Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Twelfth Edition

Limitations of Learning Curves

Before using learning curves, some cautions are in order:

• Because learning curves differ from company to company, as well as industry to industry, estimates for each organization should be developed rather than applying someone else’s.

• Learning curves are often based on the time necessary to complete the early units; therefore, those times must be accurate. As current information becomes available, reevaluation is appropriate.

• Any changes in personnel, design, or procedure can be expected to alter the learning curve, causing the curve to spike up for a short time, even if it is going to drop in the long run.

• While workers and processes may improve, the same learning curves do not always apply to indirect labor ...