Unit 15 Creative problem Solving Approach: TRIZ

1. Unit 15Creative problem Solving Approach: TRIZ CSEM04: Risk and Opportunities of Systems Change in Organisations Dr Lynne Humphries Prof. Helen M Edwards

2. Overview • Background • History of TRIZ development: TRIZ Development, TRIZ Teaching • What is TRIZ? • TRIZ and other Problem-Solving Toolkits • How TRIZ works • The TRIZ Domain • TRIZ Process • The use of some of the techniques of TRIZ • TRIZ Contradictions • 10 Techniques used in TRIZ • Smart Little People • Resources Used

3. Background • We heard about the beginnings of TRIZ when we looked at the “9 boxes” approach • The approach originated in Russia • It was developed by a patent engineer named Altshuller, starting in the 1940s. • It started being used in the Western World since the 1990s. • For example it has been taught in the UK for the last 7 years by Oxford Creativity (Karen Gadd and Henry Strickland) and others.

4. What is TRIZ? • “TRIZ is a system of several powerful tools for problem analysis, understanding and solution in any scientific, technological or administrative field. • ARIZ, the algorithm of inventive problem solving, may be used as a guide through a problem solving process showing how and when to apply the TRIZ tools. • However, each of the tools can be applied separately according to the problem situation.” • Bauer-Kurz, I (1999) A Comparison of the Global-8D-Process and TRIZ.The Triz Institute. Online article at : • [http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/2000/07/c/]

5. History of TRIZ development

6. Altshuller and the patent office • Altshuller worked in the Soviet Navy’s Patent Office. • He was in a position to recognise: • the duplication in effort of the thousands of technologists and scientists who filed patents • Each was working in a specialised area • and did not know of solutions that existed to similar problems but in different disciplines • This insight was innovative • even now some inter-disciplinarity is welcomed • but largely researchers work within their own disciplines

7. An innovator in a hostile environment • Altshuller published a paper and wrote to Stalin • he said could bring about an end to the chaos, duplication and ignorance in the Russian approaches to invention and innovation. • He said he had uncovered theories which would help any engineer and • could lead to a revolution in the technical world. • Altshuller was arrested and charged with inventor’s sabotage • after torture and interrogation he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Siberia.

8. Categorisation of the principles of successful innovation • Altshuller set out to • categorise all the solutions in the design patents to identify all the innovative ways to solve any problem. • Altshuller hoped • To prove his theory • So that he could get scientists and engineers to work together, • without duplication, and • end the growing practice of each discipline “toiling in their own silos”

9. TRIZ Development • The TRIZ tools were developed in Russia by engineers with thousands of man-years of work (and many women-years). • Over 200,000 patents were analysed • However, TRIZ was banned from the 1970s onwards in Russia.

10. TRIZ development • In the 1990’s many TRIZ scholars left Russia and began to successfully introduce TRIZ to the rest of the world, • Something Altshuller was aware of before he died. • Alsthuller died in 1998 having suffered from Parkinson’s disease in his latter years.

11. TRIZ Teaching • Russia 30-50 years ago had a very different culture to our own and time was not of the essence for them. • to learn TRIZ the Russian way takes at least 3 months. • The method is rigorous, requires great application of thought and lots of worked examples. • This approach is not practical in the Western World. • Other approaches to training have been developed for this context. • For example: Oxford Creativity has created TRIZ courses which • do not compromise the thoroughness or rigour of TRIZ • but will give an understanding and use of the best TRIZ tools in two courses which last 5 days in total . • Oxford Creativity has 4 stages to TRIZ qualification:TRIZ Aware, TRIZ Tyro, TRIZ Champion and TRIZ Problem Solver. • Helen and Lynne are both TRIZ Champions

12. What is TRIZ?

13. What is TRIZ? • The science of creativity  • derived from all scientific and engineering solutions. • A problem solving toolkit: the principal TRIZ tools direct us • to find all the ways of solving a problem, • to find new concepts and • the routes for developing new products. • TRIZ has simple general lists of how to solve any problem: • these “solution triggers” are distilled from analysing all known engineering success. • There are also tools for • problem understanding, • for system analysis and • for understanding what we want.

14. TRIZ in the UK • TRIZ offers a systematic process for stimulating innovation • The aim is to accelerate creative problem solving for both individuals and project teams by following the TRIZ approach and following its rules • Why is this process desirable? • Companies that successfully apply TRIZ are not dependent on: •  the spontaneous and occasional creativity of individuals, • (or groups of engineers, within their organisation).

15. TRIZ and other Problem-Solving Toolkits • TRIZ has • tools for understanding what we want and • system tools for everything from invention to improving. • TRIZ can complement other problem solving toolkits. • It has been used as a valuable addition to • Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, KT, Value Engineering etc. • This is especially valuable when you need innovation, and to find powerful solutions.

16. How TRIZ works • TRIZ is a set of powerful tools which help us • Understand, list and prioritise what we want (all our requirements) • Understand, analyse and map the right systems (and locate the right systems) for delivering what we want • Identify the problems (the gaps between our requirements and the system) • Solve the Problems to get the right system for our needs and get the system working right

17. The TRIZ Domain System Which delivers What we want What we Want Problems = The gaps between What we Wantandthe System TRIZ Problem Solving Tools E.G 40 Principles, Standard Solutions From Oxford Creativity Ltd

18. TRIZ Process From Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). http://www.mazur.net/triz/

19. 10 Techniques used in TRIZ From IMechEng TRIZ site www.imeche.org.uk/manufacturing/triz.asp N.B. techniques with “” have been introduced in this module

