BEP 373 – Discussing Supply Chain Management (Part 2)

Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for
supply chain management. Today we’re going to look at the retail side of the supply
chain.

In today’s world, distance isn’t always a barrier to doing business. It doesn’t matter
if your company is located in France, Thailand, or the U.S. You can sell to
customers anywhere in the world.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Getting your products onto shelves in other
continents, or even other parts of your country, is complex. It relies on a web of
people, warehouses, and information. And it might involve multiple forms of
transportation, including trucks, ships, cargo planes, and trains.

We call this web of activity the supply chain. And in today’s lesson, we’ll rejoin a
meeting at an American clothing company, where managers are discussing the
retail side of their supply chain. During their conversation, they use lots of language
specific to supply chain management. This language includes what we call
“collocations,” or natural combinations of words.

When English speakers learn collocations, they don’t learn them one word at a
time. Rather, they learn the words together, as a single expression. You can sound
more fluent and natural in English if you learn these collocations, especially the
ones related to your industry. As you listen to today’s dialog, try to pick out some
of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Cam and Tanya, who work for a clothing company called
Boston Vintage. Tanya is a supply chain manager located in Malaysia. Cam is based
in the U.S. and works as a production planner. They’re talking about expanding
their retail operations in southeast Asia, and they use many collocations specific to
supply chain management in their conversation.

As you listen to the dialog, try to answer the following questions:

1. What does Tanya say is very ambitious?

2. What does Tanya say has fortunately not been impacted by being so busy?
3. According to Tanya, what will having a 4PL enable them to do?

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Vocabulary

Side: aspect of a situation; “Sales are up on the residential side of our business,
but on the commercial side there’s been no increase.”

Tricky: difficult or complex to deal with; “You know, if you’re finding this login
process too tricky, why not just call tech support for help?”

Straightforward: clear and not complex; “I thought the sales report was really
straightforward, but everyone has questions and seems confused.”

To execute a plan: to successfully complete a plan or process for achieving

something; “We still hope to execute our plan for European expansion, but the
timeline has been delayed because of COVID-19.”

Ambitious: an “ambitious” plan or idea is one that has big goals and will require a
lot of effort to achieve; “Jonathan’s idea sure is ambitious. You really think we can
become the number one provider in three years?”

Question marks: uncertainties or things that are not completely known; “With so
many question marks around licenses and permits, we still can’t start this
construction project.”

Demand planning: predicting how much of a product or service customers will

want, which can then inform production planning; “Better demand planning has
meant we are making just enough products for the market need.”

Unknowns: things you do not know that impact a situation; “With so many political
unknowns in Myanmar, we’re considering pulling out our investments.”

Stretch: distance or complexity, potentially causing stress; “Concerned about too

much stretch in our supply chain, we’ve started using local suppliers.”

Supply chain: the series of processes and networks that enable a company to
produce and deliver goods; “The Suez Canal is an important transportation route in
many global supply chains.”

Time zone: one of the 24 areas the world is divided into for measuring time; “Our
offices in New York and LA are in different time zones, so scheduling meetings is
challenging.”

To synchronize deliveries: to organize or arranged deliveries at the same time for

greater efficiency; “Synchronizing deliveries to the west coast has saved us a ton of
money on fuel and transportation.”

To coordinate: to organize, especially to organize different things to function

together; “If we can coordinate the marketing and sales teams better, I think they’ll
both be more effective.”

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Distribution center: large facilities to store goods before transporting them to other
locations; “Michelin’s massive distribution center in South Carolina is able to push
out 200,000 tires a day to points across the U.S.”

KL: Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia; “After looking at several Asian
capitals for our new operations, we’ve decided to locate in KL.”

To expand capabilities: to increase how much you are able to accomplish or

produce; “With the addition of 25 new salespeople, we’ve expanded our capabilities
in South America and hope to double sales there next year.”

To meet demand: to provide enough goods for the number of customers who want
them; “With so many people doing home renovations during the pandemic,
appliance manufacturers are having difficulty meeting the increased demand.”

On track: progressing in a way or at a rate that is likely to lead to success; “Are

you on track to finish this report by Friday or do you need some more help with it?”

To oversee: to manage or supervise; “As regional manager, I oversee our entire

sales team in the midwest.”

Distribution network: a connected series of storage facilities and transportation

systems for moving goods; “We’re looking for investors who can get us into retail
chains with large distribution networks across North America.”

Order fulfillment: the successful delivery of a product ordered by a customer;

“Amazon promises speedy order fulfillment for subscribers to its Amazon Prime
service.”

To impact: to influence or affect; “The pandemic has impacted certain industries

much more deeply than others, including travel and hospitality.”

