Question 1

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 8.3 hours, respectively.
(a) What is the appropriate learning curve?
(b) What is the average time per unit for the 40 units?
(c) Which unit, if any, will require approximately one-half the time of the first unit?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A company is preparing a bid on...

Question 2

A contractor builds large ships for the Department of Defense. A recent contract called for 12 amphibious landing platforms. It was originally estimated that the first of these would cost $1 billion and that 80 percent learning would be appropriate. In fact, the first ship cost $1.6 billion and the second $1.12 billion. What is the revised learning curve? What will be the total cost of the 12 ships? Is it higher or lower than the original estimate? If the defense department cuts the contract from 12 ships to 9, what happens to the average cost per ship?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A contractor builds large ships for the...

Question 3

A product was priced assuming a 75% learning curve. How much extra labor (in $) will be required on the 4th product if the learning curve is actually 85%? Assume that the first unit cost $100 to produce.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A product was priced assuming a 75%...

Question 4

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

The answer of Sally suspects strongly that there is a...

Question 5

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

The answer of The fourth unit of production took 80...

Question 6

A small manufacturer builds wooden pleasure boats in a craftsman manner by traditional labor-intensive methods. The first boat is estimated to take 1,000 hours of skilled labor, which costs $40 per hour. They currently have five workers that can work 2,000 hours a year. They assume that there is an 80% learning curve. How many boats can they build in their first year?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A small manufacturer builds wooden pleasure boats...

Question 7

You are about to undertake the manufacture of a labor-intensive electronics component. The first unit took 300 hours. You are not sure whether the learning curve is 70% or 80%. The initial phase of the contract calls for 6 of these components.
(a) How much time will it take to complete all six at 70% learning?
(b) How much time will it take to complete all six at 80% learning?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are about to undertake the manufacture...

Question 8

You are a cost accountant for a firm that specializes in "small" (under 10 billion dollars) defense contracts for specialty electronics products, such as fully portable, miniaturized CD-ROM imaging stations and global positioning transmitters/transponders. Your company is well respected in this field. One project up for competitive bids is a Field Service, Hands-Free, Individual Multi-Protocol Secure Communicator (a battlefield version of a cellular telephone, but built into each soldier's helmet, and containing necessary encryption technology). The Department of Defense wants 8 of these experimental devices to test their practicality. You have reviewed the contract specifications, and estimated that the first FSHFIMPSC should require 2350 hours, and that the product is subject to a 75% learning curve. All costs of the project (machine purchase, machine time, direct and indirect labor, and materials) have been bundled (allocated) into an hourly labor rate of $172 per hour. Determine the total project cost using the provided data.

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are a cost accountant for a...

Question 9

Joe's Manufacturing is considering bidding on a small order for 5 units. Based on similar products that they have made in the past, they believe that the first unit will take 500 labor hours. They also believe that there will be an 80% learning curve. How many hours of labor should Joe include for his bid?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Joe's Manufacturing is considering bidding on a...

Question 10

The first unit took 79 hours; the tenth took 46 hours. What learning curve is implied by the data?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The first unit took 79 hours; the...

Question 11

A product was priced assuming an 80% learning curve. How much extra labor (in %) will be required on the 4th product if the learning curve is actually 90%?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A product was priced assuming an 80%...

Question 12

A certain product under development took 200 hours for the production of its 2nd unit and 160 hours for its 4th unit.
(a) What is the learning curve?
(b) How much time did the first unit take?
(c) How much time would the production of the 10th unit take? (Use both the formula and the Table E.3 approach. Do the two versions agree?)

Accepted Answer

The answer of A certain product under development took 200...

Question 13

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, estimate (using the doubling approach) how long it will take to complete the third unit.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your firm has expertise with a special...

Question 14

A small manufacturer that offers "hand crafted" furniture has developed a new style of desk that they believe will be very successful in the marketplace. It is expected that the first desk will take about 60 hours of craftsmen's time to complete. They expect a 90% learning curve for this desk.
How long will it take to make the 20th desk? The firm is considering accepting an order for 25 desks. How many hours of labor will this require for all 25?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A small manufacturer that offers "hand crafted"...

Question 15

Your company is making experimental turbochargers for a new design of high-powered farm tractors.
The production schedule for these new components is contained in the table below.
  The first turbocharger, a trial unit (not part of the 3 required in Month 1), took 1100 hours to produce. Based on your experience with similar products, the learning curve is 80%. You have 22 employees, and each employee works 160 hours per month. How many hours will be required in each month? In which month(s) will overtime be required to meet the production schedule?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your company is making experimental turbochargers for...

Question 16

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, use the formula approach to determine how long it will take to make the third unit.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your firm has expertise with a special...

Question 17

A metal works fabricator is about to release a new model of his firm's copper sculpture and fountain. The operations manager estimates that this product is subject to a 90 percent learning curve on labor only-the material bill is not affected by experience. The firm prices its work based on cost-the sum of materials plus 30 percent and labor plus 50 percent. (This allows the firm to practice a form of "demand management" for its very popular works.) The first item has already been finished; the material bill was $800 and labor totaled 40 hours. The firm pays its metalworking artisans an average of $18 per hour. What should be the asking price of the first unit? The second?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A metal works fabricator is about to...

Question 18

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, how long will it take to make the second? How long will it take to make the fourth?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your firm has expertise with a special...

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 answer of Your firm has a contract to make...

Question 20

Using the doubling approach, determine how long it will take to make the 32nd unit of a product if it took 1 hour to complete the first product with a 50% learning curve.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Using the doubling approach, determine how long...

Quiz 21: Learning Curves

A product was priced assuming a 75% learning curve. How much extra labor (in $) will be required on the 4th product if the learning curve is actually 85%? Assume that the first unit cost $100 to produce.

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

The first unit took 79 hours; the tenth took 46 hours. What learning curve is implied by the data?

A product was priced assuming an 80% learning curve. How much extra labor (in %) will be required on the 4th product if the learning curve is actually 90%?

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, estimate (using the doubling approach) how long it will take to complete the third unit.

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, use the formula approach to determine how long it will take to make the third unit.

Your firm has expertise with a special type of hand-finished furniture. The learning curve is known to be 82%. If the first piece of furniture took 6 hours, how long will it take to make the second? How long will it take to make the fourth?

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?

Using the doubling approach, determine how long it will take to make the 32nd unit of a product if it took 1 hour to complete the first product with a 50% learning curve.