A learning curve for tasks with cognitive and motor elements

This paper develops a new learning curve model that has cognitive and motor components. The developed model is fitted to experimental data of a repetitive manual assembly-and-disassembly task. The fits are compared to those of two other known models from the literature, which are the renowned power form learning curve and its aggregated version. The model developed in this paper performed the best. The fits of the models are evaluated using the mean squared error method. Furthermore, the developed learning curve model is investigated by incorporating it into the economic production quantity model, a topic which has been frequently studied by researchers. The results show that assuming an inappropriate learning curve may produce biased inventory policies by over- or underestimating production rates and consequently inventory levels.

[1]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  Learning Curves : Theory, Models, and Applications , 2011 .

[2]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  The dual-phase learning-forgetting model , 2002 .

[3]  Maurice Bonney,et al.  The Lot Sizing Problem and the Learning Curve: A Review , 2011 .

[4]  Jeffrey D. Camm.  A NOTE ON LEARNING CURVE PARAMETERS , 1985 .

[5]  Gavriel Salvendy,et al.  Handbook of industrial engineering : technology and operations management , 2001 .

[6]  Maurice Bonney,et al.  Production breaks and the learning curve: The forgetting phenomenon , 1996 .

[7]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  Mathematical modelling of the effect of human learning in the finite production inventory model , 1993 .

[8]  C. Bailey.  Forgetting and the learning curve: a laboratory study , 1989 .

[9]  Denis Royston Towill,et al.  Exponential smoothing of learning curve data , 1977 .

[10]  T. P. Wright,et al.  Factors affecting the cost of airplanes , 1936 .

[11]  Ford W. Harris,et al.  How Many Parts to Make at Once , 1990, Oper. Res..

[12]  Maurice Bonney,et al.  The economic manufacture/order quantity (EMQ/EOQ) and the learning curve: Past, present, and future , 1999 .

[13]  Robert S. Blancett.  Learning from Productivity Learning Curves: A Log-Linear Model Can Help to Predict the Operating Performance of New Plants, Identify Under-Performing Processes and Benchmark Past Projects in Order to Identify Best Practices for Future Projects , 2002 .

[14]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  Observations on the economic manufacture quantity model with learning and forgetting , 2007, Int. Trans. Oper. Res..

[15]  R. S. Blancett.  Learning from productivity learning curves , 2002, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[16]  Ezey M. Dar-El,et al.  A dual-phase model for the individual learning process in industrial tasks , 1995 .

[17]  J. Dutton,et al.  Treating Progress Functions as a Managerial Opportunity , 1984 .

[18]  Ezey M. Dar-Ei,et al.  Human learning : from learning curves to learning organizations , 2000 .

[19]  Christoph H. Glock,et al.  Single sourcing versus dual sourcing under conditions of learning , 2012, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[20]  Louis E. Yelle.  THE LEARNING CURVE: HISTORICAL REVIEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY , 1979 .

[21]  Ramsey F. Hamade,et al.  Learning Theory as Applied to Mechanical CAD Training of Novices , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[22]  J. R. De Jong,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF INCREASING SKILL ON CYCLE TIME AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR TIME STANDARDS , 1957 .

[23]  Adedeji B. Badiru,et al.  Half-Life Theory of Learning Curves for System Performance Analysis , 2009, IEEE Systems Journal.

[24]  Shlomo Globerson,et al.  The Influence of Job Related Variables on the Predictability Power of Three Learning Curve Models , 1980 .

[25]  Adedeji Badiru,et al.  Computational survey of univariate and multivariate learning curve models , 1992 .

[26]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  The Depletion-Power-Integration-Latency (DPIL) model of spaced and massed repetition , 2012, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[27]  E. A. Hackett.  Application of a set of learning curve models to repetitive tasks , 1983 .

[28]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  Learning and forgetting models and their applications , 2013 .

[29]  Maurice Bonney,et al.  Lot sizing with learning and forgetting in set-ups and in product quality , 2003 .

[30]  Mohamad Y. Jaber,et al.  Production , Manufacturing and Logistics Learning curves for processes generating defects requiring reworks , 2004 .

[31]  M. Lieberman.  The learning curve, diffusion, and competitive strategy , 1987 .