Samenvatting - Engels

Samenvatting Engels
Business English
Products and services
Physical description of a product
Shape
 Circle  Circular/round
 Square  Square
 Rectangle  Rectangular
 Triangle  Triangular
 Oval  Oval
 Point  Pointed
 -shaped/in the shape of
 Diamond (ruiten)
 Tartan (quilt)
Lines
 Straight
 Curved
 Parallel
 Vertical
 Horizontal
 Diagonal
Dimensions
 Length  Long
 Width  Wide
 Height  High
 Depth  Deep

 In length/width/height/depth
 Ranges from … to

 Area  Square … (three-metre square)
 Volume  Cubic …
Materials What is it made of?
 Rubber
 Wool
 Plastic
 Metal
 Steel
 Concrete
 Iron
 Wood
 Cardboard
 Gold
 Wax
 Composite  Made of several things
Colour
Weight Weigh



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,Features of a product
Well-made <-> Badly made
Reliable <-> Unreliable/faulty/defective
Discounted price <-> Full price
Value for money <-> Overpriced/a rip-off
High standard of service <-> Poor service
Upmarket/high-end <-> Downmarket/low-end

For half price
To prefer X to Y
Coach Reisbus
Appalling Terrible/shocking
Bargain Koopje
To take something back To return
Refund

Adjustable Low-cost
Affordable Low-risk
Attractive Made-to-measure (to fit 1 person or thing)
Best-selling Man-made (artificial)
Brand-new Mass-produced
Built-in Modular
Compact Off-the-shelf
Convenient One-touch
Cost-effective Optional
Customized Portable
Easy-to-clean Practical
Easy-to-maintain Real-time
Economical to run Reliable
Efficient Revolutionary
Energy-efficient Secure
Environmentally-friendly Shock-absorbent
Expandable Sophisticated (advanced in design)
Fully automatic State-of-the-art (high-tech/the newest)
Functional Stylish
Hands-free Tailor-made (customized/personalized)
Hard-wearing Time-saving
High-performance Trouble-free
High-quality Ultra-light
High-speed Unique
High-tech Up-to-date
Innovative User-friendly
Integrated Waterproof
Labour-saving Well-built
Limited edition Well-designed
Long-lasting Well-made




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,Services
To provide/to offer/to supply a service
Services offer intangible value beyond a physical, tangible product.
Courier service Delivers orders on time, maintains excellent
relationship with the customers
Mobile phone news/ update service He always knows what’s happening
Easier to make decisions
Online shopping It’s faster and always open
Helps to manage time
Day care Lets her work full-time and still have time with
her child in the middle of the day
Upmarket (high-end) – downmarket (low-end)
Upmarket Downmarket
The way they look: Bright, shiny, clean, attractive, Dull, boring, like a warehouse, a
great variety of products nasty, uninspired interior
Prices Generally high Low
Quality of service Generally good, lots of choice, Very little service, little choice of
diversity, no long queues goods, long queues
Quality of goods Generally good Varies, often low
To advise  advice: some advice or a piece of advice (not an advice)
Had better (strong advice) vs would rather
Mass production (moving assembly line/conveyor belt) vs manual labour
(by hand)
Economy of scale A reduction in unit cost achieved by increasing
the amount of production (schaalvoordeel)
Lead time The time it takes to produce something
Customization Making or changing something according to the
buyer’s of user’s needs
Niche market Small market segment, aimed at satisfying
specific market needs
Niche products <-> generic products
 Advantages mass production:
o For the customers:
 Lower costs > cheaper products
 More reliable products
 Reduced lead time
 More choice, more diversity, more customization
 Achieve economy of scale
o For the workers
 Higher profits = higher wages
 Machines taking over het hard & boring tasks
 Disadvantages mass production
o For the customers:
 More pollution
 (in the beginning) no diversity: looks the same, not unique
o For the workers
 Stressful jobs
 Always the same


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,  (in the beginning) fewer jobs: more unemployment
ISO
= International Organisation for Standardisation
= international organisation which sets international quality and safety standards for industry an
businesses
 can help businesses offer customers guarantees of quality
ISO 9000 Set of standards connected with the processes
organizations use to ensure the quality of their
products and services
ISO 14001 Set of standards to ensure that businesses do
not use processes that harsh the environment
ISO 27000 Set of standards that compromise information
security management
To waste > a waste Verspillen > verspilling
Economical Using money, time, goods carefully without
wasting any
Economic Profitable
To register Zich inschrijven
Shutdown periods Sluitingstijd
The plant De fabriek/het bedrijf
To cleanse Reinigen/zuiveren
Annual-annually Every year
To achieve your goals/ambitions Je doelen halen
Domestic Huis-/thuis-
Binnenlands <-> foreign

ISO 14000:
 Help save energy: energy walks show the companies wasting energy on unnecessary water
cleansing
 Help reduce costs: computerizing its energy monitoring system
Article p143
 About the domestic market, about cutting energy costs in business
 Inspectors look round the factory during shutdown periods like weekends or holidays
 Employees thought cutting water losses wasn’t important
 The factory had to clean all the water it used
 The company is installing a computer system to monitor energy use
 The company hopes to save $14 million a year




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