Deck 28: Learning Curves

Question 1

12)Learning curves can be used to determine the number of workers needed to meet planned production level targets.This statement is an application of learning curves in which of the following functions?

A)workforce planning and scheduling
B)cost estimation and budgeting
C)new product pricing
D)procurement negotiations in supply chains

Answer 1

A

Question 2

2)Typically,when an activity is performed repeatedly,the time required to perform it steadily decreases.Which of the following captures this phenomenon?

A)practice curve
B)knowledge curve
C)learning curve
D)learning time

Answer 2

C

Question 3

15)Learning curve effects enable managers to pursue aggressive pricing strategies to penetrate new markets and still be profitable in the long run.This statement is an application of learning curves in which of the following functions?

A)workforce planning and scheduling
B)cost estimation and budgeting
C)new product pricing
D)procurement negotiations in supply chains

Answer 3

C

Question 4

13)Learning curves will help managers develop more accurate estimates of labor and material costs that are incurred during the production cycles.This statement is an application of learning curves in which of the following functions?

A)workforce planning and scheduling
B)cost estimation and budgeting
C)new product pricing
D)procurement negotiations in supply chains

Question 5

10)There are ______ approaches to solving learning curve problems.

A)three
B)four
C)five
D)six

Question 6

3)Learning curves are most useful for measuring performance improvements for ______.

A)routine jobs
B)simple jobs
C)one-time jobs
D)complex jobs

Question 7

20)______ is suitable only for estimating the number of hours required to produce the nth unit,where n is the doubled value.It cannot be used to find the time required to find intermediate units.

A)The arithmetic approach
B)Using a table of learning curve coefficient values
C)The logarithmic formula approach
D)The quadratic formula approach

Question 8

17)The arithmetic approach is based on the assumption that as production doubles,the per-unit production time declines by a constant percentage,often referred to as ______.

A)learning time
B)learning rate
C)learning coefficient
D)learning factor

Question 9

8)Under the learning curve,as the number of repetitions or units of an item produced doubles,the processing time per unit of that item decreases by a constant percentage.This constant percentage is typically in the ______ range.

A)30% to 50%
B)10% to 20%
C)40% to 50%
D)1% to 10%

Question 10

6)Which of the following statements is true about learning curves?

A)The curve will touch the horizontal axis at some point.
B)The time reduction per repetition will steadily increase as the number of repetitions or units produced increases.
C)The time per repetition or unit produced will never be zero.
D)Learning and performance improvement will occur indefinitely.

Question 11

11)Which of the following is NOT one of the approaches to solve learning curve problems?

A)arithmetic approach
B)using a table of learning curve coefficient values
C)logarithmic formula approach
D)quadratic formula approach

Question 12

5)After a certain point,no further learning occurs,and each subsequent repetition or unit produced take the same amount of time,and the system has reached a steady state.This is illustrated by the ______ of the learning curve.

A)steep increase
B)steep decrease
C)flattening
D)smoothing

Question 13

7)An 80% learning curve means a(n)______.

A)20% decrease in unit time as the number of repetitions or units produced doubles
B)80% decrease in unit time as the number of repetitions or units produced doubles
C)20% increase in unit time as the number of repetitions or units produced doubles
D)80% increase in unit time as the number of repetitions or units produced doubles

Question 14

1)______ shows that as the rate of production for an item doubles,the processing time per unit of that item decreases by a constant percentage.

A)Learning rate
B)Learning coefficient
C)Learning curve
D)Learning time

Question 15

18)Assume that it takes 100 hours to produce the first unit of a product,and the learning rate for this production process is 80%.Using the arithmetic approach,determine the labor hours required to produce the 4th unit.

A)100 hours
B)80 hours
C)64 hours
D)52 hours

Question 16

16)______ is the simplest approach to solving learning curve problems.

A)The arithmetic approach
B)Using a table of learning curve coefficient values
C)The logarithmic formula approach
D)The quadratic formula approach

Question 17

14)Understanding learning curves will enable procurement specialists to determine the number of units of the specialized item that they plan to order and then negotiate with the supplier based on the order size.This statement is an application of learning curves in which of the following functions?

A)workforce planning and scheduling
B)cost estimation and budgeting
C)new product pricing
D)procurement negotiations in supply chains

Question 18

19)Assume that it takes 100 hours to produce the first unit of a product,and the learning rate for this production process is 80%.Using the arithmetic approach,determine the labor hours required to produce the 16th unit.

