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A Powerful Methodology for Creative Problem Solving

By the Mind Tools Content Team

triz for non technical problem solving

Projects don't always run smoothly. Even with all the analysis and data you need at your fingertips, sometimes you just can't see a way forward. At times like these, you need to develop creative solutions to the problems you face.

Chances are you already know about brainstorming , which can help with this sort of situation. But brainstorming depends on intuition and the existing knowledge of team members, and its results are often unpredictable and unrepeatable.

TRIZ, however, is a problem-solving philosophy based on logic, data and research, rather than on intuition.

It draws on the past knowledge and ingenuity of thousands of engineers to speed up creative problem solving for project teams. Its approach brings repeatability, predictability and reliability to the problem-solving process and delivers a set of dependable tools.

This article walks you through the essentials of TRIZ.

What is TRIZ?

TRIZ is the Russian acronym for the "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving," an international system of creativity developed in the U.S.S.R. between 1946 and 1985, by engineer and scientist Genrich S. Altshuller and his colleagues.

According to TRIZ, universal principles of creativity form the basis of innovation. TRIZ identifies and codifies these principles, and uses them to make the creative process more predictable.

In other words, whatever problem you're facing, somebody, somewhere, has already solved it (or one very like it). Creative problem solving involves finding that solution and adapting it to your problem.

TRIZ is most useful in roles such as product development, design engineering, and process management. For example, Six Sigma quality improvement processes often make use of TRIZ.

The Key TRIZ Tools

Let's look at two of the central concepts behind TRIZ: generalizing problems and solutions, and eliminating contradictions.

1. Generalizing Problems and Solutions

The primary findings of TRIZ research are as follows:

  • Problems and solutions are repeated across industries and sciences. By representing a problem as a "contradiction" (we explore this later in this article), you can predict creative solutions to that problem.
  • Patterns of technical evolution tend to repeat themselves across industries and sciences.
  • Creative innovations often use scientific effects outside the field where they were developed.

Using TRIZ consists of learning these repeating patterns of problem and solution, understanding the contradictions present in a situation, and developing new methods of using scientific effects.

You then apply the general TRIZ patterns to the specific situation that confronts you, and discover a generalized version of the problem.

Figure 1, below, illustrates this process.

Figure 1 – The TRIZ Problem-Solving Method

triz for non technical problem solving

Here, you take the specific problem that you face and generalize it to one of the TRIZ general problems. From the TRIZ general problems, you identify the general TRIZ solution you need, and then consider how you can apply it to your specific problem.

The TRIZ databases are actually a collection of "open source" resources compiled by users and aficionados of the system (such as the 40 Principles and 76 Standard Solutions, which we look at, below).

2. Eliminating Contradictions

Another fundamental TRIZ concept is that there are fundamental contradictions at the root of most problems. In many cases, a reliable way to solve a problem is to eliminate these contradictions.

TRIZ recognizes two categories of contradictions:

  • The product gets stronger (good), but the weight increases (bad).
  • Service is customized to each customer (good), but the service delivery system gets complicated (bad).
  • Training is comprehensive (good), but it keeps employees away from their assignments (bad).

The key technical contradictions are summarized in the TRIZ Contradiction Matrix . As with all TRIZ resources, it takes time and study to become familiar with the Contradiction Matrix.

  • Software should be complex (to have many features), but simple (to be easy to learn).
  • Coffee should be hot (to be enjoyed), but cool (to avoid burning the drinker).
  • An umbrella should be large (to keep the rain off), but small (to be maneuverable in a crowd).

You can solve physical contradictions with the TRIZ Separation Principles . These separate your requirements according to basic categories of Space, Time and Scale.

How to Use TRIZ Principles – an Example

Begin to explore TRIZ by applying it to a simple, practical problem.

For example, consider the specific problem of a furniture store in a small building. The store wants to attract customers, so it needs to have its goods on display. But it also needs to have enough storage space to keep a range of products ready for sale.

Using TRIZ, you can establish that the store has a physical contradiction. The furniture needs to be large (to be useful and attractive), but also small (to be stored in as little space as possible). Using TRIZ, the store owners generalize this contradiction into a general problem and apply one of the 40 Principles of Problem Solving – a key TRIZ technique – to it.

They find a viable general solution in Principle 1 – Segmentation. This advocates dividing an object or system into different parts, or making it easy to take apart. This could lead the owners to devise flat-pack versions of their furniture, so that display models can take up the room that they need while inventory occupies much less space per unit. This is the specific solution.

You, too, can use the 40 Principles of Problem Solving, or the 40 Inventive Principles, and the Contradiction Matrix to help you with your problem-solving.

Five Top TRIZ Concepts and Techniques

TRIZ comes with a range of ideas and techniques beyond the basic principles outlined above. Some are conceptual and analytical, such as:

  • The Law of Ideality. This states that any system tends to become more reliable throughout its life, through regular improvement.
  • Functional Modeling, Analysis and Trimming. TRIZ uses these methods to define problems.
  • Locating the Zones of Conflict. (This is known to Six Sigma problem-solvers as " Root Cause Analysis .")

Some are more prescriptive. For example:

  • The Laws of Technical Evolution and Technology Forecasting . These categorize technical evolution by demand, function and system.
  • The 76 Standard Solutions . These are specific solutions devised to a range of common problems in design and innovation.

You can use one such tool or many to solve a problem, depending on its nature.

TRIZ is a system of creative problem solving, commonly used in engineering and process management. It follows four basic steps:

  • Define your specific problem.
  • Find the TRIZ generalized problem that matches it.
  • Find the generalized solution that solves the generalized problem.
  • Adapt the generalized solution to solve your specific problem.

Most problems stem from technical or physical contradictions. Apply one of hundreds of TRIZ principles and laws to eliminate these contradictions, and you can solve the problem.

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Inside TRIZ

Case Study: Applying Triz in a non-technical setting for a fuel-cell start-up

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1.     Abstract

TRIZ is a systematic tool used to generate creativity and solve technical problems, but there is little litterature of its use in non-technical situations. This brings up the question: How can TRIZ be used to generate creativty and solve a non-technical problem?

The objective of this experimentwas to use TRIZ in a non-technical setting. As such, the article is very exploratory in nature. Working with a private company, we identified and defined a non-technical problem, and experimented with TRIZ to generate creativity in an attempt to solve the problem.  KEYWORDS: Creativity, Brainstorming, TRIZ, Problem Solving

2.     Introduction

2.1triz in a non-technical setting.

TRIZ is a Systematic Tool which is used to generate creativity to solve technical problems. Since it is a powerful tool to generate ideas, there is an incentive to use it in a non-technical setting as a creative thinking tool. For example, Zlotin believed that TRIZ concepts, such as ideality, contradiction and the systems approach are fully applicable to non-technical problems, and that analytical tools and psychological operators are directly applicable to accommodate non-technical applications (Zlotin, 2000).

Brainstorming (BS) is the “ standard ” method for creative thinking. However, when comparing BS to TRIZ, BS’s random nature becomes apparent. Where as BS can be described as “ a way of looking for an idea accidently ”, TRIZ is “ equipped with technique, process, and knowledge database as a comprehensive methodology of a creative solution of a problem ” (Nakamura, 2001). This makes TRIZ an attractive tool to explore.

If some other authors have explored TRIZ in a non-technical perspective, they have mostly done so from a theoretical perspective. For example, Mann (1999) and Terninko (2001) did excellent work in developing examples of applications of Triz principles in non-technical settings. With this article, I wish to add to existing literature by developing a case study solving a tangible problem.

2.2 Orange Power

Orange Power is a hydrogen fuel cell start-up company located in Menomonie, Wisconsin. It is a spin-off company based on the results of the research and development conducted at University of Wisconsin-Stout. Its patent (US20120070754: Fuel Cell with Rapid Pressure Balancing) describes fuel cell technology which is inexpensive to mass produce, and has the potential to disrupt the market.

The current fuel cell industry is growing rapidly: the number of patents is growing steadily, and more companies are reaching the commercializing stage. Nonetheless, the cost per KW remains high, and the DOE estimates that a production cost of 30$ / KW is needed for serious commercial applications. As the market for companies focusing on the automobile market saturates, Orange Power has specifically chosen to target non-traditional markets (utility and neighborhood vehicles), rather than focusing on the automobile market. While the company has a working prototype, its next step is commercialization. As such, it has been trying to establish partnerships to raise funds and begin mass production.

3.     Methodology

I conducted three interviews with the CEO of Orange Power. The first one was to identify and define the problem, the second to generate ideas with pre-selected applicable inventive principles and the third to validate and get impressions on the process. Between the first and second interview, I used existing documentation to shortlist the most pertinent inventive principles to generate ideas.

3.1 Defining the problem

The CEO has been showcasing Orange’s fuel cell innovation to potential investors and partners for the last few years. Even though the technology has been demonstrated as functional (being past the prototype stage), reception to the technology has been lukewarm. The founders believe that there are multiple biases in their audience.

First, some potential partners mentioned that fuel cells use should be focused on automobiles, forgoing secondary uses. As such, the proposal of using the technology in novel segments has made it difficult to achieve credibility with investors. Also, the cost structure for mass manufacturing is so low that the audience has been unwilling to believe the technology is realistic, as it does not fit their perception of a realistic technology.

As such, the problem (from the perspective of Orange Power) is that the current product positioning (low cost, niche markets) does not fit potential partners’ perception of the current technology (high cost, mass market).

4.     Results - Using the 40 inventive principles to generate ideas

As part of the creative process, I reviewed each of the 40 inventive principles and identified the ones that could be applied to our defined problem. The CEO and I then used each short-listed principle as a guideline for idea generation.

4.1Principle #2: Taking out

In this principle, one tries to separate an interfering component of the object. From our perspective, if the object is the presentation, is there something in the presentation we can remove? Is there something during the presentation that makes people cringe? Raise their hand? Object?

To this, the CEO mentioned that slides highlighting the cost of existing fuel cells emphasized the cost gap between the high cost of current high-end fuel cells, and the company’s fuel cell. This led us to hypothesize that this gap contributed to the perception problem identified earlier. As such, the way the product is presented could be shocking the audience, as there is a gap between what they expect to hear, and what they are hearing. Using a decision matrix, with “Investor Expectations” and “Product Attributes” might help to prioritize which elements should be showcased, and which elements interfere with investor evaluation.

Solution #1: Build a decision matrix, with “Investor Expectations” and “Product Attributes” to prioritize product attributes .

