Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
39. 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?
40. Which one of the following would learning curves probably affect the least?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
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?
42. Unit times for a job exhibit a learning effect. If the 2nd unit took 30 hours, and the 4th unit
took 21 hours, roughly how many hours would you estimate the 3rd unit took?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
43. 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:
44. A job will have a learning rate of 75 percent. If the 3rd unit requires 10 hours, the 12th unit
should require about this many hours:
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
45. Assembly of a model airplane has a learning curve of 80 percent. The estimated time to
assemble a second identical model airplane is 40 hours. Determine approximately how much
time will be required for:
(A) the eighth unit
(B) the first ten units
46. 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:
(A) the fifth set
(B) sets 3, 4, and 5 together
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
47. An order we just received has a 90 percent learning curve associated with it. The second
unit of the total 25-unit order had a unit time of 36 minutes. What will the total time be for the
entire order (all 25 units)?
48. 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.
(A) Estimate Sally’s learning percentage.
(B) Using your answer from Part A, estimate how long it will take Sally to finish the three
remaining problems.
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
49. 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.
(A) Estimate Ron’s learning curve.
(B) About how long did it take Ron to do his set of 10 problems?
50. 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.
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
51. The 3rd unit of a ten-unit job required 7.3 hours to complete. The 4th unit has been worked
on for two hours, but it is not yet finished. Estimate the remaining amount of time that will be
needed to finish this ten-unit job if the work has an 80% learning curve.
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.
52. What is the appropriate learning curve?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
53. What is the expected time required to produce the 40th unit?
54. What is the average time per unit for the first 30 units?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
55. If a contract for 30 units is canceled after the first 20 units, approximately how much of
the expected total direct labor will have been expended to that point?
56. Approximately how long will it take to produce the 15th unit?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
7S-26
57. Which unit, if any, will require approximately one-half the time of the first unit?
58. Approximately how long will it take to produce the 25th through the 30th units?
A manager wants to analyze the learning curve associated with producing one of his
company’s products. Accordingly, he has gathered the following data:
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
59. What is the learning curve percentage?
60. How long did it take to produce the first unit?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
61. Approximately how long did it take to produce the first four units?
62. Approximately how long will it take to produce the tenth unit?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
63. Approximately how long will it take to produce the fifth through tenth units?
64. In which of the following scenarios would an 80% learning curve be especially relevant?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
65. To which of the following challenges are learning curves important considerations?
66. Which of the following is an example of a carryover effect?
Chapter 07S – Learning Curves
67. When are learning curves most relevant to managerial decision making in mass
production settings?
68. Suppose the first unit required 800 hours and the second unit required only 680. Which of
the following times for the fourth unit would be consistent with a true learning curve
scenario?