经济学人290:苏格兰的工程 从轮船到卫星的发展

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　　苏格兰的工程

　　From ships to satellites

　　从轮船到卫星的发展

　　How high-end engineering escaped industrial meltdown

　　高端工程如何在崩溃的产业中逃过一劫

　　Box me up Scotty

　　把我组装成箱，苏格兰人

　　SCOTLAND may not have broken off from Britain last year, but at least it got into space. Overshadowed by the ballyhoo over the referendum, the first satellite built in Scotland, UKube-1 (pictured below), was launched. The same dimensions as a boxed bottle of whisky, it was assembled on the banks of the river Clyde in central Glasgow by the country's first satellite manufacturer, Clyde Space. It is but one example of Scotland's surprisingly healthy engineering industry.

　　苏格兰去年未脱离英国，但至少进了太空。它大肆宣扬全民公决独立与否一事，声势之大，盖过其制造的第一颗卫星UKuble一号发射太空。该卫星大小与威士忌装盒相同，由英国首位卫星制造商克莱德航天公司在格拉斯哥中部的克莱德河河岸上组装而成，是苏格兰唯一健康发展的工程。

　　苏格兰的工程.jpg

　　The clean room where Clyde Space makes its satellites affords an excellent view of Govan, once a centre of world shipbuilding and now a reminder¹ of how quickly huge industries can collapse². Rather than trying to build everything, therefore, as the Clyde shipyards used to, Craig Clark, the founder³ of Clyde Space, is trying to master one small, but growing, niche⁴ of his industry. He builds only the smallest satellites, often costing as little as $50,000 (33,000) each, and also makes parts for bigger ones. The company was the first such to sell its products online. Mr Clark's firm, which employs 45 people, turned over 3m this year, and expects to double that next year.

　　克莱德航天公司制造卫星的地方宽敞明亮，可以欣赏到高湾的美景。高湾曾是世界轮船制造中心，而如今只是庞大工业迅速崩溃的受害者。因此，克莱德航天公司创始人克雷格·克拉克努力掌握航天业中不断发展的小众业务。他仅制造微小型卫星，每颗的花费通常只有5万美元（3.3万英镑），同时还制作稍大卫星的零部件。该公司是同行中首个在网上销售产品的公司。克拉克的公司共有45名职工人员，今年的营业额为300万英镑，预计明年营业额翻一番。

　　A few big engineering firms remain in Scotland, such as Babcock Marine⁵ and Thales, both of which supply defence equipment. But most of the country's 7,500 engineering companies belong to a long, thin tail. Often family-owned and generations old, the best of them combine technological⁶ savvy⁷ with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Often, they are niche manufacturers to the world.

　　苏格兰仍有柏布考克海事集团（Babcock Marine）、泰利斯（Thales）等一些大型工程企业，这两家企业皆销售国防设备。然而，在英的7500家工程企业中，大部分都不成气候。而其中的精英往往是世代相传的家族企业，它们将技术方面的悟性与强烈的企业精神进行结合，往往是世界上精准定位的制造商。

　　One such is Castle Precision Engineering, in south-west Glasgow. It started out in 1951 making machines for the giant local Singer sewing-machine factory, then moved into car parts, medical equipment and aerospace—now its biggest market. On March 9th it created the fastest wheels ever made, for the “Bloodhound” car that will try to set a new land speed record next year. The wheels are strong enough to take a driver to 1,000mph in 55 seconds, rotating 177 times a second.

　　格拉斯哥西南部的城堡精密工程公司即为其一。该公司始创于1951年，为当地胜家牌大型缝纫机厂生产设备，之后转向汽车零部件、医疗设备以及现在最大的市场——航空航天产品的生产。3月9日，该公司为“寻血猎犬”汽车制造出史上最快车轮，该车明年将倾力创造陆地行驶速度的新纪录。车轮功能强大，汽车完全可以在55秒内达到1000英里的时速，且车轮每秒旋转177次。

　　In one respect, these firms are exceptions to the British rule. In a kingdom with a balance-of-trade deficit⁸ in goods amounting to fully⁹ 10 billion a month, they are fierce exporters. Castle sends about one-third of its wares¹⁰ abroad. Another niche firm, Clark Tracks, which makes caterpillar¹¹ tracks for forestry¹² vehicles, sells 90% of its products to Europe. Overall, engineering and technology companies account for over one-quarter of Scotland's exports.

　　一方面，这些企业不符合英国的规则。英国的商品贸易逆差每月高达100亿英镑，而这些企业的出口量极大。城堡公司三分之一的商品出口国外，另一家小型公司Clark Tracks（克拉克履带公司）生产林用车履带，其中90%的产品销往欧洲。总体而言，工程技术公司占有苏格兰出口量的四分之一。

　　But in another way they illustrate¹³ a familiar weakness in British industry. The country's firms tend to remain small or medium-sized—smaller than the German Mittelstand of export-orientated businesses. Even before the financial crisis Scotland's small engineering companies found it hard to raise money locally to expand. Some looked overseas instead. Clark Tracks was bought in 2007 by a Swedish company. The defence giant Thales acquired the illustrious old Glaswegian firm of Barr and Stroud in 2000. Its factory, now employing about 700 people, still specialises in submarine periscopes¹⁴ and optronics for the military.

　　但另一方面，这些企业自身具有英国工业的普遍缺陷。英国企业往往保持中小型规模，但小于德国中小型出口企业。金融危机爆发之前，苏格兰的小型工程企业发现难以在当地筹集用于扩大规模的资金。有些企业将目光转向海外。2000年，国防设备生产大户泰利斯买下格拉斯哥著名老牌公司斯特劳德，其工厂现有700名工人，继续从事军用潜艇潜望镜和光电产品的专项生产。2007年，瑞典一家企业收购Clark Tracks。

　　Now change is coming to Scottish engineering, via the North Sea. The oil and gas industry is both a blessing¹⁵ and a curse for engineers. It is a big market for their products, but it also competes fiercely for labour. Glasgow-based companies complain about the shortage of skilled workers even more than do firms elsewhere in Britain. Yan Tiefenbrun, the boss of Castle, got involved in the Bloodhound project to create publicity¹⁶, hoping talent would be drawn¹⁷ to his apprenticeship¹⁸ scheme. The current woes¹⁹ of Aberdeen's offshore²⁰ industry, facing tumbling oil prices and squeezed margins²¹, could be a boon²² for the country's other engineers.

　　但是，苏格兰工程即将借助北海迎来转机。油气工业对工程商来说是福亦是祸。这一巨大市场可用来销售其产品，但对于劳动力的竞争也很激烈。在格拉斯哥，投诉技术工人无法胜任工作的企业数量居全国之首。城堡公司老板Yan Tiefenbrun为了提高企业知名度，参与了“寻血猎犬”工程，同时希望为其学徒计划招揽人才。亚伯丁海上石油开采业当前面临油价下跌、收益缩水，它们的祸可能是英国其他工程商的福。

　　1.expect to 期许

　　You cannot expect to like all the people you will work with.

　　不要指望你会喜欢所有和你共事的人。

　　I do expect to have some time to myself in the evenings.

　　我确实希望晚上能有些属于自己的时间。

　　2.combine with 与…结合

　　I am partial to desserts that combine fresh fruit with fine pastry²³.

　　我偏爱加有新鲜水果的精致油酥甜点。

　　Combine the flour with 3 tablespoons water to make a paste.

　　往面粉里加3大勺水揉成面团。

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