AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
CALCULATION OF PROCESS’ IDEALITY DEGREE THROUGH IDEALITY EQUATION OF TRIZ
a
VLADIMÍR SOJKA,
b
ANABELA C. ALVES,
c
PETR LEPŠÍK
a,c
Technical University of Liberec, Department of Design of
Machine Elements and Mechanisms, Liberec, Czech Republic
b
email:
Centro ALGORITMI, University of Minho, Department of
Production and Systems, Guimarães, Portugal
a
vladimir.sojka@tul.cz,
b
anabela@dps.uminho.pt,
c
petr.lepsik@tul.cz
This publication was written at the Technical University of Liberec as part of the
project “SGS-2020-5027 - Research of new approaches to process improvement” with
the support of the Specific University Research Grant, as provided by the Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in the year 2020. The Portuguese
co-author was supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the
R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020.
Abstract: The state of processes and their improvement progress could be measured by
many parameters or indicators. When the overall state of the process is needed several
indicators must be determined. In case that there are two states of the process, or two
processes to compare, it could be confusing to determine which state, or process, is
better. A solution for that can be a concept of Ideality from TRIZ (Theory of Inventive
Problem Solving). The concept of Ideality is based on the improvement of the
Technical System in a way of Ideality or Ideal Final Result. The use of Ideality brings
better improvements of the system in a way of technical evolution. The basic Ideality
equation from TRIZ is unfortunately hard for practical use. That is why a more
specific solution is needed. This paper aims to present a new way for the definition of
the Ideality equation for production processes. This equation contains parameters as
production time, costs, quality but also process aspects as safety, ergonomics, and
ecology of the process. This way of determination of the process state can help with
the comparison of process states, but it also pushes us to focus our improvement
efforts in a way of Ideal process.
Keywords: Process improvement, Ideality, TRIZ, Process indicator, Lean.
1 Introduction
Improvement of the process could be measured and managed by
many parameters and indicators. Common indicators of process
state are often focusing on one parameter. There is no indicator
that considers all crucial aspects of the process [1], [2].
TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) could help with
this problem. One of the ground principles of TRIZ is the
concept of Ideality. Ideality is the best state of the technical
system and in our effort to improve or innovate the system we
should try to be closer and closer to the Ideal state of the system.
Problem is that the general equation for a degree of Ideality is
more or less theoretical and it is hard to use it in practice. Even
harder for manufacturing or other processes.
The aim of this paper is to present the Ideality equation of TRIZ
as a way to calculate a degree of process’ Ideality for use as an
indicator of process’ state for process improvement.
2 Background
2.1 TRIZ
TRIZ is an acronym for Russian теория решения
изобретательских задачor, in English Theory of Inventive
Problem Solving. TRIZ is an umbrella term for many tools and
techniques used for innovative solving of problems. It is based
on the research of more than three million patents, where
repeating patterns were found [3]. There is a finite number of
most appearing types of problems and there is a finite number of
general solutions for these problems. From these Patterns, tools
and techniques were designed. The use of these tools helps to
achieve a better solution in a shorter time.
2.2 Ideality
Ideality is one of the key principles of TRIZ. It helps to seek a
perfect solution. As a tool for seeking Ideality in the Technical
system, an Ideal Final Result (IFR) is used. Ideal Final Result is
a state where a function of the system is achieved without any
system.
Concept of Ideality with Ideal Final Result has been used in
many publications before. Domb [4], [5] is focusing on the
concept of Ideal Final Result which should have all the benefits,
no harms, and no costs. She uses the concept of Ideality and
Ideal Final Result for better problem-solving. Belski [6], [7] uses
Method of Ideal Result and list of available resources for
innovative solutions to problems. Duepen [8] uses Ideality for
achieving a higher degree of creativity in art. In [9] Ideality is
used for better Software development. Navas [10] shows ways
for increasing Ideality for complex systems.
Soderlin [11] is comparing Ideality and Value, to decide if the
Ideality is scientifically correct. He mentioned that Ideality is
very similar to Value, but Ideality goes in its concept further
than Value. Mann in [12], [13], and [14] discuss the importance
of Ideality and the word “self” in the context of searching for a
better solution, which he also demonstrated on several case
studies. The word “itself” in a way of Ideality is also discussed
in [15] by Domb.
The degree of system’s Ideality can be theoretically calculated
from equation (1), mentioned in [11] or [16].
∑
∑
=
Harms
Benefits
I
(1)
Where I, is the degree of Ideality, Benefits are all positive
functions’ effects, and Harms are all negative functions’ effects.
In other papers ([4], [11], [17], [18], and [19]), the Ideality is
defined as
∑
∑
∑
+
=
Costs
Harms
Benefits
I
(2)
Where Costs are all costs for the implementation of an
innovative solution. This equation has a problem with dimension
because the result is [1/$]. Both equations (1) and (2) are mainly
used only for theoretical purposes. Not for real calculation of
Ideality level. As Soderlin in [11] shows these equations work
well until we try to calculate real values.
Fact that Ideality equation is not ideal is supported by many
attempts for a better definition of the system’s degree of Ideality.
Slocum, Lundberg, and Walter in [17] defined equation based on
equation (2) and they tried to determine a more complex
equation for Ideality combined with Reangularity and
Semangularity from Axiomatic Design. Petrov and Seredinski in
[20] dividing the ideality equation (2) on numerator and
denominator, and show which ways could be used for achieving
a higher degree of Ideality. They give us a list of scenarios for
the increase of numerator and decrease of the denominator.
Mishra shows similar results in [19], where he also discusses
concepts of Ideal Final Solution, Goal, Product, Process
Technique, and System. In [21] Mishra criticizes the concept of
Ideality for its subjectivity because the Ideal state can be
different for everyone. In [18] there is an equation reformulated
in a way that solution of the problem is the desired result with
(Ideal) correcting system. Dai and Ma in [16] show a new
method of how to define Ideality, where the definition of
functions is based on Engineering Parameters. Lyubomirskiy in
[22] also shows the limitations of the current equation, and
presenting a new way of how to calculate not Ideality but
Practical Value of the system. Which is basically multiplication
of user satisfaction with all parameters of the system.
2.3. Lean Production
Lean Production is an organizational management methodology
with its roots in Toyota Production System [23], [24].
Continuous improvement and respect for people are the central
aspects of this system. This system is, many times, represented
as a house with two main pillars: Just-in-time (JIT) and Jidoka or
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