Question 1

Learning curves have a variety of purposes,which can be placed into which of these broad categories?

Accepted Answer

A) services,industry,and military 
B) internal,external,and strategic 
C) wholesale,distribution,and retail 
D) arithmetic,logarithmic,and learning coefficients 
E) positive learning,neutral learning,and negative learning 
A) services,industry,and military 
B) internal,external,and strategic 
C) wholesale,distribution,and retail 
D) arithmetic,logarithmic,and learning coefficients 
E) positive learning,neutral learning,and negative learning B

Question 2

Learning curves can be applied to a variety of purposes internal to a firm,including

Accepted Answer

A) labour forecasting. 
B) scheduling. 
C) establishing costs. 
D) establishing budgets. 
E) all of these. 
A) labour forecasting. 
B) scheduling. 
C) establishing costs. 
D) establishing budgets. 
E) all of these. E

Question 3

The first unit took 10 hours and the eighth unit took 1.25 hours.What is the learning curve?

Accepted Answer

A) 50% 
B) 90% 
C) 80% 
D) 12.5% 
E) 25% 
A) 50% 
B) 90% 
C) 80% 
D) 12.5% 
E) 25% A

Question 4

The first unit of a product took 900 hours to build and the learning curve is 90%.How long will it take to make the first 3 units? (Use Table E.3)

Accepted Answer

A) less than or equal to 2,470 hours 
B) from 2,470 to 2,472 hours 
C) from 2,472 to 2,475 hours 
D) from 2,475 to 2,478 hours 
E) from 2,478 to 2,481 hours 
A) less than or equal to 2,470 hours 
B) from 2,470 to 2,472 hours 
C) from 2,472 to 2,475 hours 
D) from 2,475 to 2,478 hours 
E) from 2,478 to 2,481 hours

Question 5

The Learning-Curve Coefficients table reports that for 70% learning,the eighth unit has a unit time value of 0.343.Verify that table entry by use of the arithmetic method.

Accepted Answer

Successive doubling at 70% lea

Question 6

It took 18 hours to complete the first two products with an 80% learning curve.How long did the second product take?

Accepted Answer

A) 8 hours 
B) 10 hours 
C) 18 hours 
D) 8.1 hours 
E) 14.4 hours 
A) 8 hours 
B) 10 hours 
C) 18 hours 
D) 8.1 hours 
E) 14.4 hours

Question 7

A company is preparing a bid on a government contract for 40 units of a certain product.The operations manager estimates the assembly time required for the first two units to be 10.4 hours and 8.3 hours,respectively.
a.What is the appropriate learning curve?
b.What is the average time per unit for the 40 units?
c.Which unit,if any,will require approximately one-half the time of the first unit?

Accepted Answer

(a)The learning rate is 8.3/10.4 = 0.798

Question 8

What cautions are in order when using learning curves?

Accepted Answer

The cautions when using learning curves

Question 9

Suppose that there are two products with the same first product time.However,product A has an improvement rate of 10% while product B has an improvement rate of 20%.How much longer will it take to make the 10th unit of product A compared to product B?

Accepted Answer

A) Both will have the identical time for the 10th unit. 
B) A will take 48% more time. 
C) A will take 48% less time. 
D) A will take 23% less time. 
E) A will take 23% more time. 
A) Both will have the identical time for the 10th unit. 
B) A will take 48% more time. 
C) A will take 48% less time. 
D) A will take 23% less time. 
E) A will take 23% more time.

Question 10

A job with a 90% learning curve required 20 hours for the initial unit.The fourth unit should require approximately how many hours?

Accepted Answer

A) 16.0 
B) 16.2 
C) 18.0 
D) 20.0 
E) 54.2 
A) 16.0 
B) 16.2 
C) 18.0 
D) 20.0 
E) 54.2

Question 11

Your firm has a contract to make 20 specialty lenses for night vision equipment.The first one took 40 hours.Learning is expected at the 85% rate.How long will it take to finish all 20 units?