A “but:” an idea that contradicts or opposes a previous idea; “This partnership idea
is fantastic on paper. There’s an important ‘but’ that I should explain though…”

To be stretched: to be extended in time, space, or effort, leading to stress; “Our

Canadian development team is stretched a bit too far with all these big projects.”

To deploy resources: to use money, people, or other resources for a specific

purpose; “If we save some money by closing down in Brazil, we can deploy more
resources in Chile and Bolivia.”

To meet targets: to achieve or reach an amount set as a goal; “Employees who

meet their yearly sales targets will receive a nice cash bonus.”

To make something up as you go along: to do something without a plan, structure,

or guidelines; “Do we have a plan here, or are the managers just making this up as
we go along?”

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Moving parts: components or aspects of a process or situation; if something has “a
lot of moving parts,” it is very complex; “I know you just want this safety issue at
the factory fixed right away, but there are a lot of moving parts here. Machines,
scheduling, people…”

Responsive: reacting quickly in a way that is appropriate or meets people’s needs;

“Come on folks, we want to be responsive here, so when you get a complaint, we
need to deal with it right away.”

To minimize returns: to decrease as much as possible the number of products

returned to a company; “If we really want to minimize returns, why don’t we start
using higher quality parts?”

Real-time data: information about a situation or process that you can see
immediately, as it’s happening; “Our dispatcher relies on real-time data concerning
truck location to coordinate deliveries.”

Insane: extreme; “I thought I wanted to be an investment banker until I found out

they work an insane number of hours each week.”

To be heading: to be doing in a certain direction; “Hey Dan, if you’re heading

downtown this afternoon, can I get a ride with you? I’ve got a meeting in Midtown
at 3:00.”

4PL: fourth party logistics, a company that oversees and manages resources,
infrastructure, technology, and other logistics companies in a client company’s
supply chain; “When the supply chain became too large for us to manage on our
own, we hired a 4PL to coordinate everything.”

Out of one’s depth: in a situation or facing a challenges this is too much or beyond
your skills and capability; “Well, I’ve done some negotiating before, but with this
big union deal, I think I’d be out of my depth.”

To align something with needs: to ensure that you have enough of something, or
the right things that you need; “This filing system was fine when we were a little
startup, but after five years of growth, it’s not really aligned with our needs
anymore.”

Capacity: the skills, knowledge, resources, and systems to do work; “It’s great to
get a big order like this, but do we actually have the capacity to deliver on it?”

To go to bat for someone: to actively support someone’s idea or position; “Sorry

Sal, I’ve gone to bat for you on some crazy ideas before, but not this time.”

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Dialog

Cam: I think that’s clearer now. Er… can we move on to the retail side?

Tanya: Riiiight… This is the tricky part. It’s been pretty straightforward
distributing in North America. But executing this plan… this whole expansion
across Asia… it’s pretty ambitious. Still a lot of question marks.

Cam: You’re talking about demand planning, yeah? All the unknowns there?

Tanya: That’s part of it. There’s more stretch to this side of the supply chain.
Four countries. Dozens of retailers. Time zones… languages…

Cam: Huh, yeah, right… synchronizing deliveries is a lot more complex there.
But… this is all being coordinated out of Squire’s distribution center in KL,
right?

Tanya: That’s right. They know what we’re doing. I mean helping us expand
capabilities. And aiming to meet increasing demand across the region.

Cam: Okay, and… so we’re on track there?

Tanya: On track today, yes. I’m overseeing the whole distribution network,
and... happy to say that order fulfillment hasn’t really been impacted despite
how crazy busy we are.

Cam: There’s a “but” coming?

Tanya: Well, yeah. We’re stretched. I’m stretched. We’re going to have to deploy
even more resources to really meet our targets.

Cam: This has all been planned and budgeted already, hasn’t it? We’re not making
this up as we go along.

Tanya: Yes… but there are a ton of moving parts here. And we’ve talked about
being responsive to customers, while still minimizing returns, and… well, the
amount of real-time data I’m dealing with every day is getting insane!

Cam: Okaaay… so where you heading with this?

Tanya: I think we need to take a serious look at 4PL. I’m not saying I’m out of
my depth. Just… we need to make sure we align our capacity with our needs.

Cam: 4PL… and so… you’re hoping I’ll go to bat for you on this?

Tanya: Huh-huh, yeah, that’s exactly what I’m hoping!

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Debrief

Now let’s go through the dialog again and look at the language and collocations
Cam and Tanya used in their conversation. In the last lesson, they discussed the
manufacturing supply chain. Now they’re discussing the retail side of things.

