Learning curve may be applied to direct labor, materials and spoilage and defective work. Direct Labour: Director Labour is the general application area of the learning curve since it is only people who are capable of learning. Learning presupposes a certain degrees of inexperience in the performance of an activity and as such, the learning curve is mainly applicable to new activities and new labour force, whether employed on new or old activities. Materials - Materials respond to learning only in an indirect way under specific circumstances. 1 learning curve is applicable mainly to sub-contract or fabrication order placed outside or component purchased from suppliers. The cost of the sub-contract or the components purchased would normal contain an element of labour and the purchaser will expect that at least a part of the benefit of learning should be passed on to him in the form of reduced price for the repeat orders for the sub- contract components. Spoilage and defective work: This is also an area for learning because with the acquirement of more skill and efficiency, losses on account of spoilage and defective production would decline. On the other hand, the concept of learning curve may not be gainfully applicable in the following cases: ) Where machine work predominates and the operation time is limited by the speed and feed of the machine. 49 In old established industries where no substantial change takes place. (i) in industries which do not received repeat orders. (iv) in small units where the quantity of production is small and costs are low. p 49 Distinctive Features of Learning Curve Theory () Learning curve is not a cost reduction technique. It is a naturally occurring human phenomenon (ii) It is a human characteristic that a person engaged in repetitive task will improve his performance over time. (ii) in the initial stage of production, generally the workers do not have the confidence of completing the job successfully. When they roduce a few units, they gain confidence. People leam from errors. fiv) When the workers produce more and more units, they come to know the problems and their reasons. Now they are able to avoid the problems. (V) The workers are able to find the new methods of doing the job; they are able to complete task in less time. (vi) Better equipments and tools are developed. (vii) Better product designs lead to increased efficiency. Illustration 1 The usual learning curve model is Y = axts where Y is the average time per unit for x units. a is the time for first unit x is the cumulative number of units bis the learning coefficient anaa equal to log 0.8/log2-0.322 of a learning rate of 80% Given that a = 10 hours and learning rare 80%, you are required to calculate: C) The average time for 20 units. (ii) The total time for 30 units. (ii) The time for units 31 to 40 Given that log 2 = 0.301, Antilog of 0.5811 = 3.812 log 3 = 0.4771,Antilog of 0.5244 = 3.345. log 4 = 0.6021, Antilog of 0.4841 = 3.049