Accepted Answer

The best solution method uses

Question 12

The learning curve may not be permanent;it can be disrupted by changes in process,personnel,or product.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

The first unit of a product took 832 hours to build,and the learning curve is 75%.How long will it take to make the 30th unit? (Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the logarithmic approach. )

Accepted Answer

A) less than 200 hours 
B) from 200 to 225 hours 
C) from 225 to 250 hours 
D) from 2501 to 275 hours 
E) 275 or more hours 
A) less than 200 hours 
B) from 200 to 225 hours 
C) from 225 to 250 hours 
D) from 2501 to 275 hours 
E) 275 or more hours

Question 14

A learning curve

Accepted Answer

A) plots man-hours per dollar versus time. 
B) is mathematically described by a parabola. 
C) should be plotted on polar coordinate graph paper. 
D) is based on the premise that organizations learn from experience. 
E) follows a normal distribution. 
A) plots man-hours per dollar versus time. 
B) is mathematically described by a parabola. 
C) should be plotted on polar coordinate graph paper. 
D) is based on the premise that organizations learn from experience. 
E) follows a normal distribution.

Question 15

You are a cost accountant for a firm that specializes in "small" (under 10 billion dollars)defence contracts for specialty electronics products,such as fully portable,miniaturized CD-ROM imaging stations and global positioning transmitters/transponders.Your company is well respected in this field.One project up for competitive bids is a Field Service,Hands-Free,Individual Multi-Protocol Secure Communicator (a battlefield version of a cellular telephone,but built into each soldier's helmet,and containing necessary encryption technology).The Department of Defence wants 8 of these experimental devices to test their practicality.You have reviewed the contract specifications,and estimated that the first FSHFIMPSC should require 2350 hours,and that the product is subject to a 75% learning rate.All costs of the project (machine purchase,machine time,direct and indirect labour,and materials)have been bundled (allocated)into an hourly labour rate of $172 per hour.Determine the total project cost using the provided data.

Accepted Answer

From Table E.3,2350 ∗ 4.802 =

Question 16

Learning curves can only be applied to labour.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture.The learning rate is known to be 82%.If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours,how long will it take to do the second? How long will it take to do the fourth?

Accepted Answer

Use the successive doubling (a

Question 18

The first product took 10 hours to build and the learning curve is estimated to be 90%.How long with it take to make the fourth unit?

Accepted Answer

A) 10 hours 
B) 9 hours 
C) 8.1 hours 
D) 7.5 hours 
E) 7.0 hours 
A) 10 hours 
B) 9 hours 
C) 8.1 hours 
D) 7.5 hours 
E) 7.0 hours

Question 19

Sally suspects strongly that there is a learning curve associated with solving problems assigned for operations management.She notes that it took her approximately 33 minutes to solve the first problem and 20 minutes to solve the fifth problem.
a.Estimate Sally's learning percentage.
b.Using your answer from part a,estimate how much longer it will take Sally to finish the three problems that remain.

Accepted Answer

(a)Her improvement from the first to fif

Question 20

The first unit took 10 hours and the fourth unit 8.1 hours.What is the improvement rate?

Accepted Answer

A) 99% 
B) 95% 
C) 90% 
D) 15% 
E) none of the above 
A) 99% 
B) 95% 
C) 90% 
D) 15% 
E) none of the above

Exam 25: Learning Curves

Learning curves have a variety of purposes,which can be placed into which of these broad categories?

Learning curves can be applied to a variety of purposes internal to a firm,including

The first unit took 10 hours and the eighth unit took 1.25 hours.What is the learning curve?

The first unit of a product took 900 hours to build and the learning curve is 90%.How long will it take to make the first 3 units? (Use Table E.3)

The Learning-Curve Coefficients table reports that for 70% learning,the eighth unit has a unit time value of 0.343.Verify that table entry by use of the arithmetic method.

It took 18 hours to complete the first two products with an 80% learning curve.How long did the second product take?

What cautions are in order when using learning curves?

Suppose that there are two products with the same first product time.However,product A has an improvement rate of 10% while product B has an improvement rate of 20%.How much longer will it take to make the 10th unit of product A compared to product B?

A job with a 90% learning curve required 20 hours for the initial unit.The fourth unit should require approximately how many hours?

Your firm has a contract to make 20 specialty lenses for night vision equipment.The first one took 40 hours.Learning is expected at the 85% rate.How long will it take to finish all 20 units?

The learning curve may not be permanent;it can be disrupted by changes in process,personnel,or product.

The first unit of a product took 832 hours to build,and the learning curve is 75%.How long will it take to make the 30th unit? (Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the logarithmic approach. )

A learning curve

Learning curves can only be applied to labour.

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture.The learning rate is known to be 82%.If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours,how long will it take to do the second? How long will it take to do the fourth?

The first product took 10 hours to build and the learning curve is estimated to be 90%.How long with it take to make the fourth unit?

The first unit took 10 hours and the fourth unit 8.1 hours.What is the improvement rate?

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