Deck 11: Learning Curves

Question 1

Learning curves generally apply to situations in which there is a high degree of human involvement,and tasks are fairly repetitive.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A learning rate of 97% will produce minor decreases in completion times of the first few units.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When the task is fairly complex and has a longer duration,improvement will occur over a larger number of repetitions.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

A 98% learning curve implies an exceptionally rapid rate of improvement.

Question 5

If an 80% curve is appropriate for a task and the first unit takes ten hours,the average time for the first two units would be eight hours.

Question 6

The learning percentage can be determined from a learning curve table.

Question 7

According to learning curve theory,the time reduction per unit decreases as the number of units increases.

Question 8

According to learning curve theory,every doubling of total output will produce a constant percentage decrease in time per unit.

Question 9

An 80 percent learning curve means that with each doubling of units there will be a 20 percent decrease in time per unit.

Question 10

A learning percentage of 98% implies 2% learning.

Question 11

If the task is short and somewhat routine; a modest amount of improvement occurs during the first few repetitions.

Question 12

Learning curves are mostly relevant for routine,repetitive activities.

Question 13

The decrease in time between the second and fourth units will be equal to the decrease in time between the first and second units.

Question 14

For an 80% learning curve,if the first unit requires 10 hours,the second unit will require 8 hours,and the third 6.4 hours.

Question 15

Learning curves have little relevance for planning or scheduling of routine activities of short duration.

Question 16

A 95% learning curve indicates greater learning than a 90% learning curve.

Question 17

According to learning curve theory,for certain kinds of tasks the indirect labour time or cost per unit decreases as the number of units increases.

Question 18

Learning curves cannot be used if the labour time for the first unit is unknown.

Question 19

A 77% learning curve will produce relatively minor decreases in completion times of the first few repetitions.

Question 20

Learning curves are sometimes used for manpower planning and scheduling.

Question 21

A job has an 80% learning curve.If the first unit took 40 hours to complete,the fourth unit should take roughly how many hours?

A)20
B)26
C)31
D)35
E)40

Question 22

Once production is underway and the learning curve effect is occurring,successive changes made to the production process will cause the time per unit to:

A)continue following the original learning curve without any impact.
B)cause a scallop effect.
C)increase the unit time and result in a higher percentage learning curve.
D)decrease the unit time and result in a higher percentage learning curve.
E)decrease the unit time and result in a lower percentage learning curve.

Question 23

The fact that human activities typically improve when they are done on a repetitive basis is described by a:

A)normal distribution curve.
B)learning curve.
C)binomial distribution curve.
D)exponential curve.
E)man-machine chart

Question 24

A job with a 70 percent learning curve required 20 hours for the initial unit.The fourth unit should require approximately how many hours?

A)6
B)9.8
C)14
D)20
E)34

Question 25

A job has an 80 percent learning curve.The second unit required 12 hours to complete.Approximately how many hours will be devoted to the first five units (including those already completed)?

A)26
B)36
C)46
D)56
E)66

Question 26

The learning curve is a basic tool for mass production type activities because it can deal with large volumes of output.

Question 27

The learning percentage is the base of the power function that is fitted to the data.

Question 28

A job is expected to have a learning curve of 90 percent.The third unit required 16 hours.The twelfth unit should take approximately how many hours?

A)2
B)4
C)7
D)10
E)13

Question 29

On a log-log graph,learning curves appear as:

A)upward-curving lines.
B)downward-curving lines.
C)straight lines.
D)lines which increase at a decreasing rate.
E)lines which decrease at a decreasing rate.

Question 30

A manager is trying to estimate the appropriate learning curve for a certain job.The manager notes that the first four units had a total time of 30 minutes.Which learning curve would yield approximately this result if the first unit took 10 minutes?

A).70
B).75
C).80
D).85
E).90

Question 31

Learning curves can be used to understand how direct labour costs per unit can be expected to decrease as more units are produced.

Question 32

Which of the following conveys the essence of learning curves?

A)As the number of units produced increase,time per unit increases.
B)As the number of units produced decrease,time per unit increases.
C)As the number of units produced increase,time per unit remains constant.
D)As the number of units produced increase,time per unit doubles.
E)As the number of units produced increase,time per unit decreases.

Question 33

Learning curves are used primarily for mass production applications.

Question 34

For the same type of work,learning curves may differ from organization to organization.

Question 35

A job is expected to have a 70 percent learning curve.The first unit has been completed in 20 hours.Accordingly,the second unit can be expected to take approximately how many hours?

A)6
B)9.8
C)14
D)20
E)34

Question 36

How long would a job with a 70 percent learning curve and a time of 20 hours for the first unit require (approximately,in hours)for the third unit?

A)14
B)11.4
C)10
D)7
E)4

Question 37

Projections based on learning curves should be treated as approximations.

Question 38

One use of learning curves is for negotiated purchasing.

Question 39

It took exactly 10 hours to produce the first widget on a 100 percent learning curve.The second widget will take how many hours to produce?

A)8.0 hours
B)10.0 hours
C)12.0 hours
D)A 100 percent learning curve cannot exist.
E)2 hours

Question 40

A job has a 70% learning curve.If the first unit took 10 hours to complete,the third unit should take roughly how many hours?

A)7
B)5.7
C)5
D)3.5
E)4.9

Question 41

A job has an 80% learning curve.If the first unit took 50 hours to complete,the third unit should take roughly how many hours?

