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TRIZ () is a Russian Acronym for "''Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch''" (Теория решения изобретательских задач), ''Theory of solving inventive problems'' or ''Theory of inventive problem solving.'' It was developed by Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues starting in 1946 . TRIZ is a Methodology , tool set, knowledge base, and model-based technology for generating innovative ideas and solutions for Problem Solving . TRIZ provides tools and methods for use in problem formulation, system analysis, failure analysis, and patterns of system evolution (both 'as-is' and 'could be'). TRIZ, in contrast to techniques such as Brainstorming (which is based on random idea generation), aims to create an algorithmic approach to the invention of new systems, and the refinement of old systems. INTRODUCTION Soviet engineer and researcher Genrich Saulovich Altshuller believed that learning how to invent is feasible. He developed TRIZ, the theory and practice of the science of Invention . Since childhood, Altshuller showed his talents as an inventor. When he was just 15 years old he received his first certificate of the authorship of invention for an underwater apparatus. (The USSR did not issue patents to its citizens because it outlawed private property. Instead it issued certificates of authorship as an acknowledgement of the fact that a person is the author of an invention.) In 1946, at the age of 20, Altshuller developed his first mature invention - a method for escaping from an immobilized submarine without diving gear. In the late 1940s he worked in the "Inventions Inspection" department of the Caspian flotilla of the Soviet Navy in Baku. Altshuller's job was to inspect invention proposals, help document them, and more importantly for the later development of TRIZ, help others to invent. Faced with the challenge of inventing, time and again Altshuller searched literature for some kind of a method for inventing, which he believed must exist. To his disappointment he could not find such a method. Altshuller came to the conclusion that he needed to develop such a method himself. He started off by examining a large database of his own and other people's inventions, and soon arrived at his most important interpretation: Inventing is the removal of a technical contradiction with the help of certain principles. To develop a method for inventing, he argued, one must scan a large number of inventions, identify the contradictions underlying them, and formulate the principle used by the inventor for their removal. Altshuller realized that principles found while analyzing patents from one industry were applicable to problems in other industries. TRIZ also evolved by transferring strong principles from one field to another. His results are being applied to solve creative invention problems not just within all branches of Engineering , but within many other technical and non-technical fields as well. TRIZ is sometimes used as a problem solving tool in Design for Six Sigma, (DFSS) a subset of Six Sigma which aims to design new products and processes for producing products with no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. The effectiveness of TRIZ is in dispute in many Engineering circles. For example, no innovative new product has been publicly identified which owes its creation to TRIZ methodology. TRIZ products most often are existing products which have been improved marginally. Frequently, TRIZ is sold to people outside of engineering disciplines as a way to 'produce' creativity, because many higher level managers with little hands-on engineering experience are fearful of the inherent risks of research and development. HISTORY Altshuller began developing TRIZ methodology while working at the "Inventions Inspection" department of the Caspian flotilla in Baku in the times of Stalin . By 1969 he reviewed about 40,000 Patent abstracts in order to find out in what way the Innovation had taken place. He eventually developed 40 Principles Of Invention , several Laws Of Technical Systems Evolution , the concepts of technical and physical Contradiction s that creative inventions resolve, the concept of Ideality of a system and numerous other theoretical and practical approaches; together, this extensive work represents a unique contribution to the development of Creativity and inventive Problem-solving . It bears mentioning that the period in which TRIZ was developed is the period in which the Soviet Union decided not to pursue research in biotechnology and computer science, and that by the 80s the Soviet Union was considered technologically 'backward' suggesting that the methodology is not the panacea which many outside engineering disciplines believe it to be. The tools developed under Altshuller's leadership were
The different schools for TRIZ and individual practitioners have continued to improve and add to the methodology. GROUNDS & RELATION WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES Foundational knowledge which TRIZ is based on are invention documents. TRIZ was created as an Abstraction of the "world's best solutions", as appearing in the development of inventions. TRIZ is interdisciplinary and is closely related to ontology, logic, systems of science, psychology, history of technology. REFERENCES ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS OF TRIZ
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TRIZ ESSENTIALS Basic TRIZ terms Structure of TRIZ
