What is TRIZ TRIZ is a Russian language acronym for Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch Translated into English it means The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving TRIZ is the product of an exhaustive analysis of the world s most creative technological innovations as described in worldwide patent literature This analysis has been conducted over a fiftyyear period with the total number of patents analyzed now totaling approximately three million The objective of TRIZ is to discover how inventors invent Trying to understand the inventive process was aimed specifically at inventions that solved difficult engineering problems in novel ways The problems considered were difficult because they contained one or several contradictory requirements e g speed vs precision and a situation where compromise was no longer an acceptable solution The fifty year study of inventions has uncovered a comprehensive set of analytical and knowledge based tools that previously existed implicitly in the minds of the world s most creative inventors TRIZ has codified the implicit process of invention and by making it explicit made invention available to anyone with a reasonable amount of intelligence The result of this combined with the TRIZ Levels of Inventiveness distinguishes it from other problem solving management systems and includes a theory of invention with the following criteria Be systematic and provide a step by step process Guide the process of invention through a broad solution space to direct the process to the most ideal solution The process needed to be reliable and repeatable across a wide spectrum of problems The process should not be dependent on psychological aids such as brainstorming The process should take advantage and access the body of inventive knowledge The process must add to the body of inventive knowledge TRIZ applies the law of Increasing Ideality That stipulates that systems evolve towards greater ideality ideality being the quotient of the sum of the systems useful effects divided by the sum of its harmful effects The TRIZ Process Step By Step 1 Identifying the problem 2 Formulate the problem Could improving one technical Characteristic to solve a problem cause other technical characteristics to worsen 3 Search for previously well solved problems by looking at the 39 engineering parameters 4 Find the principle that needs to be changed and then find the principle that is an undesired secondary effect 5 Look for analogous solutions and adapt to my solution Let s look at the application of TRIZ to a simple redesign that of an aluminum beverage can Identifying the problem The first step is to identify the engineering system being studied its operating environment resource requirements primary useful function harmful effects and determining the ideal result Example A beverage can that is an engineered system to contain a beverage The operating environment is that cans are stacked for storage purposes Resources include weight of filled cans internal pressure of can rigidity of can construction Primary useful function is to contain beverage Harmful effects include cost of materials the cost of producing the can and waste of storage space Ideal result is a can that can support the weight of stacking to human height without damage to cans or beverage in cans Formulate the problem Restate the problem in terms of physical contradictions Identify problems that could occur Could improving one technical characteristic to solve a problem cause other technical characteristics to worsen resulting in secondary problems arising Do technical conflicts exist that might force a trade off Example We cannot control the height to which cans will be stacked The price of raw materials compels us to lower costs The can walls must be made thinner to reduce costs but if we make the walls thinner it cannot support as large a stacking load Thus the can wall needs to be thinner to lower material cost and thicker to support stacking load weight This is a physical contradiction If we can solve this we will achieve an ideal engineering system Search for Previously Well Solved Problem Consider the 39 Engineering Parameters shown in the list below Find the contradicting engineering principles in your examples First find the principle that needs to be changed Then find the principle that is an undesirable secondary effect State the standard technical conflict Example The standard engineering parameter that has to be changed to make the can wall thinner is 4 length of a nonmoving object In TRIZ these standard engineering principles can be quite general Here length is a generalized term and may refer to any linear dimension such as length width height diameter etc If we reduce the can wall thickness stacking load weight will decrease The standard engineering parameter that is in conflict is 11 stress The standard technical conflict is the more we improve the standard engineering parameter length of a nonmoving object the more the standard engineering parameter stress becomes worse The 39 Engineering Parameters 1 Weight of moving object 2 Weight of nonmoving object 3 Length of moving object 4 Length of nonmoving object 5 Area of moving object 6 Area of nonmoving object 7 Volume of moving object 8 Volume of nonmoving object 9 Speed 10 Force 11 Tension pressure 12 Shape 13 Stability of object 14 Strength 15 Durability of moving object 16 Durability of nonmoving object 17 Temperature 18 Brightness 19 Energy spent by moving object 20 Energy spent by nonmoving object 21 Power 22 Waste of energy 23 Waste of substance 24 Loss of information 25 Waste of time 26 Amount of substance 27 Reliability 28 Accuracy of measurement 29 Accuracy of manufacturing 30 Harmful factors acting on object 31 Harmful side effects 32 Manufacturability 33 Convenience of use 34 Repairability 35 Adaptability 36 Complexity of device 37 Complexity of control 38 Level of automation 39 Productivity Look for Analogous Solutions and Adapt to My Solution TRIZ specifies 40 Inventive Principles These principles may be used to help an engineer find a highly inventive and hopefully patent able solution to the problem Examples from patents are also suggested with these 40 inventive principles To find which inventive principles to use Altshuller the creator of TRIZ created the Table of Contradictions The Table of Contradictions lists the 39 Engineering Parameters on the X axis Undesired Secondary Effect and Y axis Feature To Improve In the intersecting