An alternative is to completely remove slides mentioning costs to attenuate shock, but one of the leading methods in sales today emphasizes the need to "Reframe" the problem and to get the potential customer to think about the situation differently. The Challenger Sales method advocates using tension productively, rather than dissipating it (Dixon, 2011).As such, the CEO chose to keep cost related slides.

4.2Principle #9: Preliminary Anti-Action

We explored the principle of creating stress beforehand to oppose future undesirable stresses. Our discussion started with the hypothesis that the CEO could say something before the presentation that would create stress in the audience. One proposition was that he could start the presentation with something to the effect that fuel cells typically cost X$ to produce, where X$ is a huge number. But as we examined earlier, investors would not be shocked, as they expected this big number, and it was the absence of this big number in the product that caused stress. Further, as discussed previously, using tension in the presentation to Orange Power's advantage has merit.

We discussed another stress, the one where the CEO is not exploring markets other than cars. As his presentation was structured, it would discuss the technology, the cost, and then the potential markets, forgoing the automobile market. So our discussion focused on causing stress upfront, like putting a title in the first slide that would say “Fuel Cells for Boats”, “shocking” the audience upfront. As such, the presentation would be built upon the premise that this product is not for cars, rather than surprising the audience during the presentation. The CEO seemed favourable to this idea. The process is akin to the Challenger Sales model, where the seller is encourage to teach and tailor his presentation to customers.

Solution #2: Mention that alternative markets are prioritized upfront in the presentation as a way to create anti-action.

Another item we explored was including harmful information in the presentation to make the product more “realistic”. As such, we discussed introducing the fear of competition. The CEO mentioned he always took the approach of positioning himself as a unique product (low cost, high performance) in the fuel cell market. But, by taking the alternative approach of being a market leader (with a functional prototype) in a developing market, we hypothesized that this could create the fear of competition and enhance investor eagerness. For example, many competitors in the fuel cell space are looking at 2015 as the time to market, so having a product now ready for market commercialization could enhance interest.

Solution #3: Reposition the product as a part of an existing market, creating stress through fear of competition .

4.3Principle #13: The other way round

In this principle, we explored inverting the action used to solve the problem. The first thing we explored is inverting the presentation dynamic. Whereas the traditional model is that the inventor makes a presentation and the audience responds, I suggested we go the other way around: how about after the presentation, the CEO asks the audience to do a “presentation” on what they expected? Of course, it can be risky, putting the audience “on the spot”, but the CEO hypothesized that this could also give ownership to the audience. As such, building a specific document for a potential partner (either slides or documents) specifically drafted to engage an interested minded person could give them ownership. A lot of work remains on the how, but the idea generated a lot of excitement for the CEO.

Solution #4: Ask the audience to present the product, from their understanding, as a way to go the other way around.

Another idea we explored is that rather than benchmarking against the best, how about benchmarking against the worst? Rather than comparing to the high-end fuel cells, how about comparing to the cheapest models? As such, the company would change the message from “ We are cheaper than others, but also better ” to “ We are a little more expensive than some others, but so much better ”. Therefore, the product is selling upwards on quality, rather than downwards on price. Also, it is human nature to look at a cheaper product and expect less quality, so inverting the message would play favourably to the audience.

Solution #5: Benchmark against cheaper products to sell upwards (on quality) rather than downwards (on price).

4.4Principle #15: Dynamics

During this discussion, we focused on how we could allow the external environment to change conditions. This was potentially one of the controversial elements of our discussion since it focused on something the CEO held dear, the niche markets. While most of the market is focusing on the automobile market, the client mentioned that he favoured smaller niche markets, due to saturation issues, and his perception of more opportunities.

We started the discussion by exploring the most important external pressure being applied to the company: focusing on the automobile market. The question I posed was: Can Orange Power focus on cars with its technology? The short answer was that it could (from a technology perspective), but there were multiple reasons they had shied away from this market. These included oversaturation, presence of big players and massive investment requirements, to name a few. Changing to this market would also shift the investor focus from low-cap angel investors to high-end Venture Capitalist.

As such, our conversation shifted to making the automobile market a long term objective rather than making it the only objective. Orange’s approach could change from the company ignores this market, to one where it makes it a long-term strategic market. The company strategic positioning could change from “ Focusing on secondary markets exclusively ” to “ Focusing on secondary markets as a way to generate funds and credibility towards the large market, the car market ”.

Solution #6: Change corporate mission from secondary markets exclusively to secondary markets as a path to the big automobile market.

Another option we explored is can we overdesign the product? For example a product which would work best in the marine sector? The CEO hesitated, saying that while Orange was targeting multiple small niches, they were all feasible when taken as a single market with a single design. Targeting each individually with overdesigned products would dilute cost saving related to mass production. As such, he did not believe overdesigning his product, even as different marketing brands, was feasible.

4.5Principle #35: Parameter changes

Sometimes it is advantageous to change concentration or consistency to solve a problem. From this perspective, we explored multiple angles: could the company build weaker batteries to align to perceptions from the audience? Perhaps creating different product categories, or different brandings? The contradiction is that the product is inexpensive when it is expected to be expensive... can we be less inexpensive?

From a technical perspective, it is possible to change power output to something lower, by changing components. But, during his presentations, the CEO had noticed that most people were interested in a product with more power, not less. So, the idea shifted to building different brands, including some with more power, which, while being more powerful, would match the price of existing products. Hence, rather than saying “ We have the same power than competitors , at a lower price ”, the message would become “ At the same price than the competitor, we have more power ”. As such, the company would close the divide that investors have, and get more power for the same “expected” price.

Solution #9: Build a series of products, branded differently, including a product with equivalent price to the market, but with more power.

5.     Conclusions

Using TRIZ in a non-technical setting enabled us to generate many potential solutions. While our participant had hesitations on some of the specific solutions, he was impressed by the quality and quantity of solutions we generated on a problem he thought was thoroughly explored.

Nonetheless, TRIZ is, like other Quality Analysis methods, heavily structured, especially when compared to methods like brainstorming. Hence, it is advisable to explain the TRIZ methodology in detail to participants, and the necessity of constraints. As most participants are used to “free thinking methods” like brainstorming and mind-mapping, there is an adaptation period when using more structured Quality Analysis methodologies, including TRIZ. In our case, our participant was an engineer who worked well in structured process. As such, he admitted he enjoyed working in this type of environment

On my end, I found there was a heavy subjective component when selecting applicable principles for a non-technical problem. This might translate in less structure than one could expect when using TRIZ in a technical setting, but by keeping to the TRIZ framework, we were able to generate robust collaboration, that pushed the conversation further than the usual easy solutions. In our case study, there are multiple solutions we would have never discussed, if we had not been working with TRIZ.

Overall, the participants and I were satisfied with the discussion process. As we concluded the conversation, the CEO elaborated on which solutions he was going to apply on the short term, validating the practicality of the solutions.

I believe that restriction breeds creativity, and the TRIZ framework can certainly contribute to the creative process, even in a non-technical environment. As such, we both believed the topic was worthy of further exploration.

6.     Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the CEO of Orange Power, Professor Kenneth Smith, and thank him, for his time, feedback and comments to this article.

7.     About the Author

8.     references.

  • Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson (2011). The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation, Penguin Group USA
  • Domn, E. &Mann, D. (2001). TRIZ in the Knowledge Era: Achieving Profitable E-Commerce, Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology.
  • Mann, D. & Bomb, E. (1999). 40 inventive (business) principles with examples, Triz Journal.
  • Nakamura, Y. (2001). The effective us of TRIZ with Brainstorming, Triz Journal,
  • ValeriSouchkow (2007). Breakthrough thinking with TRIZ for business and management: An overview, OCG Training & Consulting,. Retrieved from http://www.newshoestoday.com/library/cms/2007-08-17TRIZforBusinessAndManagement.pdf
  • Terkninko, J. (2001). 40 inventive principles with social examples, Triz Journal.
  • Zlotin, B. & al (2000). TRIZ Beyond Technology: The Theory and Practice of Applying TRIZ to Non-Technical Areas, Ideation International.

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  • v.7(1); 2015 Jan

Using Creative Problem Solving (TRIZ) in Improving the Quality of Hospital Services

Behrouz larisemnani.

1 Department of Business Administration, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Rafat Mohebbi Far

2 Department of Health Management, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

Elham Shalipoor

3 Payame Noor University, Karaj, Iran

Mohammad Mohseni

4 Research Center for Health Services Management, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

TRIZ is an initiative and SERVQUAL is a structured methodology for quality improvement. Using these tools, inventive problem solving can be applied for quality improvement, and the highest quality can be reached using creative quality improvement methodology. The present study seeks to determine the priority of quality aspects of services provided for patients in the hospital as well as how TRIZ can help in improving the quality of those services. This Study is an applied research which used a dynamic qualitative descriptive survey method during year 2011. Statistical population includes every patient who visited in one of the University Hospitals from March 2011. There existed a big gap between patients’ expectations from what seemingly is seen (the design of the hospital) and timely provision of services with their perceptions. Also, quality aspects of services were prioritized as follows: keeping the appearance of hospital (the design), accountability, assurance, credibility and having empathy. Thus, the only thing which mattered most for all staff and managers of studied hospital was the appearance of hospital as well as its staff look. This can grasp a high percentage of patients’ satisfaction. By referring to contradiction matrix, the most important principles of TRIZ model were related to tangible factors including principles No. 13 (discarding and recovering), 25 (self-service), 35 (parameter changes), and 2 (taking out). Furthermore, in addition to these four principles, principle No. 24 (intermediary) was repeated most among the others. By utilizing TRIZ, hospital problems can be examined with a more open view, Go beyond The conceptual framework of the organization and responded more quickly to patients ’ needs.

1. Introduction

Quality is so important that is considered as a noticeable concept in our real lift ( Mohammad & Alhamadani, 2011 ) and has become and agenda in management as an effective and pervasive strategy ( Sahneya, Banwet & Karunesa, 2006 ). Quality can be considered as a much important element for making difference in corporate competition environment ( Altunaş & Yener, 2012 ). Quality improvement for service organizations to satisfy service receivers’ expectations and satisfying them has become a challenge nowadays ( Prattana, Nattapan, Patchaya, & Kanokporn, 2012 ). It is believed that improvement of quality of organization’s functionality, is of important approaches in development ( Sedighi et al., 2005) . Healthcare quality is an important factor in improving patient satisfaction. Also Good quality cares are much vital for reaching Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Healthcare managers need to have a thorough understanding of the practical enhancement of the cares ( Sodani, 2011 ). Davis et al. (2005) have considered quality measurement as a necessity in competitive environment. Also Lee, Hsu and Chang (2007) suggest that quality of service measurement is first and most important factor in improvement of healthcare quality. Hospitals are organizations Established in order to respond people’s health needs. Paying attention to people’s expectations in order to continue the optimized correlation between suppliers and demanders of services will result in hospital activities’ quality improvement ( Majid Pour & Naraghi, 2002 ). Patient satisfaction is increasingly considered as one of the important factors in measuring healthcare quality ( Kurpas & Steciwko, 2005 ). Satisfaction is customer’s respond to fulfilling his needs. In fact, the level of customer satisfaction with regards to consumption of goods and services that satisfies his needs indicates his satisfaction ( Andaleeb & Conway, 2006 ). Thorough analyzing the differences, managers can clearly determine when and in which dimension of service, recipients’ expectations and experiences aren’t compatible with each other and may lead to dissatisfaction ( Karydis, Komboli, & Pannis, 2001 ).

