USING TRIZ IN A NON-TECHNICAL CONTEXT FOR FUEL CELL START-UP
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TRIZ is a structured framework used to create innovation to overcome technical difficulties. As it is an effective instrument to formulate ideas, there exists an incentive to apply it in a non – tech setting as an idea generation tool. TRIZ ideologies, like ideality, contradiction, and the system approach, are entirely applicable to non-technical challenges. Analytical techniques and psychological operators are specifically applicable in accommodating non-technical applications. As an integral methodology to solve a creative problem solution, TRIZ is armed with technique, process as well as a knowledge database. This renders TRIZ an appealing exploration tool.
The start-up of Orange Power in Menomonie, located in Wisconsin, is a hydrogen fuel cell venture. It is a spin-off corporation focused on the research and development results at Wisconsin-Stout University. Its patent {US20120070754: Fuel cell with rapid pressure balancing} defines fuel cell technology as low-cost to mass production and potentially disrupts the market.
The present fuel cell sector is steadily rising: patents number is constantly increasing, and more corporations are approaching the commercialization stage. However, the cost per KW continues to be rise, and for severe commercial applications, the DOE forecasts that a cost of production of $30 per KW would be required (Coulibaly 2005). In particular, Orange Power has decided to concentrate on non-traditional markets rather than on the automotive industry because the demand for automobile market-focused companies is saturated. The next step is marketing, while the corporation has a working prototype (Swee et al. 2015). As such, it sought to establish alliances to raise capital and start mass production.
Methodology
I did three interviews with Orange Power CEO. My first interview was focused on identifying and defining the problem. The second interview was based on generating ideas with pre-selected applicable inventive concepts. The third interview was to validate and get impressions on the mechanism. During the first and second interviews, I used current documentation for shortlisting the most relevant principles for inventive step in generating ideas.
Identifying the problem
The Chief executive officer has been presenting Orange’s fuel cell innovation to prospective investors as well as partners over the last few months. Though the innovation has been seen as operational {being beyond the prototype phase}, reception is timid. Founders reckon that their audience has multiple biases.
First, certain potential partners said that fuel cells uses should be concentrated on automobiles, and secondary uses should be overlooked. It has been difficult to gain credibility with investors through the plan to use the technology in new segments. Furthermore, the mass production cost structure is so low that the public is reluctant to believe the innovation is viable. The audience’s perception of a realistic innovation is not matched.
From Orange Power’s perspective, the current position of the products [low cost and niche markets] does not correlate to the potential partner’s view of present tech {high cost and mass market}.
Findings
I examined the innovative principles as part of the innovative process and highlighted the principles applied to the defined problem. The CEO and I used each shortlisted notion as a guide for generating ideas.
Taking out
In this doctrine, an interference component of the object is attempted to be separated. Is there anything we can exclude when the challenge is the presentation? Is there anything during the presentation, making people cringe?
The CEO stated that slides emphasizing the cost of current combustion cells highlighted the cost gap between the high costs of current fuel cell systems and the company’s fuel cell. This led us to believe that this disparity is attributed to the previously identified perception problem. The presentation of the product might thus shock the audience because there is a disparity between what they hear and what they expected.
The solution to the problem
Build a decision matrix to prioritize product qualities with investor expectations and product qualities.
Preliminary anti action
We reviewed the concept of stress creation in advance to mitigate future unnecessary stress. The presentation by Orange Power would be based on the fact that this product is not designed for cars instead of shocking the audience during the presentation. The mechanism is akin to the challenger sales model, which encourages the seller to teach and customize his presentation. The CEO seemed to support this concept, and another stress was addressed, where the CEO would not explore markets other than cars. The presentation addressed the technology, the cost, as well as the future markets, overlooking the automobile market.
Solution
Note that the presentation gives preference to alternative markets as a means of anti-action.
The other way round
We also investigated the reversal of the intervention used to fix the issue in this principle. First of all, we examined reversing presentation dynamics. While the conventional model is for the inventor to present and the public comments, I proposed that we go the other way around: after the presentation, how about the CEO asking the public to present what they expected? Naturally, it is risky to put the audience on the spot, but the CEO emphasized that the audience will still own it. Building a particular document for an interested party explicitly designed to engage a potential partner could give them ownership. There is still a lot to be done, but this idea excited the CEO.
Dynamics
We addressed how to allow external environmental change conditions. The CEO is highly considered niche markets. The majority part of the market focused on the automobile market; clients favor smaller niche markets due to saturation issues and their view of more opportunities. Orange Power can concentrate on cars with its innovation. There exist multiple factors making them shy away from the market. The company’s approach would change, and they would not ignore the market anymore, making it a long-run strategic market. The corporation’s strategic positioning could be modified for the car market’s (large market) funds and credibility generation.
Solution
Change the company’s mission from concentrating on secondary markets only to emphasizing niche markets to generate funds and credibility for the car market.
Conclusion
Applying TRIZ in a non-tech context allowed us to develop several potential solutions. The CEO was pleased with the quality and magnitude of remedies we developed on an issue he assumed was fully researched. TRIZ is heavily structured, like other methods of qualitative analysis. We generated robust collaboration by sticking to the FRIZ framework. We developed several solutions that would never be discussed, were it not for TRIZ. The CEO said that he would apply the solutions based on their practicability. I believe that constraints generate innovation and, even in non-technical settings, the TRIZ system will lead to creative processes.
Reference list
Coulibaly, S 2005, “Setting up a successful TRIZ project,” Engineering Management, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 14–14.
Swee, NSL, Yip, MW, Keong, CS, Tai, SC & Toh, GG 2015, “Improve Electricity Efficiency by Applying TRIZ,” Journal of Clean Energy Technologies, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 149–154.