Doing business across borders requires precise coordination, especially in the era of "just-in-time" delivery where goods need to be shipped to the customer at exact times. When a product is made in one country, assembled in another, and sold in a third, the companies involved need to be in constant communication from start to finish. Making sure that orders are made and delivered on time is an essential part of international business, and a lot of the monitoring will be done by phone. So, in this episode we're going to look at ways to check on the progress of an order over the telephone.
跨国生意往来对协调工作的准确性要求非常严格,尤其是在这个“适时反应”的时代,货物必须准时发送到客户手中。当产品在一国生产、在一国装配、又在另一国销售的时候,整个过程中各公司都要及时沟通联系。在国际商务中,确保订货俺是生产和运送是十分重要的,其中经常要通过电话进行监督。在本集中我们就要看一看怎样通过电话对订货进行跟踪查看。
A while back in BEP 92 & 93 we met Bill, a buyer for Bancroft's, a chain of women's clothing stores in the U.S. He's placed a large order with Viva, an Italian fashion company, which is being coordinated by Catherine Traynor, Foxtrot's shipping manager. Foxtrot is Viva's U.S. distributor.
在前面的节目中我们认识了Bancroft的买家Bill。Bancroft 是美国一家女装连锁店。他已经向一家名叫Viva的意大利时装公司下了一大笔订单。Viva 有一家名为Foxtrot的经销商,运输部的经理是Catherine Traynor,眼下他正在跟Viva协作。
It's now several months later and the order is due to be delivered. But Bill has just received a call from Bancroft's warehouse to let him know that only half the order has been delivered so far. Now he's calling Catherine to check on the rest of the delivery.
几个月后,发货期限已到,但是Bill接到了从Bancroft仓库打来的电话通知他一半的订货已被发出,因此他要查一下剩余的发货情况。
1. How does Catherine let Bill know she's looking for information about his order?
2. Where is the second part of the shipment?
3. What does Catherine offer to do to avoid separate deliveries in future?