Product Method: Learning

 Operation changes materials, when linked to one or more components,

become a product
 Product methods include tools such as:
o Learning
o Operation planning
o Bill of material
o Methods of profit and loss, balance sheet for the product
 Repetition Improves Performance
o Design Improvements
o Process Improvements
o Operator Efficiency Improvement
 Improvement Is Predictable
 Improvement Generally Decreases Exponentially

The Learning Theory

 Time/Cost Decreases by a Constant %
 Each Time the Quantity Doubles

Tu  KN s
Tu=product man-hours or cost per unit required to manufacture the N unit
N=unit number
K=constant
S=slope or function of the improvement rate
 Finding the “Slope”

log Tu  log K  s log N

 log   s log 2
log 
s
log 2
The Learning Curve