Use of Knowledge

Last updated July 7, 1997

Archive
Previous tutorial: Substance and Field Resources
Next tutorial: Trends
Return to TRIZ Page (home page)
TRIZ and Other Tools

Contents

• Formula plus knowledge: how the bees helped
• Good analogies
• Balance of rules and knowledge
• Exercises
• Further reading

Formula plus knowledge: how the bees helped

My friend and colleague Timo Saraneva kept bees some years ago in his summer
residence. Once he saw that in his car was broken a glassy
honey jar and 5 kg honey run on the carpet. The carpet can be washed by water, but
the work is unpleasent. Pondering how to remove the sticky honey Timo remembered
that in the toolkit of TRIZ is a thinking tool called a Model with Miniature Dwarfs.
TRIZ recommends to imagine that an engineering system consists of the big crowd of
miniature dwarfs. Next step: to find a real analogy of "miniature dwarfs". Now the solution
was easy to see: bees are ideal dwarfs for removing honey from the carpet. Timo drove
the car to the side of the hives. Soon the carpet got absolutely clean and, in addition,
the bees recycled honey without any loss.

We can, of course, reconstruct the solution by our matrix:

System	Cleaning efficiency	Time loss
Washing device	+	-
No device	-	+
Bees	+	+

In reality the solution process looked as follows:

System	Cleaning efficiency	Time loss
Washing device	+	-
...	...	...
Bees	+	+

If we can recall some good analogy we can directly go from the initial system (for example existing
washing device) near to the ideal final result (bees, for example). Or we can implement some general
trend (for example segmentation: segmentation of a washing device to many small washing devices,
bees are in some sense small cleaning devices) To solve the problem step by step is when not
necessary. A "standard solution", if it can be found, is preferable. It is useful to collect and store
pieces of knowlegde for problem solving.

Good analogies

We have seen how useful is to describe the engineering system by a structural model
which consists of components and functions. Instead of the system we can manipulate
evolution trends. We get yet the fourth group of knowledge: standard transformations
or predictions.

Letīs display different types of knowledge by two pluses matrix. First trends:

System	Feature 1	Feature 2
Original system	...	...
...	...	...
Ideal system	+	+

Structural transformations or predictions:

System	Feature 1	Feature 2
Object 1 Function Object 2	...	...
...	...	...
Ideal system	+	+

Standard solutions of contradictions or innovative principles:

System	Feature 1	Feature 2
Original system	+	-
...	...	...
Ideal system	+	+

We can begin from the physical contradiction, too:

System	Feature 1	Feature 2
Physical feature	...	...
Opposite feature	...	...
Ideal system	+	+

Effects:

System	Feature 1	Feature 2
Function	...	...
...	...	...
Ideal system	+	+

Ready depositories of knowledge, relating to these groups, are available in the form of Invention
Machine sofware, see IMLab.

Balance of rules and knowledge

1. Rules (for example Two Pluses Matrix)
2. Knowledge, which can de divided further into two subgroups:
   1. Personal experience and knowledge. The large part of personal knowledge is invisible,
      non-verbal, non-literal tacit knowledge
   2. Generalized knowledge: trends, principles, standards, analogies
      

We need both rules and knowledge, which should be balanced properly. Knowledge without
rules is blind, rules without knowledge are powerless.

Excercises

Exercise 2. Continue previous exercises: Can you find trends, analogies, principles
or physical effects which can realize the ideal final result?

Exercise 3. Comment the statement: "Our problem is that we donīt know what we
Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Exercise 4. How the better use of knowledge resources could improve cost-efficiency
and competitiveness?

Further reading