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Abstract

This article mainly proposes a design process in which a combination of brainstorming and the theory of inventive problem-solving, better known as TRIZ, are used in the design process. We used illustrations by designing a recycling machine for Tetra Pak. Designers are guided to apply brainstorming to come up with innovative designs and features utilizing 39 engineering parameters, a contradiction matrix, and 40 inventive principles for solving design problems. Once copyright and patent laws have been adhered in order to ensure there are no infringements, a prototype may be constructed, and patents may be applied for.

Keywords

TRIZ 40 inventive principles recycling machine innovation design process brainstorming

Introduction

In today’s rapidly changing markets, products are geared to be more convenient and easier to use. With modern technology, we are able to come up with many innovative products that save time, energy, and lives. Regretfully, along with progress, we often experience negative results in creating waste and environmental pollution. Tetra Pak is an easy way to carry with or to have a drink; it is sold at convenience stores and vending machines. Tetra Pak, which many companies use to package beverages in, produces approximately 21 billion units per year but only 8 billion are recycled, thus resulting in a waste of resources. Often unfinished beverage is left in Tetra Paks when they are discarded. This creates a twofold negative effect in which it is not only inconvenient to recycle but also affects the amount of recycling.

The human imagination is unlimited and flexible. Many innovative products are inspired by our daily lives or creative ideas. Sometimes it is to complete a task quicker and easier, other times may be something that peeks our interests, and we choose to explore the concept. Creativity is limitless within the existing framework, therefore, creating physical objects to improve our quality of life and the intangible ideas for new laws, procedures, or guidelines.¹ Unlike the traditional way of thinking, new innovative products would be designed according to new ideas and practices by using a different approach. This research proposes implementing brainstorming^2,3 and TRIZ^4–9 in order to let us examine designs to ensure the product utilizes all resources efficiently. A patent search and evaluation are also made to confirm the feasibility and patentability of the product. In addition, the design process of a Tetra Pak recycling machine is used to illustrate the design process.

Brainstorming

The definition of brainstorming is to produce a solution for a specific problem by one’s brainpower and creative thinking. Brainstorming was first proposed by AF Osborm.^2,3 It applies a method in which several participants meet and exchange ideas pertaining to the development, feasibility, and the utilization of new products. Many creative and innovative thoughts and ideas are generated from group discussions resulting in the best design. Al-khatib¹⁰ developed the problem shooting skill for solving creativity problems. For his experiment, he divided 98 students into two groups. The control group was instructed to brainstorming in order to develop thinking skills while the experimental group was encouraged to come up with ideas on their own. According to Al-khatib, the control group was more effective in the creativity development than the experimental group. Nemeth et al.¹¹ used a non-traditional brainstorming technique in which he asked all members of the group to not criticize one another for investigating the creative development through debating and controversy in the group. Nistad et al.¹² discussed two brainstorming methods in a laboratory experiment with three-person interactive and three-person nominal groups of college students. All groups were homogeneous with regard to gender. The study showed that interactive groups were more persistent than nominal groups in both of expectancy stop rule and satisfaction stop rule methods. Paulus et al.¹³ discussed the effectiveness of brainstorming in an industrial setting to examine the potential of brain writing for group ideas in work settings or the impact of different sequences of group and individual ideas. The study showed that participants who generated ideas first as a group and then as individuals performed better and participants with periodic reviews performed the best.

There are four basic rules to be seriously obeyed when holding a brainstorming meeting for participants:^2,3

Judicial judgment is ruled out. It is forbidden to criticize others’ ideas by speaking critically or using animated expressions. The opposition to views or ideas must be retained until the end of the activity. This is to avoid discouraging the creative thinking during the brainstorming exercise.

Free-wheeling is welcomed. Keeping a free, relaxed, and unbounded mind to associate freely and to record the ideas.

Quantity is wanted. Brainstorming needs to be very creative and to accumulate many unique ideas. No matter how good or bad they may appear.

Combinations and improvements are sought. The brainstorming meeting is an interaction of creativity. Better concepts can be formed by combining ideas or extending on the other ideas.

TRIZ

TRIZ is the Russian acronym for theory of inventive problem-solving. It is a method for solving problems that creators or producers face when coming up with new products. The TRIZ innovative design method was developed in the former Soviet Union by Altshuller, who had analyzed over 400,000 patents to establish 39 engineering parameters (Table 1), there are 40 inventive principles (Table 2) and contradiction matrix (Table 3).^14–17 It is effective to help designers to solve contradiction of system problems and to improve product design through using TRIZ method. During the problem-solving mode (Figure 1), the first step is to find the contradictory characteristics in product’s system. Next, the designers match the meaning of each contradiction with two appropriate parameters from the 39 engineering parameters. Then, when the designers confirm these two parameters of contradiction in the contradiction matrix using TRIZ,^18,19 the designers can finally choose three or four of the most frequently used solutions from the 40 principles for solving a design problem. Chai et al.¹⁵ applied the theory of inventive problem-solving to propose a new approach to new service designs. It integrated TRIZ problem-solving tools and its knowledge base to offer a new TRIZ-based approach to address this weakness in service design with two case studies. Li et al.²⁰ studied an integrated TRIZ approach for technological process and product innovation during process trimming. First, the algorithm of process trimming was utilized to determine key problems in technological process. Then TRIZ problem-solving tools were employed to solve these key problems. An approach was studied by Bariani et al.,²¹ and it was combined with the design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) methods and the theory of inventive problem-solving. This approach was developed by merging the common characteristics and applied to the redesign of a satellite antenna.

