1. What is Learning Curve
Most organizations learn & improve over time. As firms and employees perform a task over and over, they learn how to perform more efficiently. This means that task times and cost decrease.
© 2011 Pearson Education

2. Premise Experience Curves are based on!
The premise is that people and organizations get better at their tasks as the tasks are repeated. Most organizations learn and improve over time. This means that task times and costs decrease. It takes less time to complete each additional unit a firm produces.
© 2011 Pearson Education

3. Limitations of Learning Curves
Learning curves differ from company to company as well as industry to industry so estimates should be developed for each organization
Learning curves are often based on time estimates which must be accurate and should be reevaluated when appropriate
This slide can be used to frame a discussion of capacity.
Points to be made might include:
- capacity definition and measurement is necessary if we are to develop a production schedule
- while a process may have “maximum” capacity, many factors prevent us from achieving that capacity on a continuous basis.
Students should be asked to suggest factors which might prevent one from achieving maximum capacity.
© 2011 Pearson Education

4. Limitations of Learning Curves
Any changes in personnel, design, or procedure can be expected to alter the learning curve
Learning curves do not always apply to indirect labor or material
The culture of the workplace, resource availability, and changes in the process may alter the learning curve
This slide can be used to frame a discussion of capacity.
Points to be made might include:
- capacity definition and measurement is necessary if we are to develop a production schedule
- while a process may have “maximum” capacity, many factors prevent us from achieving that capacity on a continuous basis.
Students should be asked to suggest factors which might prevent one from achieving maximum capacity.
© 2011 Pearson Education