Cam: I think that’s clearer now. Er… can we move on to the retail side?

Tanya: Riiiight… This is the tricky part. It’s been pretty straightforward
distributing in North America. But executing this plan… this whole expansion
across Asia… it’s pretty ambitious. Still a lot of question marks.

“Question marks” are unknowns or uncertainties. Tanya is emphasizing just how their
plan for expanding in Asia is “tricky,” or challenging. And she uses a verb that we combine
with “plan” to mean “to complete or carry out a plan.” That verb is “to execute.”

Supply chain management requires good planning. And companies require

managers who can “execute” these plans. What are some more ways we can talk
about “executing a plan?” Let’s run through some examples.

§ We’re going to need more resources to execute the expansion plan.

§ Do they have the right team in place to execute on this plan?

Of course, there are many aspects to planning supply chains. Cam wants to be sure
he understands exactly what Tanya’s referring to.

Cam: You’re talking about demand planning, yeah? All the unknowns there?

Cam is guessing that Tanya is talking specifically about “demand planning.”

Demand is how much of something the market, or consumers, want. It’s half of the
all-important “supply and demand” equation.

“Demand planning” involves predicting sales. It’s a critical aspect of supply chain
management, because it informs production planning and inventory planning. Let’s
try some more ways of talking about “demand planning.”

§ These are new markets for us, so demand planning is very challenging.
§ Our demand planning tells us we’ll need to increase production this quarter.

Now let’s hear Tanya talk more about the “unknowns,” or uncertainties.

Tanya: That’s part of it. There’s more stretch to this side of the supply chain.
Four countries. Dozens of retailers. Time zones… languages…

Tanya is talking not just about how complex the supply chain is, but about the
“stretch.” Stretching something means making it longer. But just like a rubber
band, the farther you stretch something, the easier it can break. And this is
especially true of supply chains in today’s uncertain world.

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How else can we talk about “stretching supply chains?” Let’s practice some more examples.

§ With suppliers on three continents, aren’t we stretching the supply chain too far?
§ Having stretched our supply chain across the ocean, we have more risks.

Let’s hear what Cam thinks.

Cam: Huh, yeah, right… synchronizing deliveries is a lot more complex there.

Cam talks about one special aspect of retail supply chain management:
“synchronizing deliveries.” The logistics of delivering products to different places is
obviously complicated. Companies can waste a lot of money if delivery activities
aren’t well organized.

In particular, supply chain managers try to “synchronize” deliveries. Synchronizing

things is about making them happen together, at the same time. Rather than two
small delivery trucks going from A to B on different days, you can save money by
synchronizing them, and sending one larger truck with both deliveries.

Let’s try some more ways of talking about “synchronizing deliveries” in a supply chain.

§ If you can synchronize deliveries throughout Europe, you can save on shipping.
§ Our new logistics software has helped us to synchronize deliveries.

Now, as Cam mentions, logistics companies have special facilities to help organize,
or “coordinate,” shipments.

Cam: But… this is all being coordinated out of Squire’s distribution center in
KL, right?

The facility Cam mentions – located in KL, or Kuala Lampur – is a “distribution

center.” Distribution is the business term for getting products from manufacturers
to customers. Coordinating complex distribution networks relies on “centers,” or
large facilities where products are temporarily stored before being shipped to retail
outlets or customers.

A company’s supply chain probably features several “distribution centers” at key

locations. Let’s try some more ways of using this collocation.

§ Every grocery store in the county is served by our distribution center in Cleveland.
§ Our newest distribution center has robots for sorting orders.

Now let’s hear Tanya talk about two of the company’s goals, which the distribution
center in KL is helping them achieve.

Tanya: That’s right. They know what we’re doing. I mean helping us expand
capabilities. And aiming to meet increasing demand across the region.

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The first goal Tanya mentions is “expanding capabilities.” “Expanding” means
growing or making something larger. And “capabilities” is like “ability,” or a
company’s capacity to do something. Boston Vintage’s capabilities, in this case,
would include all the people, processes, and facilities required to serve a market.

Of course, you can’t just decide you want to sell products in a place if you don’t
have the capabilities to do it. So selling to more people will require you to “expand
capabilities” in your supply chain. Let’s try some more ways of talking about
“expanding capabilities.”

§ If sales go up any more, we’re going to have to expand our production capabilities!
§ This new approach has expanded the company’s capabilities in data analysis.

The second goal Tanya mentions, which is made possible by the first, is “to meet
increasing demand.” We’ve already seen that “demand” is how much of something
people want. And if you successfully supply enough of a product, then we say you
“meet demand.”