A)100 hours
B)80 hours
C)51.2 hours
D)40.96 hours

Question 19

4)Learning curves are of little use for ______.

A)nonroutine jobs
B)repetitive jobs of short duration
C)complex jobs
D)jobs that require long time to complete

Question 20

9)In general,it is more challenging to apply learning curves in the ______ as compared to the ______.

A)manufacturing industry,service industry
B)electronics industry,service industry
C)service industry,manufacturing industry
D)manufacturing industry,hospitals

Question 21

31)Consider a programmer required to complete four work assignments.Assume an overhead rate of $1.50 and the cost per hour for the programmer's services to be $35/hour.The programmer's learning rate for coding is 0.85.The steady state for the fourth iteration (n = 4)to code is 50 hours.Determine the estimate of time needed for the first coding iteration.

A)69.16 hours
B)97.43 hours
C)87.34 hours
D)78.43 hours

Question 22

28)Purple Airlines has ordered 30 small jets from its supplier.The supplier has estimated the first aircraft will require 350 days of direct labor to manufacture and assemble.Based on past experience,the supplier estimates the learning curve to be 75%.Estimate the average number of days of direct labor for all 30 jet aircrafts.

A)231.43 days
B)121.43 days
C)133.54 days
D)156.43 days

Question 23

39)The first unit produced in a process takes 400 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 20%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 64th unit.

A)320 hours
B)256 hours
C)105 hours
D)164 hours

Question 24

35)Which of the following statements is FALSE about limitations of learning curves?

A)If a worker is bored by conducting repetitive tasks,very little learning occurs.
B)Changes to workers or job designs may alter the trajectory of the curve,causing a temporary downward spike in the curve.
C)If worker interests drop toward the end of the project,the learning curve will prematurely level off.
D)Time estimates for subsequent repetitions of an activity or unit production are based on the time it takes to perform the first iteration of the activity or the first unit produced.

Question 25

25)Which of the following metrics is used to calculate the cumulative or total time required to complete a given number of repetitions of a task or produce a given number of unit of an item?

A)unit time coefficient value
B)flow time coefficient value
C)production time coefficient value
D)total time coefficient value

Question 26

22)ABC Hospital completed its first transplant,and the procedure took 50 hours.The hospital has five more transplants scheduled.Based on other similar procedures carried out,the hospital estimates that it has an 85% learning rate.Estimate the time it will take to complete the third transplant.

A)34.5 hours
B)36 hours
C)38.67 hours
D)40 hours

Question 27

32)A construction firm wants to estimate the direct labor of a worker who will perform multiple iterations of tasks.The worker must do a total of 20 of these activities to reach steady state.The time estimated to perform the 20th iteration is 2 hours,and the learning rate for this repetitive activity is 70%.The cost of labor is $40/hr.Estimate the time necessary to complete the first activity.

A)9.34 hours
B)8.43 hours
C)5.34 hours
D)10.31 hours

Question 28

34)Which of the following statements about learning curves is FALSE?

A)Learning rates differ from company to company and from industry to industry.
B)Learning curves are mostly applicable to direct materials and labor.
C)Learning curves provide the actual times of activities/tasks.
D)Learning curves have limited use in mass production situations,as the improvements through learning are negligible.

Question 29

30)Consider a programmer who is required to complete four work assignments.Each assignment takes 50 hours to complete.Assume an overhead rate of $1.50 and the cost per hour for the programmer's services to be $35/hour.The direct billing charge will be ______.

A)$10,000
B)$12,000
C)$10,500
D)$11,500

Question 30

23)ABC Hospital completed its first transplant,and the procedure took 50 hours.The hospital has five more transplants scheduled.Based on other similar procedures carried out,the hospital estimates that it has an 85% learning rate.Estimate the total time required for all five transplants.

A)160 hours
B)220 hours
C)201.64 hours
D)214.34 hours

Question 31

29)Which of the following is FALSE about learning curves?

A)Different production features will affect the degree of learning that takes place.
B)Selecting production processes that offer the fastest opportunities for learning will allow firms to apply learning curves most effectively.
C)Learning curves should be applied to production lines that are stabilized and fully functional.
D)Different systems throughout the factory will yield the same opportunities for learning and will have the same shape of learning curves.