TRIZ is an innovation and SERVQUAL is a structured quality methodology. Using them together inventive problem solving tools can be used to improve the quality and the highest degree of quality can be achieved with the inventive quality improvement methodology. SERVQUAL instrument is widely used to measure the quality of service systems ( Babakus & Mangold, 1992 ; Vandamme & Leunis, 1993 ; Lam, 1997 ; Lee, 2005 ; Çaha, 2007 ; Zaim et al., 2010) .

Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) founded the SERVQUAL model based on information collected from 12 concentrated groups of consumers, their expectations (Services expecting to receive) and perceptions (Services actually received) and compared them in 10 dimensions. These 10 dimensions include: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security, competency, understanding costumers, courtesy, and accessibility. These scholars decreased these 10 dimensions to 5 dimensions in their later researches. At the other hand TRIZ has been developed to solve problems related to manufacturing systems. However, a TRIZ model is designed to improve the quality of service ( Su & Lin, 2008 ). Attention and interests to TRIZ is increasing day-to-day ( Filippi, Motyl, & Ciappina, 2011 ). TRIZ is a systematic method for researchers, engineers, staff and decision makers to find creative solutions. TRIZ is an acronym for the Russian expression “Теориярешенияизобретательскихзада” (teoriya resheniya izobretatelskikh zadatch) which in English is rendered as “The theory of inventive problem solving” and occasionally goes by the English acronym TIPS ( Altunaş & Yener, 2012 ).

Regarding the issue of clinical governance, which is now being implemented in many hospitals in the country, clinical audits, is one of the seven topics that are of great importance. Clinical audits are a quality improvement process which in order to improve quality of care and services provided to patients and the results is done to improve and This action is done through the systematic review of the current status and adapting them with explicit standards hence conducting intervention and making changes ( Heydarpour, Dastjerdi, Rafii, Sadat, & Mostofian, 2011 ). In addition, patient’s satisfaction and their opinions about the quality of services in hospital is a valid indicator for measuring the quality of services in hospitals, and also awareness of lack of consent in patients provides good opportunities to improve the quality of services at the hospital. Accordingly, the scholar was motivated to conduct researches in hospital in the field of evaluating patient satisfaction using SERVQUAL service quality gap and provide necessary innovative solutions systematically. In this way, taking the advantage of the SERVQUAL questionnaire, scholar has tried to identify and rank the gap between costumers’ expectations and the actually received services and using TRIZ model to improve the strategies needed to improve quality of the services provided to patients. In fact this study represents what’s the priority in quality dimensions of the care provided to patients. And how various TRIZ tools can be used to increase the quality of services provided to patients and improve them.

This Study is an applied research which used a dynamic qualitative descriptive survey method during year 2011. Statistical society includes every patient who visited the hospital from March 2011 (Beginning of the research).

In this research Cochran’s formula was used in order to count the statistical samples and sample’s volume was set to 96 choices.

Z=1.96; p=q=0.5; Reliability Factor was equal to 95% and the acceptable error d=0.1.

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Object name is GJHS-7-88-g001.jpg

Sampling method is of group (categorized) type and it’s in the simple random groups.

Group sampling is based on patients hospitalized in different units of hospital and their companions at morning, afternoon and night shifts. Existing units include: Emergency; ICU; Urology; Men and Women’s Orthopedics; Men and Women’s Surgery and ICU 1 and 2 of one of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences’ Hospitals in Iran.

In order to gather the information to measure the Quintet dimensions of quality, 7-level Likert SERVQUAL Standard questionnaire was used. 5 dimensions consist of: Tangible factors, Reliability, Responsiveness, Reassurance, and Empathy.

  • a) Tangible Factors: Existence of Physical facilities, Equipment, Staff and Communication devices.
  • b) Reliability: The ability to perform the committed service, reliably and accurately.
  • c) Responsiveness: Willingness to help consumers and provide quick service.
  • d) Reassurance: Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to build confidence and trust in consumers.
  • e) Empathy: Attention and Handling of individual customers ( Parasuraman et al., 1988) .

Validity and Reliability of this questionnaire have been checked and confirmed in different studies in Iran ( Kebriaei & Roudbari, 2005 ). Meanwhile Cronbach Alpha calculation method is used to check the questionnaire’s reliability.

In TRIZ to solve the management issues a 31×31 matrix known as WIN-WIN is used. In this level, it’s enough to select appropriate equivalents for each one of components of the resulting pattern (Variables, Relations, etc.) based on themselves, with attention to its principals and rules in relation with 31 parameters of designing TRIZ.

Based on Ideal plan inappropriate secondary results are located in columns and Parameters which are necessary to be improved are located in rows. In the lanes formed by intersection of rows and columns, two or three principals exist, from the total 40 innovative principals, that can be used to find the innovative solution.

In order to gather information with Presence in the desired units of the hospital, questionnaires were distributed and most of the questions were filled through interview in order to make sure of exact understanding of the questionnaire’s questions by the responder and find the real and true score. Finally all of 96 questionnaires were gathered.

In this research every question and desired variables in the research was studied using descriptive statistical methods of distribution tables etc. According to evaluation of each choice, the possibility to calculate statistical indices regarding to each one the questions is provided.

In this research, scholars have passed the following levels to analyze the information:

  • a) Calculating mean of each one of the indices of quality, before receiving services
  • b) Calculating mean of each one of the indices of quality, after receiving real services
  • c) Calculating the numerical difference between means of each index (as that index’s gap)
  • d) Sorting gap values calculated for indices, in descending order
  • e) Assuming the lowest index numerically as the problem, based on the obtained ranking
  • f) Formulating the desired problem in terms of a contradiction
  • g) Adaptation of the obtained contradiction with the contradictions matrix’s parameters
  • h) Establishment of Ideal plan and using the TRIZ contradictions matrix
  • i) Providing the necessary solutions with reference 40 principals of TRIZ

56.2 percent of the studied patients (54 persons) are female and 43.8 percent (42 persons) are male. The rest of the characteristics are reported in Table 1 .

Background characteristics of the patients

Based on Table 2 , the Results of quality of the services in view of patients based on SERVQUAL model, shows that in 5 dimensions of quality, the average of perception indices is less than expectations and this shows that patients expect higher quality for the provided services. Negative mark for quality in the results, shows that quality gap exists in every dimension and actually in every item, provided services, couldn’t satisfy patients’ expectations.

Average and gap of quality of services dimensions based on SERVQUAL model

Based on Freedman’s Test which is used for ranking of sequential tests using software systems, highest gap is related to Tangibles and lowest gap is related to Empathy. Therefore the problems which are to be solved using TRIZ method are the problems related to the Tangibles.

The results related to solving the problem using TRIZ, also shows that the 1st step in problem solving using TRIZ method is transforming it to a contradiction. With notice to the fact that in the conducted study tangibles has the highest priority between the several quality dimensions, and considering studied factors in this dimension in SERVQUAL model, the existing contradiction is checked:

Modern and up to date equipment; Appealing and noticeable appearance of physical facilities; Adorned staff with suitable and tidy appearance; Arranged, trim, and clean service providing environment (which are variables of “Tangibles” dimension) are of factors that are costly if created in the best possible manner (weakening factor). Also hospital, According to its mission and in order to survive, must be concerned about their own money making and this won’t happen unless with increase in patients’ demand and feedback (Improvement factor). The hospital either needs to increase its income and decrease its expenses.

With reference to Non-technical contradictions Matrix and synchrony of this two attenuation and improvement factors with it, we will reach to this contradiction:

When supply’s expenses increase, income, demand, and costumer’s feedback decrease.

Next step is to reach to ideal plan.

Table 3 show the TRIZ idealistic plan in the Tangibles dimension. Improvement factor or system’s main function is increase in income, demand and patient’s feedback and attenuation factor is all of the expenses and system’s harmful functions.

TRIZ idealistic plan in the tangibles dimension

The next step is to use the Non-technical contradictions Matrix. From encounter of two improvement and attenuation factors, necessary principals for solving the problem are obtained (Rows are improvement factors and columns are attenuation factors). Also each one of quality dimensions can be expressed as a problem in TRIZ template, and obtain TRIZ’s general and proposed solution. Contradictions existing for each one of quality dimensions are shown in Table 4 .

Idealistic TRIZ plan in quintet dimensions of hospital service quality

With reference to Business Contradictions Matrix and hospital related experts and professors’ opinion, in all of 5 quality dimensions, the improvement factor is Income/Demand/Costumer Feedback.

Referring to Table 4 , if only Tangibles dimension is chosen for improvement, only principals 2-35-25-13 out of 40 principals of TRIZ will be checked and adapted. If we seek an improvement in all of dimensions, all the principles in Table 4 regarding to all aspects of quality can be used. To do so, we summarize the solutions found in Table 4 and after sorting them by frequency and identification of priorities, particular solutions are obtained with reference to the obtained principles and adapting them with the type of hospital business.

With reference to Contradictions Matrix, most important principles between forty-fold principles of TRIZ ( Table 5 ) regarding to Tangibles are principles (2: Taking out); (13: The other way round); (25: Self-service); (35: Parameter change) and the most repeated principle in 5 dimensions of quality in addition to these 4 principles was principle (24: Intermediary). Noticing that in all 5 dimensions examined by SERVQUAL model, we see a negative gap, it’s better to use other principles too, when needed. Finally all of these principles are adapted with hospital-related principles and necessary creative solution was extracted.

Frequency of forty-fold principles of TRIZ

4. Discussion

The quality of service is increasingly important for today’s business, especially in industries with high participation of clients, such as health care and financial services. This can be considered as an essential strategy for reaching to a competitive advantage and increasing long-term profitability ( Prattana et al., 2012) . In present day’s competitive environment of health care, quality measurement has become a necessity ( Davis et al., 2005) . Due to tremendously increasing costs, many hospitals are trying adopt quality initiatives to improve their service operations ( Prattana et al., 2012) .

