Vocabulary

1. Find words or phrases in the article which fit these meanings.

1.	something that gives a company an advantage over others (paragraph A)
2.	fight against (paragraph A)
3.	extremely valuable and rate, which a lot of people want (paragraph A)
4.	in the leading position (paragraph B)
5.	rapidly increasing (paragraph B)
6.	the way goods are arranged in a store so they are easily seen by customers (paragraph D)
7.	a test done on a small scale to see how something works (paragraph E)
8.	information about sales, which is current or in real time (paragraph F)
9.	replacement of what has been used or sold (paragraph F)
10.	put together in a certain way (paragraph F)

2. Use the words and phrases in the box to complete the sentences.

cost control	freight costs	growth targets
inventory	replenishment deliveries	road congestion
sales data	vendors	working capital

1.	To keep costs down, it is important for retailers to keep their __________ levels as low as possible.
2.	If retailers carry too much stock, they will use a lot of their __________ __________ .
3.	A more cost-effective way to operate is to schedule _________ _________ on a just-in-time basis.
4.	If suppliers have live access to a customer’s __________ __________ , they can prepare deliveries specially for each store.
5.	Suppliers are also known as __________ .
6.	Delivering goods by truck now takes longer in many countries due to increased __________ __________ .
7.	With rising oil prices, __________ __________ are also going up.
8.	A traditional aim of supply-chain managers is __________ __________ , keeping costs down.
9.	P&G is using its supply chain to meet sales __________ __________ .

3. Complete the chart.

noun	verb	noun	verb
shipment	__________ ^1	investment	__________ ^6
distribution	__________ ^2	replenishment	__________ ^7
growth	__________ ^3	storage	__________ ^8
improvement	__________ ^4	competition	__________ ^9
delivery	__________ ^5	manufacturer	__________ ^10

4. Choose the best explanation for each phrase from the article.

1.	‘ … capacity issues’. (line 14)
		a)	problems about the company’s expertise
		b)	problems about production volumes
2.	‘ … input costs’. (line 21)
		a)	costs of materials purchased by a company
		b)	costs of manpower employed by a company
3.	‘ … top-line sales growth’. (line 23)
		a)	increased sales turnover
		b)	better sales of the most profitable products
4.	‘ … a growth engine for the company … ’ (lines 23-24)
		a)	something that will make the company bigger
		b)	something that will help the company increase sales
5.	‘ … bottom-line performance’. (line 27)
		a)	better sales of poor performing products
		b)	better profitability
6.	‘ … sharper pricing … ’ (line 36)
		a)	more competitive prices
		b)	more risky prices