Question 32

24)Which of the following metrics is used to calculate the time required for a particular repetition of a task or to produce a particular unit of an item?

A)unit time coefficient value
B)flow time coefficient value
C)production time coefficient value
D)total time coefficient value

Question 33

40)The first unit produced in a process takes 400 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 20%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 128th unit.

A)84 hours
B)256 hours
C)105 hours
D)72 hours

Question 34

26)Purple Airlines has ordered 30 small jets from its supplier.The supplier has estimated the first aircraft will require 350 days of direct labor to manufacture and assemble.Based on past experience,the supplier estimates the learning curve to be 75%.Estimate the number of days of direct labor for the 15th jet aircraft.

A)113.75 days
B)115.32 days
C)120.43 days
D)116.87 days

Question 35

41)The first unit produced in a process takes 600 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 32%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 128th unit.

A)84 hours
B)40 hours
C)105 hours
D)47 hours

Question 36

33)A construction firm wants to estimate the direct labor of a worker who will perform multiple iterations of tasks.The worker must do a total of 20 of these activities to reach steady state.The time estimated to perform the 20th iteration is 2 hours,and the learning rate for this repetitive activity is 70%.The cost of labor is $40/hr.Estimate the direct labor cost for 20 iterations of these activities.

A)$2,767.25
B)$2,341.45
C)$3,456.65
D)$1,234.12

Question 37

36)Uses of learning curves were known as early as ______.

A)1685
B)1785
C)1885
D)1985

Question 38

38)Compared to other industries,learning curves can be more challenging to apply in ______.

A)electronics manufacturing
B)automotive manufacturing
C)chemical manufacturing
D)hospitals

Question 39

27)Purple Airlines has ordered 30 small jets from its supplier.The supplier has estimated the first aircraft will require 350 days of direct labor to manufacture and assemble.Based on past experience,the supplier estimates the learning curve to be 75%.Estimate the number of days of direct labor for all 30 jet aircrafts.

A)3,000.5 days
B)4,006.1 days
C)3,456.7 days
D)4,567.3 days

Question 40

37)Learning curves were first applied to the aircraft industry in ______.

A)1916
B)1926
C)1936
D)1946

Question 41

51)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 45 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 92% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 22nd widget.

A)31.05 hours
B)28.22 hours
C)18.96 hours
D)42.87 hours

Question 42

49)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 30 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 95% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the eighth widget.

A)25.71 hours
B)22.68 hours
C)19.62 hours
D)18.76 hours

Question 43

45)The first unit produced in a process takes 480 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 18%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 32nd unit.

A)217 hours
B)328 hours
C)178 hours
D)156 hours

Question 44

44)The first unit produced in a process takes 480 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 18%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 16th unit.

A)217 hours
B)328 hours
C)128 hours
D)156 hours

Question 45

46)The first unit produced in a process takes 480 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 18%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 64th unit.

A)217 hours
B)146 hours
C)178 hours
D)156 hours

Question 46

55)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 50 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 85% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 50th widget.

A)20.00 hours
B)18.25 hours
C)17.66 hours
D)22.45 hours

Question 47

52)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 50 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 97% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 56th widget.

A)31.05 hours
B)41.90 hours
C)18.96 hours
D)42.87 hours

Question 48

57)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 50 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 90% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 60th widget.

A)26.85 hours
B)32.70 hours
C)22.55 hours
D)21.42 hours

Question 49

58)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 60 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 60% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 60th widget.

A)1.85 hours
B)3.70 hours
C)4.55 hours
D)2.94 hours

Question 50

59)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 60 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 90% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 35th widget.

A)34.98 hours
B)29.30 hours
C)44.55 hours
D)22.94 hours

Question 51

60)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 62 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 98% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 56th widget.

A)55.18 hours
B)59.30 hours
C)64.55 hours
D)49.94 hours

Question 52

61)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 53 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 86% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 102th widget.

A)19.35 hours
B)29.30 hours
C)22.55 hours
D)18.94 hours

Question 53

43)The first unit produced in a process takes 600 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 32%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 16th unit.

A)132 hours
B)148 hours
C)128 hours
D)156 hours

Question 54

50)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 28 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 95% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the fourth widget.

A)24.71 hours
B)22.68 hours
C)25.28 hours
D)18.76 hours

Question 55

54)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 25 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 98% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 100th widget.