In Iran, a lot of researches have been conducted in different service organizations using SERVQUAL method. But there aren’t many researches available providing effective and structured solution which can satisfy our need to solving hospital-related problems. On the other hand, regarding the issue of clinical governance, and setting a framework which obligates health service providing organizations to uphold the principles of excellence in clinical services and through this way make them responsible for maintenance and improvement of quality of services they provide ( Heydarpour et al., 2011) . Providing innovative and systematic solutions can help administrators to improve quality of service to patients.

Present research is looking for studying two main goals including priority of dimensions of quality in view of patients and visitors of studied hospital and then providing innovative solutions.

Based on conducted researches, using SERVQUAL tools, the gap in quality of services provided in the studied hospital is obvious in all 5 dimensions. Highest gap was for Tangibles with an average of 1.9505 and lowest gap was for Empathy with an average of 0.5938. In a research, patients’ expectations are more that nurses in all dimensions, and most expectations are of Tangible dimension. In total result of the study, shows that there is a significant gap between patients’ expectation and nurses’ expectation from nursing services ( Azarbayjani, Attafar, Abbasi, & Amirnejad, 2012 ). Also in another study in Iran, the most gap of quality was in Tangibles (0.68) and the least gap was in Empathy (0.59) and there was a significant difference in perceptions and expectations of visitors ( Gholami, Nori, Khojastehpour, & Askari, 2011 ). While in a research conducted in hispitals of Kashan in Iran, Physician’s Empathy earned the highest expected average and lowest average of quality was earned by tangibility of services ( Sabahi-Bidgoli et al., 2011) . In a research done in Thailand, results show that generally average of quality of services is positive, yet generally there’s no significant difference between perceptions and expectations of patients’ in the dimension of tangibility ( Prattana et al., 2012) .

The results of a study in Turkey shows that while tangibility, reliability, courtesy and empathy are important for customer satisfaction, responsiveness and assurance are not ( Zaim et al., 2010) .

Using the results obtained from Friedman test in this study, it’s obvious that there is a significant gap between patients’ expectation from physical appearance and what they really understood. In other words, the very main dimension of quality which hospital should revise it is hospital’s appearance. But, the notable point is that empathy of staff and patients’ wasn’t relatively much far and it can be noticed as the strength of staff and hospital, although their expectations are not satisfied. Still, we can consider this dimension as the least significant factor in try to improve it in final levels. The results of another study shows that there are some differences between average scores of patients’ perception and expectation from quality of services of medical centers of city of Zahedan, in all dimensions of quality. This means that medical centers couldn’t satisfy patients’ exception in any of fivefold dimensions of quality and perceived quality was always less than expected quality. Results of this study show that there is gap between the present situation and the favorable situation of quality of medical services which can be decreased with planning, management, and proper education ( Jenaabadi, Abili, Nastiezaie & Yaghubi, 2011 ). In a study examining Greek patients’ perceptions and exceptions about quality of dental care, results showed that there is significant gap between patients’ perceptions and exceptions (P = 0.01). The maximum quality gap was in observed in “Responsiveness” dimension. Middle class and lower class women had higher expectations comparing to men of the same class, whereas in higher class, men had higher expectations. This differences were statistically significant (P = 0.02) (Carydis, Komboli- Kodovazeniti, Hatzigeorgiou, & Panis, 2001 ). Mohammad and Alhamadani (2011) believe that five dimensions of service quality have significant influence on customer satisfaction. These dimensions include tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Moreover, our findings show that service quality is an important antecedent of customer satisfaction.

In line with next goal, in this research, efficiency of TRIZ in solving non-technical problems through research action in order to create a solution for improving hospital quality issues was tested. The issue was found using SERVQUAL mode, classical TRIZ method was used using the non-technical contradictions in definition of the issue and the idealistic plan as mind navigator in problem solving. As an innovative method, TRIZ can be concomitant and helpful. Azadeh et al., in their study believe that in most organizations, after the establishment of quality control, no significant improvement is observed and this results to a negative attitude towards these standards.

TRIZ creative toolbox of knowledge, attempts to identify and solve the problems using an approach of innovation in organization as one of these tools ( Azadeh & Sadeghian, 2010 ). Chiou, Chien and Tsai (2012) in their study which was done using TRIZ, concluded that innovation methods in provided services can effectively improve the quality of service design. In several researches, TRIZ has been studied along with other methods including QFD etc. ( Su & Lin, 2008 ). Due to goal and results of this study for using SERVQUAL and TRIZ methods in order to improve quality of hospital services, results of Altunaş’s research confirms this new approach ( Altunaş & Yener, 2012 ).

5. Conclusion

In this study, quintet dimensions of quality including Reliability, Assurance, Responsiveness, Tangibles, and Empathy were studied. As the results show there was negative gap in all 5 dimensions. Using the obtained data and based on Friedman test, ‘Tangibles’ had the 1st priority in improving patients’ satisfaction. After that, ‘Responsiveness’ had the 2nd priority and ‘Reliability’, ‘Assurance’, and ‘Empathy’ respectively had the next priorities in patient satisfaction. TRIZ creative solutions including contradiction matrix, idealistic plan and principles(13: The other way round); (25: Self-service); (35: Parameter change); (2: Taking out) and (24: Intermediary) out of forty-fold principles of TRIZ were helpful and practical results were achieved from this template. Also a method to use TRIZ in these kinds of problem was provided. Results of this study led to two important points. First, ability of TRIZ to improve hospital service quality; this ability helps administrators of health and treatment organizations specially officials of hospitals and academic centers in decision making. Second, necessity of necessity of using new methods in evaluation of hospitals’ service quality which probably will have better results comparing to traditional models derived from gap analysis model. Using TRIZ hospital’s problems can be analyzed with a more open view and from another perspective, go beyond the organizational conceptual framework and also use the experiences and solutions, developed in other work and scientific fields and areas and respond patients’ needs, more quickly.

Some solutions based on Tangibles which is chosen as the main problem are regulated and offered below, in terms of regulations in the expert panel, based on conditions of the studied hospital for each related principal.

6. Recommendations

Tangible solutions based on adaptation of TRIZ principals for studied hospital

Acknowledgments

This article is derived from a M.S dissertation. We want to thank all officials and staff of studied hospital for their sincere cooperation.

Competing Interests Statement The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in the research.

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An Overview of TRIZ Problem-Solving Methodology and its Applications

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Home Blog Business What is TRIZ and How to Use it in Problem Solving?

What is TRIZ and How to Use it in Problem Solving?

What is Triz and How to Use it in Problem Solving PPT Template

There are a number of problem-solving techniques and methodologies, including brainstorming , root cause analysis , and 5 whys analysis . We covered these methods in a previous post, in which we provided you with 5 Problem Solving Strategies . While the mentioned before can be effective for problem-solving, there is a strategy that goes a step further applying logic, aided by data and research. This strategy is known as TRIZ .

What sets TRIZ apart from other methodologies of its kind is that it provides 40 principles and 76 standards which can enable you to put your problem in a box, and match a solution to resolve it.

History of TRIZ

Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues developed TRIZ. Altshuller was a science fiction author and inventor; he began to work on TRIZ in 1946. For many years TRIZ was not practiced outside the Soviet Union . 

Altshuller worked at the Caspian Sea fleet from the Soviet Navy, more specifically, the Inventions Inspection department. He believed that there were “contradictions”, which occurred when improving a parameter negatively and impacted another. This, according to Altshuller, required inventive solutions. His work was briefly interrupted due to his arrest in 1950. He was sentenced to 25 years due to the letters he wrote to Stalin, top government officials, and newspapers, criticizing some decisions made by the Soviet Government. He resumed his work after he was freed in 1953, after the death of Stalin.

The first paper on TRIZ was published in 1956, and Altshuller expanded his work across the USSR till the 1980s. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the concept caught up in other countries, thanks to Soviet emigrants reaching other countries. In 1995, the Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies at Boston was established in the United States.

TRIZ has resulted in the birth of hundreds of thousands of inventions by being the base of extensive research across different fields.

What is the TRIZ Method for Problem Solving?

TRIZ is a Russian acronym for “ teoriya resheniya izobretatelskikh zadatch “, which translates in English as the “ theory of inventive problem solving “.

Altshuller lamented that while sailors had maps, the same cannot be said for inventors. Therefore, he developed a methodology that codifies creativity principles forming the basis of the invention. In other words, TRIZ offers generalized solutions for generalized problems. Consequently, they can be matched to your issue, because the problem you face has likely been faced by someone else previously. Applying the solution used back then, and adapting it to your problem, you can reach a solution.

TRIZ is widely used in design engineering, process management and the development of products. Some of the world’s most renowned companies that have used TRIZ in projects include Ford, General Electric, Samsung, LG, Intel, Kodak, Procter & Gamble, Motorola, HP Rolls-Royce..

In 2003, Samsung had 50 patents owing to TRIZ and saved $100 million the following year due to a TRIZ project.

TRIZ Problem Solving PPDAC PPT Template

Explanation of the TRIZ Concept by Genrich Altshuller

The video below shows Genrich Altshuller explaining the concept behind TRIZ to students.

Central Concepts of TRIZ

Let’s explore the two central concepts associated with the theory of inventive problem solving, i.e. generalizing problems and solutions & contradictions.

Generalizing Problems and Solutions

The basic concept behind TRIZ, based on research findings, implies that problems and solutions repeat themselves, they repeat across industries. These problems are contradictions that can be resolved using creative solutions. TRIZ is used for understanding these patterns of contradictions and solutions for developing new methods.

Problem Identification: Contradictions

The basic concept of TRIZ identifies contradictions as the primary issue related to a problem, and eliminating them can lead to a solution. Two categories of contradictions exist in TRIZ:

1. Technical Contradictions

Technical Contradictions occur when improving something leads to something else suffering from a negative effect.

Example 1: Processing power for a computer increases (good), but it uses hardware, making it bulkier (bad). . 

Old computers were bulkier, with fewer features; however, overtime, innovation in hardware resolved this problem with smaller processors, with increased processing speed, incorporated in lightweight computers.

Example 2 : A business customizes service for its customers (good); however, the service is now suffering from delays and a long waiting time for customers (bad). 

Many businesses employ many methods to resolve such contradictions, such as using AI-powered online services, portals, and shopping carts to offer customized service, with an estimated delivery time.

2. Physical Contradictions

Physical Contradictions are inherent. An object or system might have requirements that are contrary, resulting in Physical Contradictions.

Example 1: An operating system should be complex so that it can offer many features to the end user; however, it needs to be easy enough to use without many command lines. 