20. The use of some of the techniques of TRIZ Diagram from http://www.triz-journal.com/whatistriz/index.htm

21. TRIZ Contradictions • TRIZ recognizes two categories of contradictions: • Technical contradictions • classical engineering “trade-offs.” • The desired state can’t be reached because something else in the system prevents it. • when something gets better, something else gets worse. Classical examples include • The bandwidth increases (good) but requires more power (bad) • Service is customized to each customer (good) but the service delivery system gets complicated (bad.) • Physical contradictions:whereone object has contradictory (opposite) requirements. E.g. • Software should be easy to use, but should have many complex features and options. • Coffee should be hot, for enjoyable drinking, but cold, to prevent burning the customer • Training should be thorough and not take any time

22. TRIZ Contradictions • TRIZ research (analysis of patents) has identified • 40 principles that solve the Technical contradictions • The TRIZ patent research classified 39 features for technical contradictions. • Once a contradiction is expressed in the technical contradiction form (the trade-off) the next step is locate the features in the Contradiction Matrix. • 4 principles of separation that solve the Physical contradictions.

23. Contradiction Matrix

24. Using Contradictions • Many problems can be stated as both physical and technical contradictions. In general: • the most comprehensive solutions come from using the physical contradiction formulation, • the most prescriptive solutions come from using the technical contradiction. • In terms of learning, • people usually learn to solve technical contradictions first, • since the method is very concrete, • then learn to solve physical contradictions, • then learn to use both methods interchangeably, depending on the problem.

25. Resolve physical contradictions • Four approaches: • Separation in time • Separation in space • Phase transition • Solid - liquid - gas - plasma • Paramagnetic -Ferromagnetic • Others-ferroelectric, superconducting, crystal structure, … • Move to the super-system or the sub-system (use 9 boxes)

26. Smart Little People • A creativity tool for breaking the “psychological inertia” caused by specialist terminology/knowledge • Helps in analysing systems at the micro-level. • It is especially useful in brainstorming sessions. • Using Smart Little People (SLP): you imagine • the system you are analysing consists of many clever, ingenious small objects or people, • These can make decisions • individually and • as a group.

27. Smart Little People (SLP) looks at the micro-level • SLP is helpful to understand the problem on a micro-level and to identify the zone of conflict. • Why does the varnish not cover heater parts at certain spots?’. • The knowledgeable engineer may answer: ‘The varnish does not stick to the metal surface if the surface is dirty. • This is a sign that the cleaning bath is not effective. • This aspect leads us to redefine the problem: • The bath for cleaning heaters before coating becomes dirty and ineffective, instead of • the quality control shows defects in varnish of heaters’

28. Case study from Bauer-Kurtz (1999) What is the problem? Ideality The formulation of the ideal final result for the case study is: • Every heater is evenly coated with varnish all by itself.

29. SLP Modelling The modelling shown in the figure [Figure 6 from the paper] may also suggest that an imperfect surface structure is partially responsible for the varnish defects.

30. Technical contradictions

31. Some solutions from the contradictions matrix • Apply the 40 standard solutions, as suggested in the contradiction matrix, to the problem VARNISH DEFECTS • [these are presented in order of their number of occurrences: since the principles recurring the most often are considered most likely to solve the problem]. • 4 x No 10: Preliminary Action. E.g: • a preliminary cleaning step: if the parts are sandblasted or rinsed with pressurized water before the chemical cleaning bath, the bath does not deteriorate as fast, or • measures taken not to make the heater parts dirty in the first place: to prevent the parts from getting dirty, the workers should use only suitable hand crème or wear clean gloves when touching the parts. • 4 x No 28: Mechanics Substitution. E.g: • the varnishing is done electrostatically: can the cleaning be done in a similar manner? Can the cleaning solution be an electrolyte solution using charged particles to separate dirt particles from metal surfaces, and transport and deposit the dirt to a waste deposit surface?

32. …continued • 4 x No 35: Parameter Changes. E.g: • The cleaning solution would be easily recyclable if it evaporated after cleaning, leaving the dirt at the vessel ground as solid residue. Is dirt, especially grease, more easily solvable at higher temperatures? If so, it is well worth heating the metal parts or the cleaning bath. • 3 x No 1: Segmentation. E.g: • The degree of fragmentation of the production process is increased by introducing a stage of pre-cleaning of the heater parts. This solution leads to a similar action as suggested already with the solution principle “Preliminary Action”, and also similar to the G8D solution alternative 6. • 3 x No 18: Mechanical Vibration. E.g: • Can cleaning be done with ultrasonic devices? Can vibrational motion of the part or in the cleaning bath enhance the efficiency of the bath? • 2 x No 22: Blessing in Disguise. E.g: • Could the chemical waste of the cleaning process be used to produce something? Could the metal pieces left over from the production of heater parts be recycled?

33. Systems Analysis/ Problem Solution • Thinking of the system like this helps make sure everyone really understands how the system works, • It’s a very good way of explaining complex situations • as they can be broken down into smaller, more digestible parts. • Once you have analysed your problem context with SLP, • You think of ways they could solve your problem, by acting alone or as a group, • ie what they would have to do to solve the problem. • This is then translated into a feasible solution.

34. Resources Used • Bauer-Kurz, I (1999)A Comparison of the Global-8D-Process and TRIZ. The Triz Institute. Online article at: http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/2000/07/c/ • Domb E (2000), Managing Creativity for Project Success.www.triz-journal.com [Originally published in the Proceedings of the 7th Project Leadership Conference, June, 2000] • Gadd K (ud) TRIZ: currently unpublished book, Oxford Creativity Ltd. • IMechEng (ud) TRIZ - Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. www.imeche.org.uk/manufacturing/triz.asp • Mazur, G (1995) Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). www.mazur.net/triz/