Growing sales is great for a business. But as Tanya points out, it’s necessary to
think about how to “meet increasing demand.” Let’s practice some more examples
of this collocation.

§ Our existing facilities will need to be expanded to meet increasing demand.

§ Can you meet increasing demand and still ensure quality?

Let’s get back to the dialog, as Cam and Tanya discuss whether they’re “on track,”
or heading for success.

Cam: Okay, and… so we’re on track there?

Tanya: On track today, yes. I’m overseeing the whole distribution network,
and... happy to say that order fulfillment hasn’t really been impacted despite
how crazy busy we are.

Remember, Tanya is the supply chain manager, so it’s her job to “oversee” or supervise
the entire operation. When asked whether they’re on track, she’s happy to say that
although they’re busy, “order fulfillment” hasn’t been affected, or “impacted.”

The overall goal of supply chain management is to “meet demand.” But when it
comes to individual orders, we don’t say “meet an order.” Instead, we say “fulfill an
order.” So the goal of distribution is “order fulfillment.” Let’s try more ways of using
this collocation.

§ Best Buy plans to shrink some retail spaces to focus on digital order fulfillment.
§ Increasing our order fulfillment speed has unfortunately led to more errors.

Tanya was happy to report that order fulfillment hasn’t been impacted. However,
Cam feels that there’s some contrasting information – or a “but” – coming.

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Cam: There’s a “but” coming?

Tanya: Well, yeah. We’re stretched. I’m stretched. We’re going to have to deploy
even more resources to really meet our targets.

Notice that Tanya is using that word “stretched” to talk not just about their supply
chain but about herself. When a person is “stretched,” it means they’re working too
hard and feeling a lot of stress.

When supply chains and people get too stretched, bad things can happen. So Tanya is
stating that to meet their goals, or “targets,” they need to “deploy more resources.”
Resources includes people, facilities, equipment, and money. When we use these
resources for a particular purpose, in a particular place, we “deploy” the resources.

What are some other ways we can talk about “deploying resources?” Let’s run
through some more examples.

§ I’m not sure we can really deploy the resources needed to market in China.
§ The new budgeting model allows regional managers to deploy resources as needed.

So how does Cam respond to this idea that they need to deploy more resources?

Cam: This has all been planned and budgeted already, hasn’t it? We’re not making
this up as we go along.

Tanya: Yes… but there are a ton of moving parts here. And we’ve talked about
being responsive to customers, while still minimizing returns, and…

Cam sounds a bit surprised that they might need to spend more money than they’d
planned, or budgeted. In her explanation, Tanya is focusing on a couple of the
company’s goals. For one, they want to be “responsive” to customers, which means
they want to react quickly and appropriately to customers’ needs.

Secondly, they want to “minimize returns.” When a customer isn’t happy with a
product, they often send it back. And so “returns” are the flow of goods back to the
producer. Returns cost money, so companies want to ensure as few returns as
possible. The way we say this is “to minimize returns.” Let’s practice some more
ways of using this collocation “to minimize returns.”

§ If we really want to minimize returns, why don’t we focus on quality?

§ By helping customers buy the right products, we’ve managed to minimize returns.

Tanya isn’t quite finished discussing the need to deploy more resources. Let’s listen.

Tanya: Well, the amount of real-time data I’m dealing with every day is getting insane!

While “supply chain” immediately suggests the flow of goods and materials, it also
involves the flow of information. And supply chain managers require a lot of “data,”
or information, to make good decisions.

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Considering how fast the business world moves, and how quickly companies and
customers expect goods to flow, managers need their data to be fast too. In fact,
they need “real-time data.” Real-time data is information that you can see
immediately, without delay. It’s shows you what is happening right now.

Let’s try some other ways of using “real-time data” in a couple of examples.

§ Businesses rely on real-time data to help them react quickly to supply chain changes.
§ Access to real-time data has helped the sales team get a better idea of
consumer buying habits.

Cam has a sense that Tanya is “heading,” or leading up, to another idea.

Cam: Okaaay… so where you heading with this?

Tanya: I think we need to take a serious look at 4PL. I’m not saying I’m out of
my depth. Just… we need to make sure we align our capacity with our needs.

Finally, Tanya gets to her big idea: the company needs a 4PL. In our last lesson we
heard them talk about a 3PL, or third party logistics provider. That’s a company
that manages one piece or aspect of a complex supply chain. A 4PL, or fourth party
logistics company, manages the entire supply chain. A 4PL would be a single point
of contact, and they would manage other logistics providers on their behalf.

Currently, that’s Tanya’s job. But she’s already stretched managing so many
different aspects of the manufacturing and retail supply chains. So she’s
recommending they hire a 4PL. That way, they can “align capacity with needs.”