A primary example of this is the need for command lines in most Linux based operating systems. Many Microsoft based client and server operating systems resolve this contradiction by offering an easy to use Graphical User Interface or GUI. Easy search features also aid this within the OS.

Example 2: A cupboard should be large enough to accommodate many items but not take up too much space. 

There are a number of cupboards which are either detachable or can be folded to free up space. Smart cupboards for instance, provide combined solutions for storing more items in less space.

Inventive Principles and Standard Solutions

There are 40 Inventive Principles and 76 Standard Solutions of TRIZ which can be used for resolving problems.

The 40 Inventive Principles of TRIZ

The database of TRIZ has a collection of user compiled resources. This open source database consists of 40 principles. These principles provide the basis for resolving problems. These principles include the following:

Segmentation, extraction, local quality, asymmetry, combination, universality, nesting, counterweight, prior counteraction, prior action, cushion in advance, equipotentiality, inversion, spheroidality, dynamicity, partial, overdone or excessive action, moving to a new dimension, mechanical vibration, periodic action, continuity of useful action, rushing through, convert harm into benefit, feedback, mediator, self-service, copying, inexpensive short life, replacement of a mechanical system, use pneumatic or hydraulic systems, flexible film or thin membranes, use of porous materials, changing the colour, homogeneity, rejecting and regenerating parts, transforming physical or chemical states, phase transition, thermal expansion, use strong oxidisers, inert environment and composite materials.

Example: The first principle in the list, called “segmentation”, proposes breaking down objects into independent parts. This might include manufacturing an object so that it becomes easier to disassemble or use segmentation to resolve a technical issue. This might be done by using a trailer and truck instead of one large truck or by designing cubicles for an open plan office to enable easy reshuffling of the office layout according to need.

For more details, see these 40 TRIZ Principles with detailed explanations.

76 Standard Solutions of TRIZ

There are 76 Standard Solutions which were compiled by none other than Genrich Altshuller and his comrades over ten years between 1975-1985. These standard solutions are categorized in five broad categories.

1.      There are 13 standard solutions for “improving the system” with little or no change.

2.      There are 23 standard solutions for “improving the system” by changing the system.

3.      There are 6 standard solutions for “system transitions”.

4.      There are 17 standard solutions for “detection and measurement”.

5.       There are 17 standard solutions for “simplification and improvement”

For more details, see these 76 Standard Solutions with examples.

Applying TRIZ for Problem Solving 

If you wish to use TRIZ for problem-solving, you can use the following steps to resolve a problem.

1. Define the Problem: You can get started by defining the problem. You can assess if the issue suffers from a Physical or Technical contradiction.

2. Find the TRIZ Generalized Problem to Match your Problem: You can match the generalized problem to match your issue. Since problems are often repeating themselves across industries and sciences.

3. Find the Generalized Solution to Solve the Generalized Problem: You can match the generalized problem to a generalized solution to see how it resolved the former.

4. Use the Identified Solution to Resolve Your Problem: You can use the generalized problem and its generalized solution as an example and adapt it to your specific issue to resolve it.

TRIZ Problem Solving PPT Template

How to Present a TRIZ Solution in 4 Steps

Do you want to present your TRIZ solution in the form of a PowerPoint presentation? You can use our 4 step guide mentioned below to present a TRIZ solution.

1. Present the Problem in a Single Slide: You can start by presenting a problem in the form of a single slide. This can come after an introductory slide, with the presentation title and the presenter’s name. Alternatively, you can transform the opening slide in a manner that it introduces the topic and also explains the problem. If your audience is new to TRIZ, you might need to explain the concept in a slide prior to discussing how a TRIZ solution might be suitable for it.

2. Compare a Suitable Generalized Problem with a Generalized Solution: You can create a comparison slide to compare a suitable generalized solution to a generalized problem that matches your issue. This can also be a good time to discuss the nature of the contradiction (physical or technical).

3. Explain How the Generalized Solution can be Adapted: The third slide should be focused on how the generalized solution can be adapted to your specific issue. You can use bullet points to discuss the basic elements of the generalized solution’s adaptability for your specific issue. Depending upon the nature of the problem, you can focus on the solution using 1-3 slides.

4. Add a Summary to Conclude the Presentation: You should summarize your TRIZ solution in the form of a closing slide. This should be brief, with a general explanation of the topic, with ideally some focus on the solution. 

Using the 4 step guide above, you can present a TRIZ solution within just 4-8 slides.

Final Words

The theory of inventive problem solving can help resolve a wide range of problems across a variety of fields. Using TRIZ can be a bit complex for people who might not have a scientific background of some sort; however, looking at some of the basic principles alone can help anyone benefit from TRIZ. It isn’t necessary that everyone uses TRIZ on their own. For example, a project or marketing manager can send recommendations to a relevant department to request engineers and designers to look at the possibility of incorporating features that can help reduce project costs or improve a product’s marketability.

The 40 TRIZ Principles alone are enough to provide a range of ideas even to newbies to look for a possible solution to a ‘contradiction’ they may be dealing with. Be it segmentation, extraction, changing the colour, homogeneity or self-service, inexpensive short life or  replacement of a mechanical system. Even behind complex TRIZ principles, the simple ideas have ideas that can be used for resolving problems with creative solutions.

1. Problem Solving PPDAC Diagram PowerPoint Template

triz for non technical problem solving

The PPDAC diagram template provides an intuitive way to reach towards a solution with it’s unique approach to 5 keywords. Begin with the problem, create a plan, use the data, create an analysis, and finally draft a conclusion.  

Use This Template

triz for non technical problem solving

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triz for non technical problem solving

Solving Contradictions and Problems with the TRIZ Method

Triz, simple.

TRIZ is like a toolbox to help people solve difficult problems. Imagine that you have a complicated puzzle to solve. TRIZ gives you tools to help you find the right pieces and put them together to solve the puzzle. It's like having a friend who helps you solve difficult problems by giving you ideas and tips.

TRIZ Matrix simplified

The TRIZ Matrix is ​​a tool that helps people solve problems by finding solutions. Imagine you have a problem and you don't know how to solve it. The TRIZ matrix is ​​like a table with boxes. In each box, there is an idea to solve a problem. You can look at the boxes and find an idea that helps you solve your problem. It's like having a recipe book for solving problems. You can look at the different recipes and choose the one that best suits you to solve your problem.

Matrix TRIZ40

Your triz tool.

Solving your technological Contradictions with TRIZ. The TRIZ matrix gathers lists of innovative Principles that have already proven their worth. Browsing this Matrix, you can pick solutions to your current technological problems.

Solving a problem

Contradiction to solve:.

For TRIZ, systems evolve towards ideality. This progression is made by solving problems. TRIZ Matrix can help solving problems if we translate them in Contradictions ; E.g. if an object must be longer without becoming heavier, this technical challenge can be translated in this Contradictions:

  • Feature to improve: '4, length of stationary'.
  • Feature to preserve: '2, weight of stationary'.

Entering these values in the tool, one can browse the TRIZ Matrix to discover innovation Principles that can solve the said problem. On TRIZCoach, to make things easier, you can express your technical challenge in natural language.

Some solution examples

These patents might be of some interest.

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How to use Pointers to Effects

