Question 1

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) 10% 
A) 99% 
B) 95% 
C) 90% 
D) 15% 
E) 10%

Question 2

Companies pursuing a learning curve strategy MUST increase which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A) employee training 
B) costs 
C) quality 
D) volume 
E) all of the above 
A) employee training 
B) costs 
C) quality 
D) volume 
E) all of the above

Question 3

The first unit of production took 10 hours with an 80% learning curve.How long will it take to complete both the first and second units?

Accepted Answer

A) 10 hours 
B) 8 hours 
C) 18 hours 
D) 15.7 hours 
E) There is not enough information to solve the problem. 
A) 10 hours 
B) 8 hours 
C) 18 hours 
D) 15.7 hours 
E) There is not enough information to solve the problem.

Question 4

A firm that successfully pursues a steeper-than-industry-average learning curve and manages costs down may still fail if,by underestimating a strong competitor,it fails to gain the added volume necessary for the learning curve to exist.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

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 6

Learning curves can only be applied to labor.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

A small manufacturer builds wooden pleasure boats in a craftsman manner by traditional labor-intensive methods.The first boat is estimated to take 650 hours of skilled labor,which cost $40 per hour.They currently have three workers that can work 2,000 hours a year.They assume that there is a 90% learning curve.How many boats can they build in their first year?

Accepted Answer

The number of hours available for the fi

Question 8

What can cause a learning curve to vary from a smooth downward slope?

Accepted Answer

Any changes in personnel,desig

Question 9

Identify one advantage and one disadvantage of the doubling approach over the formula approach to learning curve calculations.

Accepted Answer

Advantage: simplest approach t

Question 10

The learning curve rate is:

Accepted Answer

A) the percentage of time it will take to make each unit when the production rate doubles. 
B) the log-log of the annual rate change divided by the average unit cost. 
C) always based on constant value dollars. 
D) only considered valid after one year of data is accumulated. 
E) equal to at least 75%. 
A) the percentage of time it will take to make each unit when the production rate doubles. 
B) the log-log of the annual rate change divided by the average unit cost. 
C) always based on constant value dollars. 
D) only considered valid after one year of data is accumulated. 
E) equal to at least 75%.

Question 11

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) none of the above 
A) 50% 
B) 90% 
C) 80% 
D) 12.5% 
E) none of the above

Question 12

The first unit of a product took 50 hours to build,and the learning curve is 80%.How long will it take to make the third unit? (Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the formula approach. )

Accepted Answer

A) under 30 hours 
B) about 32 hours 
C) about 35 hours 
D) about 50 hours 
E) about 75 hours 
A) under 30 hours 
B) about 32 hours 
C) about 35 hours 
D) about 50 hours 
E) about 75 hours

Question 13

Using the doubling approach,determine how long it will take to make the 64th unit of a product if it took 1 hour to complete the first product with a 50% learning curve.

Accepted Answer

2^X = 64 => X = 6
Thus,the tim

Question 14

The seventh unit of production took 63.423 minutes while the ninth unit of production took 59.8 minutes.What is the improvement rate?

Accepted Answer

T(1)= 63.423/(7^b)= 59.8/(9^b)
b = -.234

Question 15

The learning rate for a product is 90 percent.The first unit took 10 hours to complete.The manufacturer wants to determine how many hours the fourth unit will take by using the formula approach.What is the coefficient b for that calculation?

Accepted Answer

A) -.1053 
B) -.1520 
C) -.3219 
D) .6931 
E) 8.1 
A) -.1053 
B) -.1520 
C) -.3219 
D) .6931 
E) 8.1

Question 16

On an ordinary graph,unit times for a learning curve decrease at a decreasing rate,but on a log-log graph,the learning "curve" appears as a straight line.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

The fourth unit of production took 80 minutes while the ninth unit of production took 50 minutes.How long did the first unit take?

Accepted Answer

T(1)= 80/(4^b)= 50/(

Question 18

It took 60 hours to make the first unit of a product.After the second and third units were made,the learning curve was estimated to be 80%.At $10 per hour,estimate the labor bill for the fourth unit.(Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the formula approach. )

Accepted Answer

A) $400 or less 
B) from $400 to $420 
C) from $420 to $440 
D) from $1800 to $2000 
E) over $2000 
A) $400 or less 
B) from $400 to $420 
C) from $420 to $440 
D) from $1800 to $2000 
E) over $2000

Question 19

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% learning curve.How long will it take to finish all 20 units?

Accepted Answer

The best solution method uses

Question 20

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 curve.
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

Exam 26: Learning Curves

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

Companies pursuing a learning curve strategy MUST increase which of the following?

The first unit of production took 10 hours with an 80% learning curve.How long will it take to complete both the first and second units?

A firm that successfully pursues a steeper-than-industry-average learning curve and manages costs down may still fail if,by underestimating a strong competitor,it fails to gain the added volume necessary for the learning curve to exist.

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)

Learning curves can only be applied to labor.

What can cause a learning curve to vary from a smooth downward slope?

Identify one advantage and one disadvantage of the doubling approach over the formula approach to learning curve calculations.

The learning curve rate is:

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 50 hours to build,and the learning curve is 80%.How long will it take to make the third unit? (Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the formula approach. )

Using the doubling approach,determine how long it will take to make the 64th unit of a product if it took 1 hour to complete the first product with a 50% learning curve.

The seventh unit of production took 63.423 minutes while the ninth unit of production took 59.8 minutes.What is the improvement rate?

The learning rate for a product is 90 percent.The first unit took 10 hours to complete.The manufacturer wants to determine how many hours the fourth unit will take by using the formula approach.What is the coefficient b for that calculation?

On an ordinary graph,unit times for a learning curve decrease at a decreasing rate,but on a log-log graph,the learning "curve" appears as a straight line.

The fourth unit of production took 80 minutes while the ninth unit of production took 50 minutes.How long did the first unit take?

It took 60 hours to make the first unit of a product.After the second and third units were made,the learning curve was estimated to be 80%.At $10 per hour,estimate the labor bill for the fourth unit.(Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the formula approach. )

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% learning curve.How long will it take to finish all 20 units?

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