A)28.96 hours
B)20.28 hours
C)21.88 hours
D)31.61 hours

Question 56

56)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 100 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 95% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 75th widget.

A)62.89 hours
B)72.70 hours
C)56.55 hours
D)76.42 hours

Question 57

53)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 30 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 92% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 26th widget.

A)11.05 hours
B)21.90 hours
C)28.96 hours
D)20.28 hours

Question 58

47)The first unit produced in a process takes 480 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 18%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the eighth unit.

A)217 hours
B)146 hours
C)178 hours
D)265 hours

Question 59

42)The first unit produced in a process takes 400 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 32%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the 16th unit.

A)84 hours
B)83 hours
C)96 hours
D)86 hours

Question 60

48)The first unit produced in a process takes 480 hours.As the number of units produced doubles,production time decreases by 18%.Using the arithmetic approach,calculate the production time for the fourth unit.

A)217 hours
B)323 hours
C)178 hours
D)256 hours

Question 61

73)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 73 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 88% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 109th widget.

A)31.24 hours
B)34.86 hours
C)30.81 hours
D)32.90 hours

Question 62

72)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 68 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 91% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 109th widget.

A)36.24 hours
B)34.86 hours
C)39.52 hours
D)35.90 hours

Question 63

69)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 52 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 95% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 132th widget.

A)36.24 hours
B)34.51 hours
C)29.52 hours
D)35.94 hours

Question 64

65)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 56 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 89% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 112th widget.

A)29.35 hours
B)25.37 hours
C)31.27 hours
D)29.94 hours

Question 65

78)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 18 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 7 hours.If Weston has a 94% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)9.06 hours
B)10.92 hours
C)8.90 hours
D)7.51 hours

Question 66

75)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 15 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 35 hours.If Weston has an 81% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)79.73 hours
B)72.45 hours
C)75.45 hours
D)73.52 hours

Question 67

81)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 25 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 19 hours.If Weston has a 94% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)25.32 hours
B)26.88 hours
C)24.35 hours
D)24.16 hours

Question 68

70)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 51 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 85% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 148th widget.

A)16.24 hours
B)15.86 hours
C)19.52 hours
D)16.94 hours

Question 69

67)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 79 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 81% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 135th widget.

A)17.78 hours
B)19.58 hours
C)16.52 hours
D)21.94 hours

Question 70

62)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 64 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 87% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 62th widget.

A)19.35 hours
B)27.90 hours
C)22.55 hours
D)18.94 hours

Question 71

76)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 21 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 47 hours.If Weston has an 87% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)86.65 hours
B)87.64 hours
C)85.60 hours
D)85.24 hours

Question 72

64)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 54 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 91% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 141th widget.

A)29.35 hours
B)27.54 hours
C)31.27 hours
D)29.94 hours

Question 73

79)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 15 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 27 hours.If Weston has a 94% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)36.10 hours
B)32.53 hours
C)33.51 hours
D)34.38 hours

Question 74

66)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 57 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 84% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 114th widget.

A)17.27 hours
B)19.58 hours
C)16.52 hours
D)21.94 hours

Question 75

80)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took nine iterations before the process reached a steady state of 38 hours.If Weston has an 80% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)77.74 hours
B)75.68 hours
C)77.09 hours
D)76.83 hours

Question 76

71)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 78 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 92% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 66th widget.

A)46.24 hours
B)45.86 hours
C)49.52 hours
D)47.19 hours

Question 77

77)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 20 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 30 hours.If Weston has a 99% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)32.76 hours
B)31.33 hours
C)31.05 hours
D)28.72 hours

Question 78

68)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 52 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has an 82% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 87th widget.

A)17.78 hours
B)14.51 hours
C)16.52 hours
D)15.94 hours

Question 79

63)Acme,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 79 hours for the first widget.Acme estimates it has a 94% learning rate.Using the logarithmic approach,calculate the time it will take to manufacture the 128th widget.

A)59.35 hours
B)57.90 hours
C)51.27 hours
D)49.94 hours

Question 80

74)Weston,Inc.,produces widgets.To manufacture a new type of widget,it took 15 iterations before the process reached a steady state of 35 hours.If Weston has an 82% learning rate,use the logarithmic approach to calculate the time it took to manufacture the first widget.

A)76.00 hours
B)72.45 hours
C)75.45 hours
D)73.52 hours