Learning curve
The fall in cost per unit as more of a product is made. A well-known rule of thumb says cost drops by a fixed proportion each time cumulative output doubles.
In 1936 the aircraft engineer Theodore Wright showed that each doubling of the cumulative number of aircraft built cut the labour per aircraft by about a fifth[1]. Workers gain practice, processes and tools improve, and waste is designed out. The relationship is known as the learning curve.
Separately, there are economies of scale: the more that is made at once, the more units share the cost of plant and development. The two together are what people usually mean by the cost benefits of mass production. Solar cells and lithium-ion batteries have fallen in price for decades in this way. The rate differs from product to product, though, and volume does not guarantee the same decline for everything.
Related terms
- Humanoid robotA robot with a human-like body — torso, two arms and two legs. Its advantage is being able to use environments and tools built for people.
- Lithium-ion batteryA battery that charges and discharges as lithium ions shuttle between the positive and negative electrodes. Used everywhere from phones to electric cars.