A)40
B)36
C)35
D)32
E)10

Question 42

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 8.8 hours,respectively.Approximately how long will it take to produce the last ten units?

A)33 hours
B)69 hours
C)45 hours
D)38 hours
E)It is impossible to say without additional information.

Question 43

Which one of the following would learning curves probably affect the least?

A)Pricing new products
B)Negotiated purchasing
C)Layout analysis
D)Scheduling
E)Labour planning

Question 44

A manager is trying to estimate the learning rate for a new job.The first unit took 16 hours,and the fourth unit required about 13 hours.The learning rate is:

A)70%
B)75%
C)80%
D)85%
E)90%

Question 45

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 8.8 hours,respectively.What is the expected time required to produce the 40^th unit?

A)3.2 hours
B)4.4 hours
C)5.9 hours
D)3.7 hours
E)2.2 hours

Question 46

A job will have a learning rate of 75 percent.If the 3^rd unit requires 10 hours,the 12^th unit should require about this many hours:

A)5.6
B)6.5
C)7.4
D)8.3
E)9.2

Question 47

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's products.Accordingly,he has gathered the following data: Approximately how long will it take to produce the tenth unit?

A)1 hour
B)2 hours
C)3 hours
D)4 hours
E)5 hours

Question 48

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's products.Accordingly,he has gathered the following data: How long did it take to produce the first unit?

A)5 hours
B)6 hours
C)6.25 hours
D)6.33 hours
E)6.5 hours

Question 49

In which of the following managerial activities would learning curves probably be the least useful?

A)Negotiated purchasing
B)Manpower planning
C)Location analysis
D)Budgeting
E)Pricing new products

Question 50

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 8.8 hours,respectively.What is the appropriate learning curve?

A)70 percent
B)75 percent
C)80 percent
D)85 percent
E)90 percent

Question 51

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 8.8 hours,respectively.Which unit,if any,will require approximately one-half the time of the first unit?

A)18^th unit
B)19^th unit
C)20^th unit
D)21^st unit
E)22^nd unit

Question 52

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 8.8 hours,respectively.If the contract is cancelled after the first 20 units,approximately how much of the expected total direct labour will have been expended to that point?

A)58%
B)55%
C)61%
D)50%
E)It is impossible to say without additional information.

Question 53

Which of the following is not a major caution or criticism of learning curves?

A)Learning rates may differ between organizations.
B)Projections should be regarded as approximations.
C)The base time must be carefully determined.
D)The curve may eventually tip upwards.
E)Carryover effects may alter the learning rate.

Question 54

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 8.8 hours,respectively.Approximately how long will it take to produce the 15^th unit?

A)4.3 hours
B)5.5 hours
C)4.7 hours
D)6.9 hours
E)3.4 hours

Question 55

Learning percentages can not be determined from:

A)the estimates based on past experience
B)fitting a power function to past data.
C)fitting a linear function to the log of past data.
D)the industry learning slope
E)a 100% curve

Question 56

To which worker would learning curves be most applicable?

A)Bus driver
B)Punch press operator
C)Assembly-line worker
D)Auto service mechanic
E)Laundromat operator

Question 57

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's products.Accordingly,he has gathered the following data: Approximately how long did it take to produce the first four units?

A)15 hours
B)16 hours
C)18 hours
D)20 hours
E)21 hours

Question 58

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 8.8 hours,respectively.What is the average time per unit for the 40 units?

A)4.7 hours
B)6.9 hours
C)5.6 hours
D)4.5 hours
E)3.6 hours

Question 59

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's products.Accordingly,he has gathered the following data: What is the learning curve percentage?

A)40%.
B)50%.
C)75%.
D)80%.
E)90%.

Question 60

Unit times for a job exhibit a learning effect.If the 2^nd unit took 30 hours,and the 4^th unit took 21 hours,roughly how many hours would you estimate the 3^rd unit took?

A)29
B)27
C)25
D)24
E)21

Question 61

Ron has noted that the first accounting problem he did in a set of similar problems took him one hour,and the ninth problem took 24 minutes.
(i)Estimate Ron's learning curve.
(ii)About how long did it take Ron to do his set of 10 problems?

Question 62

It takes a worker with a 90 percent learning curve 72.9 minutes to complete the fourth unit of a seven-unit job.Estimate the amount of time the worker spent on the first two units.

Question 63

Assembly of a radar unit has a learning curve of 80 percent.Estimated time to assemble the second unit is 40 hours.Determine approximately how much time will be required for:
(i)the eighth unit
(ii)the first ten units

Question 64

Developing work assignments in a job shop in a certain firm has a learning curve of 80 percent.If the second set of assignments takes 12 minutes,determine the length of time required for the following:
(i)the fifth set
(ii)sets 3,4,and 5 together

Question 65

A job has a 90 percent learning curve associated with it.The second unit of a 25-unit job had a unit time of 36 minutes.What will the total time be for the entire job?

Question 66

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 17 minutes to solve the fifth problem.
(i)Estimate Sally's learning percentage.
(ii)Using your answer from part a,estimate how long it will take Sally to finish the three problems which remain.

Question 67

A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his company's products.Accordingly,he has gathered the following data: Approximately how long will it take to produce the fifth through tenth units?

A)15 hours
B)16 hours
C)18 hours
D)20 hours
E)21 hours