Table 1.

TRIZ contradiction matrix (partial).

Improving feature	Worsening feature
Improving feature	1. Weight of moving object	2. Weight of stationary object	3. Length of moving object	…	37. Complexity of control	38. Level of automation	39. Productivity
1. Weight of moving object			15.829.34		28.2926.32	26.3518.19	35.324.37
2. Weight of non-moving object					25.2817.15	2.2635	1.2815.35
3. Length of moving object	8.1529.34				35.126.24	17.2426.16	14.428.29
4. Length of non-moving object		35.2840.29			26		30.147.26
⋮
37. Complexity of control	27.2628.13	5.1328.1	26		35.3327.22	18.2832.9	3.2729.18
38. Level of automation	28.2618.35	28.2635.10	26		35.33	24.2835.30	35.13
39. Productivity	35.2624.37	28.2715.3	18.428.38		13.1523		35.38

Table 2.

Thirty-nine engineering parameters of TRIZ.

No.	Engineering parameter	No.	Engineering parameter
1	Weight of M	21	Power
2	Weight of non-M	22	Waste of energy
3	Length of M	23	Waste of substance
4	Length of non-M	24	Loss of information
5	Area of M	25	Waste of time
6	Area of non-M	26	Amount of substance
7	Volume of M	27	Reliability
8	Volume of non-M	28	Accuracy of measurement
9	Speed	29	Accuracy of manufacture
10	Force	30	Harmful factors acting on object
11	Tension/pressure	31	Harmful side effects
12	Shape	32	Manufacturability
13	Stability of object	33	Convenience of use
14	Strength	34	Reparability
15	Durability of M	35	Adaptability
16	Durability of non-M	36	Complexity of device
17	Temperature	37	Complexity of control
18	Brightness	38	Level of automation
19	Energy spent by M	39	Productivity
20	Energy spent by non-M

M: moving object.

Table 3.

Forty principles of TRIZ.

No.	Principle	No.	Principle
1	Segmentation	21	Skipping
2	Taking out	22	Blessing in disguise
3	Local quality	23	Feedback
4	Asymmetry	24	Intermediary
5	Merging	25	Self-service
6	Universality	26	Copying
7	Nested doll	27	Cheap short-living object
8	Anti-weight	28	Mechanics substitution
9	Preliminary anti-action	29	Pneumatics and hydraulics
10	Preliminary action	30	Flexible shells and thin films
11	Beforehand cushioning	31	Porous materials
12	Equipotentiality	32	Color changes
13	The other way round	33	Homogeneity
14	Spheroidality-curvature	34	Discarding and recovering
15	Dynamics	35	Parameter change
16	Partial or excessive actions	36	Phase transition
17	Another dimension	37	Thermal expansion
18	Mechanical vibration	38	Strong oxidants
19	Periodic action	39	Inert atmosphere
20	Continuity of useful action	40	Composite materials

Figure 1.

Model of TRIZ solving problem.

In the product conception stage, many product designers still apply brainstorming to come up with new innovative ideas. In the product improvement stage, there needs to be a systemic approach method to solve contradictions between the improved and worsening parameters. Brainstorming can be restricted within an individual designer’s knowledge and psychological disorders; however, applying TRIZ innovative design rules can overcome these shortcomings.

Design process

Based on the creative design approach, this research proposed a structured and systematic inventive design process that combines both brainstorming and TRIZ. The design process is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Inventive design process.

The first step is to analyze the characteristics of the object to be designed or modified. The designers may find the important design parameters from product design references, articles, or customer demands. The next step is to apply brainstorming. Having a group meeting with the chief designer to get ideals about how to design the object is in question. In order to identify potential problems and/or design characteristics, designers have to conduct research in order to improve features of the product. These improvements are transformed into engineering parameters using TRIZ and the designers have to decide whether these two parameters are conflictive or not. If any of these parameters are conflictive, the designers should apply the contradiction matrix. By filling the improving and worsening engineering parameters in the contradiction matrix, three or four different inventive principles are found to serve as design guidance to improve the product. If there is no contradiction situation to deal with, then apply one single parameter method to go through every inventive principle and choose the most desired ones.¹⁸ After having these inventive principles, the designers use sub principles and hold another brainstorming meeting to seek solutions for product design. Therefore, the designers would have these solutions to solve design problems and propose the concepts of the product. The designers need to do a product search and/or a patent search to find out if there are similar products or relative patents after the concept of product has been proposed. If there are similar products or patents, the designers have to give up the design concept and go back to the 39 engineering parameters and redesign the product. Once the concept of the product has been verified, a patent can be applied for. The final step is to make a prototype for product verification.