Pointers to Effects for Non-technical Problem Solving

Editor | On 02, Mar 2009

By Hongyul Yoon Abstract Most Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) tools help solve non-technical problems. The efficiency and effectiveness, however, of TRIZ for solving non-technical problems appears to be much lower than what is used for technical problem solving. The absence of pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving should be one of the main causes. Non-technical problem solving requires some effects that are different from those based on physical science and engineering technology. In order to develop some pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving the structures and meaning of function model and effect were discussed. Based on this some pointers to effects were proposed for non-technical problem solving. Keywords TRIZ, pointers to effects, non-technical problem, General Theory of Powerful Thinking (OTSM), function model, element – name of feature – value of feature ( ENV) Introduction Technical problem solving and non-technical problem solving have been successfully achieved with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). (In this paper, non-technical problem solving means some problems which cannot be solved through application of physical, chemical, geometrical and biological knowledge or technological knowledge based on physical science.) The author has run onsite training courses to generate new market ideas or new technology ideas through TRIZ tools based on the General Theory of Powerful Thinking (OTSM). 1 The training participants said that the thinking ways of TRIZ and OTSM helped to systematize an individual’s thinking processes beyond expectations. That favorable response seemed to come mainly from the use of abstract problem models and solution idea models of TRIZ and the OTSM. The General Theory of Powerful Thinking leads individuals to effectively transform a complex and non-typical problem situation into a set of simple and typical problem models. Almost all of the abstract models for thinking offered by TRIZ and OTSM guides individuals to effectively solve non-technical problems as they would for technical problem solving. The author, however, found that the efficiency and effectiveness of TRIZ tools are much lower in non-technical problem solving than in technical problem solving. Some people showed difficulty in coming up with ideas after having a clear understanding of the solution models offered by TRIZ. Others took more time to get effective ideas compared to those who tried to solve technical problems. The causes of those points require deeper examination. One of the causes was checked through the following discussion: Based on the OTSM viewpoint, the process of inventive problem solving could boil down to two main stages: 2 Problem model transformation from a complex and non-typical situation into a set of simple and typical problem models. Application of typical abstract solution models of the human being including those of TRIZ. With technical problem solving, in order to get solution ideas from typical solution models of TRIZ, individuals need knowledge of materials, several types of energy and influences of energy transmission. Even if an individual gets the simple and typical problem and solution models in the OTSM viewpoint, he cannot get a solution idea without scientific knowledge related to the model. It could be a good reason for examining the application of inventive standards to an idea generation for technical problem solving. Figure 1: A Simple and Typical Model Case In Figure 1, the solution model recommends an introduction of a new substance into the tool or the object. Imagine what will happen if a certain additive is introduced according to scientific knowledge. If someone has no knowledge – even a bit – on the physical nature of the world, a person would be hardly able to propose a solution idea with some confidence. As the methodology helps with problem solving, TRIZ offers the way to overcome the shortage of scientific and engineering knowledge. The scientific knowledge itself does not belong to the realm of TRIZ, but TRIZ gives an efficient way to adopt the scientific knowledge – pointers to effects. 3 An effect is a TRIZ-version equivalent of a certain scientific law, principle or engineering knowledge. The pointers to effects help solvers in technical problem fields. Even though the solver has little scientific knowledge, the pointers to effects of TRIZ give individuals helpful clues and directions on the required knowledge. The pointers to effects of TRIZ activate the abstract solution models like inventive standards in a solver’s mind. Main ideas of pointers to effects often lead solvers to a more comprehensive understanding of familiar scientific knowledge. For instance, suppose that a new way to move a solid and light body is needed. Pointers to effects in order to move a substance could lead to vibration. Sometimes even mechanical engineers can barely come up with the idea to adopt vibration in order to move something even though they are accustomed to it. Likewise, those who try to apply TRIZ to non-technical problem solving need some kind of pointers to effects. They might not have enough knowledge required to activate the abstract solution models provided by TRIZ. Sometimes they depend on wrong subjective thoughts against objective knowledge to result in some irritating ideas against an individual’s wishes. For those reasons, many TRIZ learners for non-technical problem solving have required pointers to effects. Pragmatic Requirements of Pointers to Effects in Non-technical Problem Solving The pointers to effects in classical TRIZ are formulated by matching a certain technical function and some physical, chemical and geometrical effect. This delivers the function of an effect that can be translated into “input action” and “output action” (or the resultant change) of an object (a resource) as shown in Figure 2. 4 , 5 Figure 2: General Structure of Pointers to Effects A similar structure could be kept for the pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving. But before developing those kinds of pointers for non-technical fields a question results: What are the requirements for the pointers to effects to provide efficient use? The question may seem too big. The author, however,will discuss it in two quick aspects. By examining how to formulate function model for the efficient use of the pointers to effects. By discussing what kinds of effects are needed for non-technical problem solving. Function Model as a Problem Model The pointers to effects are not always helpful for problem solving. Actually, a function as a problem model must be formulated correctly in order to use the pointers to effects efficiently. The usefulness of the pointers to effects is from the matching of a function and some effects, but this depends on the correct formulation of the problem. Generally, a problem could be defined as a situation where the current state of the target object is different from its state of what is wanted. In this case, a solution is defined as how to eliminate the difference between two states of the target object or to change the current state of the target object to the desired state. The descriptions can be translated into ENV (element – name of feature – value of feature) modeling of the OTSM such as: A problem: where there is a difference between the current value and the required value of a certain property of the target object. A solution: with the way to change the value of a certain property of the target object from the current to the desired. After identifying the problem situation according to the above descriptions individuals can search the knowledge required to change the target object. For example, if one uses the pointers to effects offered by classical TRIZ, the function model is adopted as a guide to search the proper knowledge. Where function is defined as action plus the object in which the action must change the state of the object. 5 The OTSM defined it more precisely as change ( increase , decrease) plus value of a property of an object. According to the above discussion, one can draw two descriptions of function modeling; Function is formulated as action plus object. Function’ is formulated as change (increase, decrease) plus value of a property of an object. Where object corresponds to the target object in the general definition of a problem and a solution. If one hopes to avoid any confusion with the meanings of words, the second formulation could be better for obtaining the clarified meaning. Figure 3 presents the discussion schematically. Through abstraction of a real problem situation, an individual gets a function model as a general problem model. The pointers to effects lead one to map the function model to some effects as a solution model. Figure 3: RelationshipsAmong Function Model,Pointers to Effects and Effectsin a TRIZ Thinking Way In order to use the pointers to effects efficiently, therefore, the property of the target object in the function model must be one of physical, chemical or scientific parameters. The author’s experiences have shown that a few TRIZ beginners formulate functions as one including performance parameters. Performance parameters like productivity, efficiency, device complexity, etc. are not suitable for the property described in a function model for use of pointers to effects. The performance parameters are not determined directly by scientific laws, but by how a certain technical system operates with scientific laws. For example, if one wants to increase the productivity of a chemical process, or the function model, in order to increase productivity it is not matched with certain scientific effects as solution models. Before checking the pointers to effects, one must examine how the required functions are performed and what kinds of losses are happening in the specific process. The working way of a certain technical system belongs to a certain case. The productivity of a certain process depends on the way that a certain process (as a particular case) performs with physical, chemical effects. If one wants to improve performance parameters of an object, one should analyze the object first and then formulate function models to map them to physical, chemical, geometrical parameters through the pointers to effects. Suppose that the goal is to increase productivity of the system. First, analyze the current situation and find that the productivity of the system depends mainly on cooling speedy of the molten polymer. At this stage, apply some effects like conduction, convection, etc. according to the pointers to effects, to cool a substance. When beginners treat non-technical problems with TRIZ, they often make the same mistakes as in technical problem solving. They formulate a problem as a function, which has performance parameters to reduce total cost to increase revenue, to increase productivity, etc. Those performance parameters are caused by a specific situation. Before searching abstract and general solution models, above all, it must be dealt with using analytic tools like multi-screen thinking, function analysis and root conflict analysis. As an example, suppose that one wants to reduce the cost of a consulting company. Through root conflict analysis an individual finds that the biggest part of the cost is caused by inviting external famous lecturers as a promotion. There is a need to find other ways for promotion without inviting distinguished lecturers. Formulate the function model of how to motivate people instead to the initial one of how to reduce cost. Only if a solver formulates function models according to these steps, will the pointers to effects serve as helpful. From this process, the author derived necessary conditions of function modeling for effective use of the pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving. The function model should be formulated as change (increase, decrease) plus value of a certain property of an object. Or action plus object in which the action must change the state of the object. The property mentioned in the function model of pointers to effects should not be a kind of performance parameter, which mainly depends on a specific condition and then needs deeper analysis of the condition. Effect as a Solution Model The definition of effect in classical TRIZ terminology is a relationship of input action (input influence) and output action (the resultant change) of an object (a resource), which is governed by a certain principle of physical, chemical or geometrical viewpoint. An effect as a tool of classical TRIZ shows the change of an object when it is influenced upon. What it says about the change of a certain object is governed by an objective principle, such as scientific. In order to extend the concept of an effect in classical TRIZ to non-technical problem solving, the governing principles in it must be replaced by principles in non-technical solution fields. A more general definition of effect could be as follows: An effect is a relationship of input influence and resultant change of an object, which is governed by a certain objective principle. When examining the principles in non-technical fields the author has used the following points as criteria for the selection of effects for TRIZ application. The principle must be as objective as possible. For example, the principles as advice given by “gurus” in economics and management were excluded. Some people say, “The smarter the employees, the more effectively a company is run.” Is that proven through objective experiments and analysis? If not, then that must not be included in the pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving. The principle must say something about the input influence and resultant change of a certain object. In non-technical problems, assuming objective principles about animals and plants are considered to belong to biological knowledge, the author has yet to find any other kind of non-technical principles except where the target object is a person. If one examines the non-technical principles precisely, she can realize what is said about the change of a certain feature of a person through non-technical influence. For instance, the law of demand as an economic principle could be discussed. That states that quantity demanded is inversely proportional to price – such as the higher the price of the product, the less the customers will demand. That is not about the change of a single object caused by an input influence on it. Figure 4 shows more detailed steps of this as a process. There are at least three objects mentioned in that principle. The seller changes the price of goods. Any kind of signs like price tags are renewed to inform a buyer. Buyers are changed with awareness of a negative incentive, a higher price. There are lower demands for the goods. According to this analysis, the law of demand could be a non-technical effect to solve the problem of how to decrease the value of the demand of people. That means it is for human-targeted problem solving. Figure 4: A Deep Analysis Case in a Non-technical Field As far as this study is concerned, non-technical principles belong to human-targeted effects if biological principles are excluded. The pointers to effects introduced here, therefore, will be composed of human-targeted effects. Pointers to Effects for Solving Human-targeted Problems Some information on psychology, economics and marketing were examined in order to pick up the non-technical principles. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 Remember, for those with no relationship of input the influence and resultant change were abandoned. After being collected, the principles as effects were classified according to one’s property, which was changed by an individual. It must be mentioned that the list of pointers to effects introduced in this paper is just the first, which must be renewed if new non-technical principles develop. The table belowshows some of these parameters. The “what I want” column shows only the changed properties – without comments that the properties belong to a person. The use of the table is the same as for the table of the pointers to effects in technical problem solving. Formulate the problem as a function model after the ENV model formulation. Find the functions corresponding to the function model from the table. Examine the effects matched to the functions. Generate solution ideas according to the matched effects. These pointers could help application of inventive standards to non-technical problem solving. Instead of using mathematics and chemistry, these effects could be used for non-technical problem solving. A simple example of how to use the table follows: In country A, a supermarket intends to sell some fruit imported from country B, which people of country A dislike. People do not like goods from country B. The manager of the supermarket, however, wants to sell as much fruit as possible because of the high profit. What should the manager do? Try to formulate some function models. If the manager decides to sell the imported fruit, the problem can be formulated as: Problem model 1: An individual wants to decrease the value of the negative attitude of people to the fruit imported from the disliked country. An individual can find the similar function model from the pointers to effects, to weaken the negative attitude where the corresponding effects are as follows: Mere-exposure effect Ritual effect Problem model 2: An individual wants to increase the value of the positive attitude of people to the fruit. In this case the manager should pick up a different piece of fruit, to intensify positive attitudes. The manager can try to get ideas with more than 10 effects. This problem could be tackled with inventive standards. The pointers to effects would serve ideas on field. Some Pointers to Effects for Non-technical Problem Solving Conclusion Based on a precise look into the pointers to effects of classical TRIZ, guiding the development of pointers to effects for non-technical problem solving was proposed. The function model as part of pointers to effects should be formulated as change (increase, decrease) plus value of a certain property of an object, or action plus object where the action must change the state of the object. The property mentioned in the function model of pointers to effects should not be a kind of performance parameter, which mainly depends on a specific condition and then needs deeper analysis of the condition. The generalized definition of effect was suggested as a relationship of the input influence and resultant change of an object, which is governed by a certain objective principle. The author suggested that the target object in most non-technical problems be a human being. Some pointers to effects related to human-targeted principles are classified and proposed to help the idea generation for non-technical problem solving. These pointers to effects must be updated as new non-technical principles are offered. Acknowledgments The author would like to give his sincere gratitude to Nikolai Khomenko and Valeri Souchkov for their valuable advice while the author thought about the theme of this paper. All potential errors in this paper, however, belong to the author. References N. Khomenko, OTSM Training Handout Set , LG Electronics, 2000. H. Yoon, TRIZ Advanced Course , POSCO, 2004. Y. Salamatov, TRIZ: The Right Solution at the Right Time , Insytec B.V., 1999. V. Souchkov, Annotated List of Key TRIZ Components , ICG Training & Consulting, January 1998. E. Arel, M. Verbitsky, I. Devoino, S. Ikovenko, TechOptimizer Fundamentals , Invention Machine Corporation, 2002. N. Mankiw, Principles of Economics , Dryden Press , 1997. R. Cialdini, Influence , Allyn & Bacon, 2001. P. Kotler, G. Armstrong, Principles of Marketing , 8th ed., Pearson Education Inc., 2006. P. Zimbardo, A. Weber, R. Johnson R., Psychology , Allyn & Bacon, 2000. J. Park, “ 유쾌한 심리학 “, 파피에, 2006. R. Thaler, S. Mullainathan, Behavioral Economics This paper was originally presented at the European TRIZ Association’s TRIZ Future 2008 meeting in Enschede, NL.