Identifying a problem: contradictions Altshuller believed that inventive problems stem from Contradiction s (one of the basic TRIZ concepts) between two or more elements, such as, "If we want more acceleration, we need a larger engine; but that will increase the cost of the car," that is, more of something desirable also brings more of something else undesirable, or less of something else also desirable. (This concept of contradictions is also seen in orthodox Marxist Philosophy .) These are called Technical Contradictions by Altshuller. He also defined so-called physical or inherent contradictions: More of one thing and less of another may be needed. For instance, a higher temperature may be needed to melt a compound more rapidly, but a lower temperature may be needed to achieve a homogeneous mixture. An inventive situation might involve several such contradictions. The inventor typically ''trades'' one contradictory parameter for another; no special inventiveness is needed for that. Rather, the inventor would develop some creative approach for ''resolving'' the contradiction, such as inventing an engine that produces more acceleration without increasing the cost of the engine. Standard solutions Inventive principles and the matrix of contradictions Altshuller screened patents in order to find out what kind of contradictions were resolved or dissolved by the invention and the way this had been achieved. From this he developed a set of 40 inventive principles and later a Matrix of Contradictions . Rows of the matrix indicate the 39 System Features that one typically wants to improve, such as speed, weight, accuracy of measurement and so on. Columns refer to typical undesired results. Each matrix cell points to principles that have been most frequently used in patents in order to resolve the contradiction. For instance, Dolgashev mentions the following contradiction: Increasing accuracy of measurement of machined balls without incurring in expensive microscopes and control equipment. The matrix cell in row "accuracy of measurement" and column "complexity of control" points to several principles, among them the Copying Principle, which states, "Use a simple and inexpensive optical copy with a suitable scale instead of an object that is complex, expensive, fragile or inconvenient to operate." From this general invention principle, the following idea might solve the problem: Taking a high-resolution image of the machined ball. A screen with a grid might provide the required measurement. Laws of technical system evolution See Also: Laws of Technical Systems Evolution Altshuller also studied the way technical systems have been developed and improved over time. From this, he discovered several trends (so called Laws of Technical Systems Evolution) that help engineers predict what the most likely improvements that can be made to a given product are. The most important of these laws involves the ideality of a system. Substance-field analysis One more technique that is frequently used by inventors involves the analysis of substances, fields and other resources that are currently not being used and that can be found within the system or nearby. TRIZ uses non-standard definitions for substances and fields. Altshuller developed methods to analyze resources; several of his invention principles involve the use of different substances and fields that help resolve contradictions and increase ideality of a technical system. For instance, Videotext systems used television signals to transfer data, by taking advantage of the small time segments between TV frames in the signals. ARIZ - algorithm of inventive problems solving See Also: Algorithm of Inventive Problems Solving ARIZ (Russian acronym of Алгоритм решения изобретательских задач - АРИЗ) - Algorithm of Inventive Problems Solving - is a list of about 85 step-by-step procedures to solve very complicated invention problems, where other tools of TRIZ (Su-field analysis, 40 inventive principles, etc.) are not applicable. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES See Also: Creativity techniques or Creativity ]] There are several other approaches that purportedly help develop inventive power. Most of them are quite Heuristic al: # Trial-and-error # Brainstorming # Morphological Analysis # Method Of Focal Objects # Lateral Thinking # ASIT (Advance Systematic Inventive Thinking) SEE ALSO General Evolution of technical systems Development of creative personality TRIZ HONOURS In the last year of his life Altshuller established a two-level form of certification: # a "TRIZ Master" Diploma, issued and signed by Altshuller; he granted it to several most proven persons in TRIZ community (according to his own list). # a "TRIZ Specialist" and "TRIZ Expert" Certificates, issued by International Association of TRIZ and signed by a TRIZ-master; these certificates are intended to be granted to people which need a confirmation of their credentials as TRIZ teachers (because people complained that without a certificate they faced obstacles in teaching TRIZ) Some of the TRIZ-masters interpreted their title as a confirmation of their outstanding contribution to TRIZ, whereas others claimed that it was not exactly Altshuler's intent. (rus) The latter claim is based on the fact that the original list of masters [http://www.aitriz.org/ai/index.php?page=altshuller&article=letter#trizmasters] did not include the well known outstanding contributors to TRIZ such as his wife Valentina Zuravliova, the co-author of SuField Analysis Irina Flikstein and many others simply because they have not been teaching TRIZ and have not been needing any kind of certification. After Altshuller's death some of TRIZ masters started promoting the first interpretation of the title and claiming to be heirs to TRIZ with a right to pass their diploma to their disciples (possibly saving an overall number of masters) and even claiming their entitlement to financial support from International Association of TRIZ (V. V. Mitrofanov is the most outspoken representative of such claimants (rus) .) Others considered these claims as a devaluation and discreditation of the TRIZ-master title. To counter the inflation of a prestige of the TRIZ-master title and to foster the real TRIZ research, Anti TRIZ-Journal established Altshuller Prize for outstanding contribution to TRIZ. The Altshuller Prize Committee decided not to announce winners for 2006. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS Examples of TRIZ
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