Tetra Pak recycling machine

The concept of Tetra Pak recycling machine design is proposed as a demonstration for the design process in this research.

Design object

Tetra Pak is the most convenient packing for beverages. The amount of Tetra Pak waste is huge and increasing annually. It stands to be an environmental issue if people aren’t encouraged to recycle. However, the remaining liquid in the containers creates problems with recycling. The design object is a recycling machine that deals with the remainder in Tetra Pak and to increase the recycling speed and quantity.

Design idea

The design ideas are proposed by brainstorming meeting and described as follow:

Solve the problem of remaining liquid in Tetra Pak;

Recycling machine must be easy to transport.

Improvement features

The improvement features are achieved after discussing the design ideas for the Tetra Pak recycling machine in a brainstorming meeting. The relative improvement features are as follows:

Cut Tetra Pak in half;

The size of recycling machine.

Fit to 39 engineering parameters

These two improvement features would transform into engineering parameters as no. 10 force and no. 33 convenience of use (as seen in Table 4).

Table 4.

The meaning of engineering parameter.

No.	Engineering parameter	Meaning
10	Force	Any change in interaction or influence of material
33	Convenience of use	Ease of operation or use for a system

Utilize contradiction matrix

As these two engineering parameters are conflictive, the contradiction matrix is applied to find out the corresponding innovative principles as illustrated in Table 5. The innovative principles are no. 1 segmentation, no. 3 local quality, no. 25 self-service, and no. 28 mechanics substitution.

Table 5.

Contradiction Matrix of Case Design.

Improving feature	Worsening feature
Improving feature	33. Convenience of use
10. Force	1.283.25

Apply innovative principles

These innovative principles contain the sub principles as expressed in Table 6. From these sub principles, the concept of the Tetra Pak recycling machine is designed to have independent parts including spinner, blade, recycled Tetra Pak container, and liquid waste container

Table 6.

Sub-principle of innovative principle.¹⁹

No.	Innovative principle	Sub-principle
1	Segmentation	(a) Divide an object into independent parts(b) Make an object easy to disassemble(c) Increase the degree of fragmentation or segmentation
3	Local quality	(a) Change an object’s structure from uniform to non-uniform(b) Make each part of an object function in conditions most suitable for its operation(c) Make each part of an object fulfill a different and useful function
25	Self-service	(a) Make an object serve itself by performing auxiliary helpful functions(b) Use waste resources, energy, or substances
28	Mechanicals substitution	(a) Replace a mechanical means with a sensory (optical, acoustic, taste, or smell) means(b) Use electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields to interact with the object(c) Change from static to movable fields, from unstructured fields to those having structure(d) Use fields in conjunction with field-activated (e.g. ferromagnetic) particles

Propose feasible solutions

The main feature of a recycling machine should be that it is easy to fit different sizes of Tetra Pak containers in it. The main concept structure of machine is shown in Figure 3. The dimensions of height, width, and depth are 120, 50, and 50 cm, respectively, for the design model of the recycling machine. The structure of the spinner is designed to hold Tetra Paks of various sizes to go through the blade to be cut in half as shown in Figure 4. The remaining liquid inside the Tetra Pak flows into a container, and the Tetra Pak drops down into the recycling bin. We also have designed changes for the spinner section. The structure and model for cutting can be improved for other designs as well. The spinner for cutting is re-designed into a linear structure as show in Figure 5. The cutting model is changed from rolling motion to linear motion as show in Figure 6.

Figure 3.

Tetra Pak recycling machine and profile section of blade.

Figure 4.

Spinner.

Figure 5.

Design changes for Tetra Pak recycling machine.

Figure 6.

Linear structure plate.

Patent research and product verification

After ensuring there were no similar products or patents in the database, the designers of these two Tetra Pak recycling machines applied for patents. The designers are now on their way to producing a prototype for product verification in the near future.

Conclusion

Brainstorming is the mutual exchanging of ideas pertaining to the development and creation of products or concepts in a discussion meeting. A large amount of different creative thoughts and ideas are generated from group discussions. The TRIZ innovative method contains 39 engineering parameters, contradiction matrix, and 40 principles to solve design problems. The design process combines brainstorming and TRIZ, which has been proposed to use in the development of concept for designing a product. It also is illustrated by Tetra Pak recycling machines in this research. It also provides designers resources to solve problems or conflicts in the new product development process. In addition, the design process can also be applied with elements of green design for the development of green products in future research.

Footnotes

Academic Editor: Stephen D Prior

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

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