7S Learning Curves McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All Learning Objectives Explain the concept of learning curves Make time estimates based on learning curves List and briefly describe some of the main applications of learning curves Outline some of the cautions and criticisms of learning curves Estimate learning rates from data on job times 7S-2 Learning Curves Learning curves: the time required to perform a task decreases with increasing repetitions 7S-3 Learning Effect Time per repetition Figure 7S.1 Number of repetitions 7S-4 Learning with Improvements Time per unit Figure 7S.2 Average Improvements may create a scallop effect in the curve Time 7S-5 Applications of Learning Curves 1.Manpower planning and scheduling 2.Negotiated purchasing 3.Pricing new products 4.Budgeting, purchasing, and inventory planning 5.Capacity Planning 7S-6 Worker Learning Curves Time/cycles Figure 7S.4 A (underqualified) B (average) Standard time C (overqualified) One week Training time 7S-7 Cautions and Criticisms Learning rates may differ from organization to organization Projections based on learning curves should be viewed as approximations Estimates based the first unit should be checked for valid times At some point the curve might level off or even tip upward 7S-8 Cautions and Criticisms Some improvements may be more apparent than real For the most part, the concept does not apply to mass production Learning curves sometimes fail to include carryover effects Life cycles, flex manufacturing can affect application of learning curves 7S-9