawer, shirts in the middle drawer, and pants, neatly folded, in the bottom drawer.In

3、fact, I was the efficiency expert for the whole family. I used to organize my fathers tools, my mothers kitchen utensils, my sisters boyfriends.I needed to be efficient. I wanted to be well organized. For me, there was a place for everything and everything was always in its place. These qualities ga

4、ve me a good foundation for a career in industrial engineering.Unfortunately, I was also a bit bossy and I wasnt a very good listener. Youll see what I mean when I tell you about the first project I ever did after I finished my bachelors degree at the university.After graduation I returned home to m

5、y small town in Indiana. I didnt have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my fathers, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a sho

6、rt-term basis as a consultant.I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really amazed at what I saw.Most curious of all, there was no quality control whatsoever. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in

7、 boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, even a sleeve sometimes!The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no

8、music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadnt gone on strike.Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as Big Jim, who used to si

9、t behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why

10、he wasnt fired.After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings. I covered my major points by telling him the following:If you have a quality control inspection, you will greatly improve your finished product.If the assembly line is redesigned, a smooth work

11、 flow can be achieved and time and energy can be saved.If you decrease the height of the worktables, the machine operators will work more comfortably.If the management provides pleasant background music and beautifies the dull setting, the factory will be much more productive.If the workers have a f

12、ifteen-minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon, they will be more efficient.If excellent work results in frequent pay increases or promotions, the workers will have greater incentive to produce.Mr. Hobbs thanked me for this report and told me he would talk over my suggestions with his broth

13、er, the co-owner and manager of the factory. Were interested in progress here, he said. We want to keep up with the times.He also gave me a check for $ 100 and a box of shirts with his compliments.薩姆著手提高襯衫廠的效率了，但正如我們將在本單元后半部分發(fā)現(xiàn)的，他的計劃實施結(jié)果跟他原先預(yù)料的并不完全一樣。工業(yè)管理工程師薩姆亞當(dāng)斯如果你問我母親，我怎么偏偏會成為一名工業(yè)管理工程師的，她就會告訴你，我一直

14、就是這樣一個人。她的意思是說，我一貫希望把樣樣?xùn)|西都安排得井井有條，整整齊齊。還在上小學(xué)時，我就喜歡把襪子放在衣柜左上方的抽屜里，內(nèi)衣放在右上方的抽屜里，襯衫放在當(dāng)中的抽屜里，折得齊齊整整的褲子放在最下面的抽屜里。事實上，我那時一直是全家人的效率專家。父親的工具、母親的廚房用具以及姐姐的男朋友全由我統(tǒng)一安排。我需要講究效率。我希望有條不紊。對我來說，樣樣?xùn)|西都有個固定的地方，樣樣?xùn)|西總是放在適當(dāng)?shù)牡胤?。這些素質(zhì)為我日后從事工業(yè)管理打下了良好的基礎(chǔ)。遺憾的是，我這個人也有一點專橫，不太善于聽取別人的意見。等我把在大學(xué)取得學(xué)士學(xué)位后承辦第一項工程的情況告訴你以后，你就會明白我這話是什么意思了。畢業(yè)

15、后我回到家鄉(xiāng)印第安納州的一個小鎮(zhèn)上。當(dāng)時我還沒有找到工作。我父親的一位朋友霍布斯先生在鎮(zhèn)上有一家小型襯衫廠。在過去五年里，廠里的工人從二十名增加到了八十名?；舨妓瓜壬鷵?dān)心他的工廠規(guī)模變得太大了，效率變得太低了，便請我進(jìn)廠當(dāng)了個短期顧問。我來到廠里，花了一個星期左右的時間一邊到處查看，一邊做些筆記。說真的，我對看到的情況不勝驚訝。最為奇怪的是，廠里竟然沒有任何質(zhì)量控制。沒有人檢驗工廠生產(chǎn)的成品。結(jié)果，有些裝箱待運的襯衫不是缺了一兩粒鈕扣，就是少了衣領(lǐng)，有時甚至還會短只袖子。工廠的生產(chǎn)條件很差。工作臺很高，工人坐在旁邊很不舒服。除了吃中飯的半小時外，全天沒有別的休息時間來調(diào)劑一下令人厭倦的工作。廠里也不播放音樂。工場間的墻壁全是一片暗灰色。使我感到驚奇的是，工人們竟然沒有罷工。此外，廠里的生產(chǎn)流程也時斷時續(xù)。在裝配線上有個縫鈕扣的年輕人特別心不在焉。沒有多久，我便認(rèn)出了他，原來他就是在中學(xué)上數(shù)學(xué)課時坐在我后面的大個子吉姆。他動作很慢，所有的襯衫到了他這兒都被耽擱下來。裝配線上他后面的同班工人只好等在那兒無事可干；因此，在大個子吉姆一邊工作一邊胡思亂想的時候，大量時間便白白流逝了，勞動效率大受損失。整個禮拜我都在納悶，為什么他沒有被解雇。 我觀察了一個星期后，霍布斯先生便要我就調(diào)查結(jié)果作一個口頭匯報。我把要點概括了一下向他匯報如下：如果實行質(zhì)量檢驗，你們就會大大改進(jìn)成品。如果把裝配線重