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TRIZ: Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

  • The TRIZ method is an organized, systematic, and creative problem-solving framework. It was developed in 1946 by Soviet inventor and author Genrich Altshuller who studied 200,000 patents to determine if there were patterns in innovation .
  • Altshuller acknowledged that not every innovation was necessarily groundbreaking in scope or ambition. From the result of his research, he created five levels of innovation , with Level 1 innovations resulting from obvious or conventional solutions and Level 5 innovations resulting in new ideas that propelled technology forward.
  • The TRIZ method has been altered multiple times since it was released and may appear complicated. However, problem-solving teams can take comfort from the fact that others have most likely prevailed against similar problems in the past.

The TRIZ method is an organized, systematic, and creative problem-solving framework. The TRIZ method was developed in 1946 by Soviet inventor and author Genrich Altshuller who studied thousands of inventions across many industries to determine if there were any patterns in innovation and the problems encountered. 

Table of Contents

Understanding the TRIZ method

TRIZ is a Russian acronym for Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch , translated as “The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving” in English.

For this reason, the TRIZ method is sometimes referred to as the TIPS method.

From careful research of over 200,000 patents, Altshuller and his team discovered that 95% of problems faced by engineers in a specific industry had already been solved.

Instead, the list was used to provide a systematic methodology that would allow teams to focus their creativity and encourage innovation .

In essence, the TRIZ method is based on the simple hypothesis that somebody, somewhere in the world has solved the same problem already.

Creativity, according to Altshuller, meant finding that prior solution and then adapting it to the problem at hand.

The five levels of the TRIZ method

While Altshuller analyzed hundreds of thousands of patents, he acknowledged that not every innovation was necessarily groundbreaking in scope or ambition. 

After ten years of research between 1964 and 1974, he assigned each patent a value based on five levels of innovation :

Level 1 (32% of all patents)

These are innovations that utilize obvious or conventional solutions with well-established techniques.

Level 2 (45%)

The most common form where minor innovations are made that solve technical contradictions.

These are easily overcome when combining knowledge from different but related industries.

Level 3 (18%)

These are inventions that resolve a physical contradiction and require knowledge from non-related industries.

Elements of technical systems are either completely replaced or partly changed.

Level 4 (4%)

Or innovations where a new technical system is synthesized.

This means innovation is based on science and creative endeavor and not on technology.

Contradictions may be present in old, unrelated technical systems.

Level 5 (1%)

The rarest and most complex patents involved the discovery of new solutions and ideas that propel existing technology to new levels.

These are pioneering inventions that result in new systems and inspire subsequent innovation in the other four levels over time.

How the TRIZ method works

Since its release, the TRIZ method has been refined and altered by problem-solvers and scientists multiple times. But the problem-solving framework it espouses remains more or less the same:

Gather necessary information

Problem solvers must start by gathering the necessary information to solve the problem.

This includes reference materials, processes, materials, and tools.

Organize the information

Information related to the problem should also be collected, organized, and analyzed.

This may pertain to the practical experience of the problem, competitor solutions, and historical trial-and-error attempts.

Transform the information into a generic problem

Once the specific problem has been identified, the TRIZ method encourages the problem solvers to transform it into a generic problem.

Generic solutions can then be formulated and, with the tools at hand, the team can then create a specific solution that solves the specific problem.

Make sense of that

The last step in the TRIZ method appears to be rather complicated. But it is important for innovators to remember that most problems are not specific or unique to their particular circumstances.

Someone in the world at some point in time has faced the same issue and overcome it.

When to Use TRIZ:

TRIZ is a valuable problem-solving approach in a variety of scenarios:

1. Complex Technical Challenges:

TRIZ is particularly effective for solving complex engineering and technical problems, especially those involving conflicting requirements or constraints.

2. Innovation and Design:

When organizations seek to foster innovation in product design, TRIZ can help identify inventive solutions and drive creativity.

3. Product Development:

TRIZ can be applied at various stages of product development, from concept generation to troubleshooting and optimization.

4. Process Improvement:

It is useful for optimizing processes and operations, reducing inefficiencies, and eliminating bottlenecks.

5. Patent Analysis:

TRIZ can assist in analyzing patents and inventions to uncover the inventive principles and strategies used by others.

How to Use TRIZ:

Applying TRIZ effectively involves a systematic approach that leverages its principles and tools:

1. Define the Problem:

Clearly define the problem or challenge you are facing, including any contradictions or conflicts within the problem statement.

2. Identify Contradictions:

Identify the contradictions or conflicts inherent in the problem. These could be technical contradictions (e.g., increase strength vs. reduce weight) or physical contradictions (e.g., increase temperature vs. reduce temperature).

3. Apply Inventive Principles:

Consult the TRIZ inventive principles and tools to identify solutions that resolve the contradictions. These principles provide guidance on how to overcome specific challenges.

4. Ideate and Innovate:

Encourage creative thinking and brainstorming to generate potential solutions based on the inventive principles and insights gained from TRIZ analysis .

5. Evaluate and Select Solutions:

Evaluate the generated solutions for feasibility, effectiveness, and alignment with the ideal final result (IFR). Select the most promising solutions for further development.

6. Implement and Test:

Implement the chosen solutions and test them in practice. Monitor their effectiveness and make adjustments as needed.

Drawbacks and Limitations of TRIZ:

While TRIZ is a powerful methodology for inventive problem-solving, it is not without its drawbacks and limitations:

1. Complexity:

TRIZ can be complex and may require training and expertise to apply effectively, especially for novices.

2. Not a Panacea:

TRIZ may not be suitable for every problem. Some challenges may be better addressed through simpler problem-solving methods.

3. Cultural and Language Barriers:

TRIZ originated in Russia and has its own terminology, which can be a barrier for individuals from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

4. Resource-Intensive:

The extensive analysis and application of TRIZ principles can be resource-intensive, particularly in terms of time and expertise.

5. Not Suited for Non-Technical Problems:

TRIZ is primarily designed for technical and engineering problems and may not be well-suited for non-technical challenges.

What to Expect from Using TRIZ:

Using TRIZ can lead to several outcomes and benefits:

1. Creative Solutions:

TRIZ helps individuals and teams identify inventive solutions that may not be obvious through traditional problem-solving approaches.

2. Contradiction Resolution:

It offers a systematic way to address and resolve contradictions and conflicts within problems.

3. Innovation and Optimization:

TRIZ can drive innovation in product design, process improvement, and optimization efforts.

4. Structured Problem-Solving:

It provides a structured and systematic approach to problem-solving, making it easier to tackle complex challenges.

5. Knowledge Transfer:

TRIZ allows organizations to capture and transfer knowledge about inventive solutions across different projects and teams.

Complementary Frameworks to Enhance TRIZ:

TRIZ can be further enhanced when combined with complementary frameworks and techniques:

1. Lean Six Sigma:

Lean Six Sigma complements TRIZ by focusing on process improvement and waste reduction. Combining both approaches can lead to optimized processes with inventive solutions.

2. Design Thinking:

Design thinking complements TRIZ by emphasizing user-centered design, empathy, and iterative ideation. It encourages innovative solutions that meet user needs.

3. Brainstorming:

Brainstorming sessions can be used in conjunction with TRIZ to generate a wide range of ideas before applying TRIZ’s systematic analysis .

4. Root Cause Analysis:

Root cause analysis techniques help identify the underlying causes of problems, which can then be addressed using TRIZ’s inventive principles.

5. Simulation and Modeling:

Simulations and modeling tools can be used to test and validate TRIZ-based solutions before implementation.

Conclusion:

The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is a powerful and structured methodology for inventive problem-solving.

By leveraging the principles of TRIZ, individuals and teams can identify inventive solutions to complex technical challenges, foster innovation in product design, and optimize processes.

While TRIZ may have some limitations and complexities, its benefits in driving creativity, resolving contradictions, and providing a structured problem-solving approach make it a valuable tool for individuals and organizations seeking inventive solutions.

When combined with complementary frameworks and techniques, TRIZ becomes an even more potent force for innovation and creative problem-solving, allowing organizations to overcome technical challenges and achieve breakthroughs in their fields.

Case Studies

Product Design Improvement

Imagine a company that manufactures smartphones and wants to enhance the design of their devices to stand out in the market. They identify the problem as “Stagnant Smartphone Design.”

  • Gather Necessary Information : The team collects data on existing smartphone designs, materials, user feedback, and market trends.
  • Organize the Information : They analyze existing smartphone designs, including those of competitors, and categorize common design elements and user preferences.
  • Transform into a Generic Problem : The generic problem becomes “How to create a smartphone design that appeals to a wide range of users and differentiates from competitors.”
  • Apply Tools and Create a Solution : The team utilizes TRIZ tools to generate innovative design concepts. They explore principles like “Use of Contradictions” to balance features like aesthetics and functionality.
  • Recognize Commonality : The team researches historical smartphone design breakthroughs and identifies elements that have successfully appealed to users in the past.

This process may lead to a novel smartphone design that incorporates innovative features, such as flexible displays, while addressing common user preferences.

Supply Chain Optimization

A logistics company faces challenges in optimizing its supply chain operations to reduce costs and improve efficiency. They define the problem as “Inefficient Supply Chain Operations.”

  • Gather Necessary Information : Data on current supply chain processes, transportation methods, warehousing, and inventory management are gathered.
  • Organize the Information : The team analyzes existing supply chain operations, identifies bottlenecks, and reviews industry best practices.
  • Transform into a Generic Problem : The generic problem becomes “How to create a highly efficient and cost-effective supply chain system.”
  • Apply Tools and Create a Solution : TRIZ tools are applied to generate innovative solutions. Principles like “Trimming” are used to eliminate redundant steps in the supply chain.
  • Recognize Commonality : The team researches successful supply chain optimizations in other industries and adapts relevant strategies.

The result may be a streamlined supply chain system that reduces transportation costs, minimizes inventory waste, and enhances overall efficiency.

Energy-Efficient Building Design

An architectural firm aims to design environmentally friendly buildings with superior energy efficiency. They identify the problem as “Inefficient Building Energy Consumption.”

