Ops 571 Learning Curve Theory

Learning Curve Theory

Brenda J. Callahan

OPS 571

Instructor – Ms. Tricia Lara

February 23, 2010

Learning Curve Theory

The learning curve theory is basically a means in which companies measure how productive their operations are and uses the information to make improvements to the processes that are used to make their product and/or service. The premise behind the learning curve is based on three fundamental assumptions which are as follows:

1. The amount of time required to complete a given task or unit of a product will be less each time the task is undertaken.

2. The unit time will decrease at a decreasing rate.

3. The reduction in time will follow a predictable pattern (Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano, 135).

Organizational learning results for practice make perfect but comes from changes made to the administration, equipment and product design (Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano, 135).

Usually, the process that provides goods and services has some change in its output. This variation can be caused by many factors, some can be control and other is inherent in the process. It is accepted by most that when a variation decreases, quality increases (Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano, 348). A change in the process of performance in which units of production are doubled and production time is reduced is most beneficial to a company. This is also defined as the rate of learning where constant percentage of reduction in time is taken care of. The slope of the curve is calculated by the difference between the rate of learning and numerical value of one hundred. If the timing between the doubling of units is decreased by 10 percent, then it will be connotated as 90 percent learning curve (Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano, 348).

In the simulation, Mario’s Pizzeria was established by Mario and his wife Sophia in 1950. Mario has built a large customer base because of the authentic taste, fresh ingredients, and patented secret recipe for his pizza crust, CrispCrust. Even though,...