“Capacity” is like “capability.” It’s the ability, resources, skills, and time to do
something. The capacity you have and the capacity you need should match, or
“align.” If your needs are greater than your capacity, you’re in trouble. So Tanya is
suggesting a 4PL as a way of “aligning capacity with needs.”

Let’s practice some more examples of this collocation.

§ With so much unused space, have we really aligned storage capacity with needs?
§ Better planning will help align production schedules with consumer needs.

So, why has Tanya been so careful to explain the reasons behind her idea? Let’s find out.

Cam: 4PL… and so… you’re hoping I’ll go to bat for you on this?

Tanya: Huh-huh, yeah, that’s exactly what I’m hoping!

Cam is wondering if Tanya wants him to “go to bat” for her on this issue. In
baseball, if you “go to bat” for someone, you take their turn at hitting the ball. More
generally, going to bat for someone means supporting their ideas or position.

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Moving to 4PL will cost money. Tanya will need to convince people in the company
that it’s necessary. And Cam has guessed correctly that she’s hoping he will “go to
bat,” or support, her.

Now it’s your turn to practice some of the collocations we’ve looked at in this
lesson. In a moment, you’ll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a
beep. Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word. Remember, a
collocation is two or more words that we commonly use together, so pay close
attention to the words before the beep.

For example, if you hear:

Example cue: We’ve hired a logistics firm to help synchronize <beep>.

You can say:

Example answer: We’ve hired a logistics firm to help synchronize deliveries.

After each response, we’ll provide the correct answer. Ready? Let’s give it a go.

Cue 1: WalMart has plans to build a big distribution <beep> in California.

Answer:

Cue 2: If you want to minimize <beep>, trying introducing a cost to customers.

Answer:

Cue 3: We’ll need to expand the team to <beep> on this plan.

Answer:

Cue 4: The new plant in Turkey is key to expanding our <beep> in Europe.
Answer:

Cue 5: It’s hard to compete with Amazon in terms of fast order <beep>.
Answer:

Answer 1: WalMart has plans to build a big distribution center in California.

Answer 2: If you want to minimize returns, trying introducing a cost to customers.
Answer 3: We’ll need to expand the team to execute on this plan.
Answer 4: The new plant in Turkey is key to expanding our capabilities in Europe.
Answer 5: It’s hard to compete with Amazon in terms of fast order fulfillment.

That’s all for this lesson on collocations for talking about supply chain management.
We’ve covered lots of vocabulary and collocations for talking about the retail side of
the supply chain.

Thanks for listening and see you again soon!

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Language Review

A. Collocations

Match the collocations in the box and then use them to complete the sentences
below. (If necessary change the tense of verbs to fit the context, i.e., to past or
future tense.)

To minimize capabilities
To expand returns
To execute deliveries
To deploy a supply chain

To stretch data

To synchronize a plan
Distribution resources
Real-time center

1. Outsourcing production to factories around Asia has really ________________

our ________________ and increased risks.

2. Logistics providers rely on ________________ ________________ to monitor

the transport of goods.

3. We should be able to ________________ ________________ by ensuring

people are ordering the right products in the right sizes.

4. Expanding into Europe is going to require us to ________________ a lot of

________________, including people and money.

5. Sure, you’ve got a great ________________ for getting this new line of
products to market, but can you ________________ it?

6. Amazon is building a massive new ________________ ________________ in

Arizona to supply goods throughout the western states.

7. Opening offices in New Delhi and Lahore have greatly ________________ our
________________ in South Asia.

8. You know instead of sending five trucks out with small loads, you could
________________ these ________________ and save money.

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Answers

Listening

1. Tanya says the company’s Asian expansion plans are very ambitious.
2. Tanya says that order fulfillment hasn’t been impacted even though they’re so
busy.
3. Tanya says a 4PL will help them align capacity with needs.

Language Review

A. Collocations

1. Outsourcing production to factories around Asia has really stretched our

supply chain and increased risks.

2. Logistics providers rely on real-time data to monitor the transport of goods.

3. We should be able to minimize returns by ensuring people are ordering the

right products in the right sizes.

4. Expanding into Europe is going to require us to deploy a lot of resources,

including people and money.

5. Sure, you’ve got a great plan for getting this new line of products to market,
but can you execute it?

6. Amazon is building a massive new distribution center in Arizona to supply

goods throughout the western states.

7. Opening offices in New Delhi and Lahore have greatly expanded our
capabilities in South Asia.

8. You know instead of sending five trucks out with small loads, you could
synchronize these deliveries and save money.

Copyright Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. 13