  • Gather Necessary Information : Data on existing building designs, construction materials, HVAC systems, and renewable energy technologies are collected.
  • Organize the Information : The team analyzes current building designs, identifies energy consumption patterns, and reviews sustainable building practices.
  • Transform into a Generic Problem : The generic problem becomes “How to design buildings that maximize energy efficiency and minimize environmental impact.”
  • Apply Tools and Create a Solution : TRIZ tools are used to generate innovative building design concepts. Principles like “Ideal Final Result” help in envisioning energy-neutral structures.
  • Recognize Commonality : The team studies environmentally friendly building designs worldwide and integrates successful strategies into their projects.

The outcome may be groundbreaking building designs that incorporate passive heating and cooling, energy-efficient materials, and renewable energy sources to achieve net-zero energy consumption.

Medical Device Innovation

A medical device manufacturer wants to develop a groundbreaking medical device to revolutionize patient care. They identify the problem as “Limited Innovation in Medical Devices.”

  • Gather Necessary Information : Data on current medical device technologies, patient needs, regulatory requirements, and clinical studies are gathered.
  • Organize the Information : The team reviews existing medical devices, identifies gaps in patient care, and studies medical technology advancements.
  • Transform into a Generic Problem : The generic problem becomes “How to create a transformative medical device that significantly improves patient outcomes.”
  • Apply Tools and Create a Solution : TRIZ tools are applied to generate innovative medical device concepts. Principles like “Contradiction Resolution” help address challenges like miniaturization and enhanced functionality.
  • Recognize Commonality : The team studies pioneering medical device innovations and incorporates successful design elements into their project.

Key takeaways

  • TRIZ Method: The TRIZ method is a problem-solving framework developed by Genrich Altshuller in 1946. TRIZ stands for “Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch,” which translates to “The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.”
  • Origin and Purpose: Altshuller studied thousands of patents to identify patterns in innovation and problem-solving across various industries. He aimed to create a systematic methodology for problem-solving that encourages creativity and innovation .
  • Level 1: Obvious or conventional solutions using well-established techniques (32% of patents).
  • Level 2: Minor innovations overcoming technical contradictions by combining knowledge from related industries (45%).
  • Level 3: Inventions resolving physical contradictions using knowledge from non-related industries (18%).
  • Level 4: Innovations synthesizing new technical systems based on science and creativity (4%).
  • Level 5: Pioneering inventions that lead to new systems and inspire innovation in other levels (1%).
  • Gather Necessary Information: Collect relevant information about the problem, processes, materials, and tools.
  • Organize the Information: Analyze and organize information related to the problem, including practical experience, competitor solutions, and historical attempts.
  • Transform into a Generic Problem: Transform the specific problem into a generic form to formulate generic solutions.
  • Apply Tools and Create a Solution: Use available tools to create a specific solution that addresses the specific problem.
  • Recognize Commonality: Recognize that most problems have been faced by others in the past and have likely been overcome.
  • TRIZ is a systematic problem-solving framework developed by Genrich Altshuller.
  • It categorizes innovation into five levels based on the nature of the solution.
  • The TRIZ method involves gathering and organizing information, transforming the problem into a generic form, applying tools, and recognizing commonality with past solutions.
  • The method encourages problem-solvers to leverage existing solutions and patterns to creatively address new challenges.

The 40 TRIZ Principles

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COMMENTS

  1. A review of TRIZ, and its benefits and challenges in practice

    TRIZ is a knowledge-based systematic methodology of inventive problem solving ( Savranksy, 2000Fey and Rivin (2005) described TRIZ as a methodology for the effective development of new [technical] systems, in addition to it being a set of principles that describe how technologies and systems evolve.

  2. TRIZ

    1. Generalizing Problems and Solutions The primary findings of TRIZ research are as follows: Problems and solutions are repeated across industries and sciences. By representing a problem as a "contradiction" (we explore this later in this article), you can predict creative solutions to that problem.

  3. TRIZ Beyond Technology: The theory and practice of applying TRIZ to non

    Chapter 1. Historical review and the theoretical foundation for expanding TRIZ into non-technical areas Why TRIZ is applicable in non-technical areas It is well known that Genrich Altshuller began developing TRIZ as a pure engineering science, based on the statistical research of patents and other sources of technical information.

  4. PDF Application of Triz Tools in a Non-Technical Problem Context

    Phone: +44 (1275) 337500 Fax: +44 (1275) 337509 E-mail: [email protected] Although initially conceived as a systematic creativity and innovation methodology for engineers and scientists, TRIZ has recently been recognised as having much to offer the non-technical, business and management communities.

  5. TRIZ for Non-Technical Problem Solving

    TRIZ for Non-Technical Problem Solving Editor | On 02, Apr 2003 By: Ellen Domb [email protected] Abstract: Ursprünglich entwickelte sich TRIZ aus dem Studium von Evolutionstrends oder Strukturen der technologischen Veränderungen, die sich bei Patenten zeigten.

  6. PDF TRIZ for Non-Technical Problem Solving

    TRIZ for Non-Technical Problem Solving Author: Ellen Domb, [email protected] Abstract: Ursprünglich entwickelte sich TRIZ aus dem Studium von Evolutionstrends oder Strukturen der technologischen Veränderungen, die sich bei Patenten zeigten.

  7. PDF TRIZ Beyond Technology

    Altshuller, can be further expanded into various non-technical areas. For example, basic TRIZ concepts such as ideality, contradictions and the systems approach are fully applicable to non-technical problems and situations. Eventually, these considerations led to a definition of Universal Patterns of Evolution.[7]

  8. Application of Triz Tools in a Non-Technical Problem Context

    TRIZ TOOLS FOR NON-TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS Although very much founded on technical foundations, all of the TRIZ tools have something of value to offer the definers and solvers of non-technical problems.

  9. Evaluation of the effectiveness of TRIZ concepts in non-technical

    Evaluation of the effectiveness of TRIZ concepts in non-technical problem-solving utilizing a problem solving guide. @inproceedings{Bowyer2011EvaluationOT, title={Evaluation of the effectiveness of TRIZ concepts in non-technical problem-solving utilizing a problem solving guide.}, author={Dennis Bowyer}, year={2011}, url={https://api ...

  10. TRIZ IN A NON-TECHNICAL SETTING

    This non-profit organization exists to promote innovation and creativity using the TRIZ methodology. The website provides monthly newsletters, periodicals, and information about TRIZ training, consulting, and conferences. ... Case Study: Applying Triz in a non-technical setting for a fuel-cell start-up.

  11. Using Creative Problem Solving (TRIZ) in Improving the Quality of

    The results related to solving the problem using TRIZ, also shows that the 1st step in problem solving using TRIZ method is transforming it to a contradiction. ... The issue was found using SERVQUAL mode, classical TRIZ method was used using the non-technical contradictions in definition of the issue and the idealistic plan as mind navigator in ...

  12. A review of TRIZ, and its benefits and challenges in practice

    TRIZ is a knowledge-based systematic methodology of inventive problem solving (Savranksy, 2000). Fey and Rivin (2005) described TRIZ as a methodology for the effective development of new [technical] systems, in addition to it being a set of principles that describe how technologies and systems evolve.

  13. Use of TRIZ, and TRIZ with Other Tools for Process Improvement: A

    Mann [20] describes the use of TRIZ for non-technical problems. He concludes that TRIZ can define or solve problems in business and other non-technical fields. Mann and Domb [21] write about the use of TRIZ to help companies to survive in E-business. Ruchti and Livotov [22] conclude that TRIZ can be very useful for better decision

  14. (PDF) An Overview of TRIZ Problem-Solving Methodology and its

    Several objectives of this paper are as the following: To review past research and works on TRIZ problem-solving methodology. To highlight in detail several engineering applications and non-engineering or non-technical applications that have used TRIZ. To propose several suggestions that can help improve TRIZ problem-solving effectiveness.

  15. What is TRIZ and How to Use it in Problem Solving?

    What is the TRIZ Method for Problem Solving? TRIZ is a Russian acronym for " teoriya resheniya izobretatelskikh zadatch ", which translates in English as the " theory of inventive problem solving ". Altshuller lamented that while sailors had maps, the same cannot be said for inventors.

  16. TRIZ

    TRIZ ( / ˈtriːz /; Russian: теория решения изобретательских задач, romanized : teoriya resheniya izobretatelskikh zadach, lit. 'theory of inventive problem solving') is an approach that combines an organized and systematic method for problem solving with analysis and forecasting techniques derived from the study of patterns of invention in the g...

  17. Application of Triz Tools in a Non-Technical Problem Context

    2016. In order to enhance the problem solving skills of students majoring in wind energy and power engineering, a novel TRIZ based strategy is developed for teaching the wind turbine control module. By…. Expand. Contribution of the formulation of the links between Invention - Optimization in Inventive conceptual design.

  18. TRIZ for Engineers: Enabling Inventive Problem Solving

    TRIZ is a brilliant toolkit for nurturing engineering creativity and innovation. This accessible, colourful and practical guide has been developed from problem-solving workshops run by Oxford Creativity, one of the world's top TRIZ training organizations started by Gadd in 1998. Gadd has successfully introduced TRIZ to many major organisations such as Airbus, Sellafield Sites, Saint-Gobain ...

  19. A review of TRIZ, and its benefits and challenges in practice

    Abstract. TRIZ (the theory of inventive problem solving) has been promoted by several enthusiasts as a systematic methodology or toolkit that provides a logical approach to developing creativity ...

  20. TRIZ40: Solving technical problems with TRIZ methodology

    This progression is made by solving problems. TRIZ Matrix can help solving problems if we translate them in Contradictions ; E.g. if an object must be longer without becoming heavier, this technical challenge can be translated in this Contradictions: Feature to improve: '4, length of stationary'. Feature to preserve: '2, weight of stationary'.

  21. How to use Pointers to EffectsThe Triz Journal

    Most Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) tools help solve non-technical problems. The efficiency and effectiveness, however, of TRIZ for solving non-technical problems appears to be much lower than what is used for technical problem solving.

  22. PDF TRIZ: Design Problem Solving with Systematic Innovation

    Generally, the TRIZ s problem solving process is to define a specific problem, formalize it, identify the contradictions, find examples of how others have solved the contradiction or utilized the principles, and finally, apply those general solutions to the particular problem. Figure 1 shows the steps of the TRIZ s problem solving. Figure 1.

  23. TRIZ: Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

    The TRIZ method is an organized, systematic, and creative problem-solving framework. It was developed in 1946 by Soviet inventor and author Genrich Altshuller who studied 200,000 patents to determine if there were patterns in innovation.; Altshuller acknowledged that not every innovation was necessarily groundbreaking in scope or ambition. From the result of his research, he created five ...