IE Jargon and Knowledge 1

In a manufacturing environment, there are a lot of jargon that people in other professions do not understand.
Sometimes it’s easier to explain technical terms using examples from our everyday life.
Let me try that.

Imagine your house is a factory and ironing clothes is a manufacturing process.
To keep things simple, let’s assume this process is the only process in the factory.
Clean clothes are raw materials from the supplier (maybe it’s your mom?) and the finished goods are clothes that are clean and wrinkle-free.

There are two systems you can apply.
In the first system, you iron all the clean clothes after you receive them from your supplier.
You then keep them in the wardrobe, which acts as finished goods warehouse.
You know you will most likely wear them someday, but you do not know the exact date.
But when you need a wrinkle-free shirt, you know it’s available in the warehouse.
We call it make-to-stock system – stock means supplies at your disposal.

The second system is known as make-to-order system.
When you receive clean clothes from your supplier, you put them in the wardrobe.
In this case, wardrobe is the supermarket, not FG warehouse.
When you want to go out, you take the shirt you want to wear from the wardrobe and iron it.
That means you iron clothes only when you need them.
That’s make-to-order system – order means demand.

To be continued…

Expectations

Meeting expectations is not enough.
It means you do what you are asked to do.
It means you deliver what you are supposed to deliver.
It means you are only average.

You have to pull off the unthinkable.
You have to exceed the expectations.
Then you can claim you are above average.
Better yet, make it beyond all expectations.

Entrepreneur

Yu’s Friend’s Buk Kut Teh is opening next week!
I am really happy for him.
I believe you know the feelings when you see your friends doing what they love to do.

Some say if you want to be your own boss, you should start your business when you are still young.
When you are young, you are energetic and able to put a lot of time and effort into your business.
More importantly, you can afford to lose!
You can start all over again if you fail!
Time is your greatest asset.

There are others who reckon that you should get a job and work for others when you just get out of college.
When you are working,  you ought to learn, observe, and understand the business, and use the time to gain experience.
You can then be an entrepreneur when you think the time is right.

I think both ways have their own advantages, so I can’t say which is superior to the other.
If you have a sound business plan and a passion for the business, why not go for it?
It doesn’t matter whether you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s; the key is you should live your life with no regrets.
Go out there and “make a dent in the universe!”

Congrats to Yu!
I look forward to trying your bak kut teh!

…

Too much coffee and too much pop.
But that’s what keeps me alive at work.

some stuff that should be written some time ago

I finally have time to write.

It’s already the fifth day of 2010, but it’s never too late to state my new year’s resolutions.
Here’s the list:
1. Perform well in my co-op – I believe all of us want to achieve this.
2. Get a full-time job – needless to say, this is important to my future.
3. Be able to start giving my parents money – though they don’t need my money, but I will still do it if possible.
4. Be a better son, friend, and boyfriend – be a better man.
5. Live happily – none is more important than this.
Simple and yet not easy.

I got myself a Kindle as graduation gift two weeks ago.
I totally love it.
Though I haven’t used it much since I moved in to the new house, I believe I will use it more often once I have fully settled down.

As I moved to Coralville, a city that’s 140 miles away from Ames, my relationship has changed to a long-distance-but-not-too-far relationship.
I don’t like it. Nobody likes it.
Anyway, I believe we can do it.
=)