10.3.1 Principle 1
Segmentation. Fragmentation. Transition to microlevel. Divide an object or system
into independent parts. Make an object easy to disassemble. Increase the degree of fragmentation or segmentation (see Figure 10.2). Some examples are
The law of the transition to microlevel, considered in the previous chapter, is the result of the repeated application of the principle of segmentation. Seg- mentation is a very frequently used principle. It helps to “combine the incom- patible” and meet contradictory requirements in many different problems. Recall the example of fire extinguishing. More effective firefighting (good) requires more water and causes water damage (bad). Water is necessary and, N N N N N N N N N N N N
at the same time, there should be no water. Let us segment water to small droplets and then increase the degree of fragmentation to mist. Mist can sup- press fire effectively, using a very small amount of water. In previous chapters, we processed the problem through many steps. It is possible to get the idea directly, using the single principle of segmentation.
Stone washing is one of the technologies used to give denim needed features and appearance. Stones are, however, rather crude tools and clumsy machinery is needed to handle them. A nice solution is to use enzymes instead of stones to get the same result. Enzymes are not small stones, but the concept of using molecules instead of large objects comes from the principles of segmentation. In previous chapters, we considered the noise problem of the lawnmower. It is useful to imagine different ways to segment or fragment the lawnmower, the muffler, and its environment. In the chapter on resources (Chapter 5), we speculated about using many small automatic minimowers instead of one big lawnmower. Sun-activated automatic lawnmowers, wandering over the lawn like sheep, have already been developed. In other applications, minirobots are in use (e.g., for examination and cleaning of tubes). Perhaps some day the idea of the automatic lawnmower and minirobots will be combined.
While waiting for the noiseless lawnmower, let us try to segment the muffler. The idea of using grass as the muffler (see earlier chapters) can be seen as an example of segmentation also. Obviously, this is not the only way of segmen- tation. Why not try replacing a single exhaust tube with many small ducts and a single muffler with many small ones? New materials and production technologies, such as casting of plastic, make it easy to get many components in one.
If we can segment the lawnmower, why not increase the segmentation of grass? Indeed, there are mulching lawnmowers that cut the grass into very small pieces. The benefit is that small pieces of grass will degrade and fertilize the soil and there is no need to remove them from the lawn. This solves a dif- ferent problem—waste removal instead of noise reduction—but it is common in TRIZ to find new opportunities for improvement.
Carrot cultivation is another example considered earlier. How can we use the segmentation principle here? We can imagine many minicarrots instead of one big plant. They can grow very densely, almost without soil, if they get water and necessary fertilizers (compare with hydroponics or cultivation in water). There are already gardening technologies for growing a greater num- ber of little plants and getting a larger overall crop from the same area. In Chapter 5 (resources), we also discussed the possible segmentation of the pin in the latching mechanism. The shape of a layered or filament pin can be controlled better than the shape of a solid component.
The segmentation principle has many applications in business. The segmenta- tion of the market is a common practice and a commonly used term. Most big corporations have segmented themselves into business units or profit N N N N N N N
centers. A corporation should be small to be flexible and big to have enough resources for production and marketing. To be small and big at the same time, a huge company is divided into subsidiaries, profit centers, or other units working relatively independently. ABB and the Gore Corporation are exemplary—they create a new organization whenever an existing part of the company exceeds 150 people.
For the past 30 years, the use of teams has been one of the persistent themes in the workplace because small teams are flexible and can make decisions quickly. A large job can be broken into many smaller jobs (called “a work breakdown structure in project management”). The JIT (just-in-time or Kanban) system uses the concept of segmentation to an extreme—it replaces the idea of mass production with the idea that the most efficient production system can pro- duce a single unit just as easily as multiple units.
Entertainment examples, such as serialized novels and television movies, were considered previously. A new entertainment medium is emerging on the Internet, where a novel is not only serialized, but has several options in each chapter, so the reader can select the segments for a personalized book. This combines segmentation with Principle 3, local quality.
Segmentation is a good and often accessible way to use resources. The system can be divided into smaller parts. New components and substances are not needed. More examples across industries are
Make cupcakes instead of one large cake so that people can decorate accord- ing to their own tastes and a variety of flavors can be offered.
Use powdered welding metal instead of foil or rod to get better penetration of a joint.
Inject a drug in a finely powdered form.
Use Java applets. The predecessor of this example was the use of piping in UNIX to make large tasks possible by combining sequences of small tasks. Paper is traditionally coated by a transferring application by a blade on a web. A new way is to spray coating in atomized form at high speed on both sides of the paper web.
10.3.2 Principle 2
Separation. Separate the only necessary part (or property) or remove an interfering
part or property from an object or system (see Figure 10.3).
We usually need only a part of the system or some property or feature. For example: N N N N N N N N N
We need light, not lighting devices. Today, many parts of the lighting system are located some distance away from the places lighted. Reflectors and fiber optics both can separate the mechanism, such as a lamp, from the point of use of the light. Fiber optics are used in tiny surgical instruments to provide light exactly where it is needed inside the surgical area without the bulk of a lamp. We do not need a vacuum cleaner as such, but cleaning capacity. A central vac- uum cleaning system leaves only nozzles and a piece of tubing in the apartment. Noisy and dirty parts are located where they do not disturb inhabitants. An electric lawnmower can work quite well if the lawn is not too large. The production of energy is removed from the lawn.
Put a noisy air-conditioning compressor outside a building and pipe the com- pressed air to the place where it is needed—most medical and dental offices are built this way.
The example of fighting fire with mist illustrates the separation principle. Only small-diameter tubes are needed at the fire’s location. The heavy part of the equipment is removed.
Franchising separates the ownership of a local business, such as a restaurant or a printing shop, from the development of the concept and the systems that make it successful.
Does the paper producer need the paper-making machinery? Does an insurance company need mainframe computers and data storage? Only a few years ago, this question did not deserve attention. The insurance company outsources operation of its data center to a specialist company and the paper company outsources opera- tion and maintenance of the mill. The ASP (application system provider) is a new business concept—many companies do not own their own software, but rent it as needed from a provider.
Do we need personal cars? Bicycles? Until recently, the answer was “yes” for con- venience. Today, new shared-use schemes are emerging, at least on an experimental level. The user buys the right to use a car or a bicycle for a certain time. For cars, the credit card works as the key. In Portland, Oregon, the bicycle experiment requires the user to put the bicycle where the next person who needs one can take it. These experiments give us transportation capacity, individual routes and schedules, com- fort, prestige, certain lifestyle and many other features, but separate the use of the
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automobile from the ownership, care, and cost of a ton of metal and plastic. The pro- ponents of these new schemes claim that a customer can actually have many cars by not owning any. Today we can use a small vehicle in the city, tomorrow a big car for a long trip, and the day after tomorrow a limousine for prestige purposes. Costs can be cut because of the more intensive use of the capital invested in the automobiles.
Often we have a contradiction between present and absent. Some awkward machinery or complex process should be present to get a needed feature and the same machinery or process should be absent to save space, energy, and time. The separation principle may be a solution in problems of this sort.
More examples include:
Use a recording of a barking dog, without the dog, as a burglar alarm. Like- wise, use the sound of birds in distress instead of a scarecrow.
Use fiber optics or a light pipe to separate the hot light source from the loca- tion where light is needed.
Outsource maintenance and operation services.
Exercise: Think of one example from your personal life or your busi- ness life for each of the principles in this section.
1. Segmentation 2. Separation