Welcome to the October 2008 Issue of The TRIZ Journal!

	Related Tools & Articles Case Study: Use TRIZ to Solve Complex Business Problems TRIZ as a Catalyst for Project Management Excellence The Elegant Solution and TRIZ

By Katie Barry, Marco de Carvalho, Ellen Domb and Paul Filmore

Project management, the Moon, the Toyota Motor Corporation, construction sites and a fictional case study are the focal points of October's TRIZ Journal. As nice as it is to have some months with themes, the breadth of topics that can appear within one issue hopefully delight the readers as much as they do the editors. 

• Our most prolific author in the past few months, Abram Teplitskiy, is back with two new articles, Destroying Construction Materials With Technological Effects and Student Corner: The Earth to the Moon.
• The similarities between Toyota Motor Corporation's "elegant solution" for innovation and TRIZ are explored by Navneet Bhushan.
• Project management and TRIZ may be closer than you think after reading TRIZ as a Catalyst for Project Management Excellence.
• A fictional case study examining the challenges of problem solving for business problems examines two TRIZ tools: the ideal final result and 9-windows.

News

• The TRIZ Journal's sister publication, iSixSigma, is seeking nominations of Lean Six Sigma projects that have positively impacted business and society to be inducted into the iSixSigma Hall of Fame in 2009. Largest Breakthrough Improvement Projects may be submitted in the following categories:
  • Community
  • Environment
  • Supply chain
  • Transactional
  • Manufacturing
  • Customer service
  • Solving the unsolvable
  • Innovation

Deadlines to enter are fast approaching! For more information on award categories and entry requirements, visit: http://live.isixsigma.com/awards.

• Innovations in New Service Development is being held November 20-21, 2008 in New Orleans; the theme is "Realigning the Service Pipeline to Address the Customer-Centric Economy."
  • TRIZ Journal readers may take 10 percent off registration by quoting "TRIZ Journal."

• Catch up on recent conference by reading our commentator reports:
  • Katie Barry attended the PDMA's 32nd Annual International Conference
  • Paul Filmore reported from the Fourth TRIZ Symposium in Japan
  • Ellen Domb described her time in Chicago at the Business Innovation Conference and in Mexico at the First National Forum for Organizational Competitiveness Through Innovation and Quality.
• Don't forget to submit your analyses and case studies for an upcoming issue of The TRIZ Journal. 

Until November, happy TRIZ reading!

About the Authors:

Katie Barry is the editor of RealInnovation.com. Contact Katie Barry at editor (at) realinnovation.com or visit http://www.realinnovation.com.

Marco de Carvalho is a lecturer, researcher and consultant in the areas of product development, project management and TRIZ/systematic innovation. He studied mechanical engineering, and has a master´s and Ph.D. in product development. His experience includes working for John Deere, Volvo, Electrolux and Bosch in the areas of industrial engineering, product development and quality assurance. Contact by visiting marco.a.de.carvalho@gmail.com.

Ellen Domb is the founder and principal TRIZ consultant of the PQR Group. She is also the founding editor of The TRIZ Journal and a commentator for Real Innovation. Contact Ellen Domb at ellendomb (at) trizpqrgroup.com or visit http://www.trizpqrgroup.com.

Dr. Paul Filmore has been teaching creativity, personal, professional, entrepreneurial and research skills for more than 10 years, at the University of Plymouth, UK. He introduces TRIZ to first-year engineering degree students and technology Masters (postgraduate) students. Dr. Filmore runs an innovation consultancy, The Insight Centre, where TRIZ and other systematic problem-solving skills predominate and have been augmented by research and practical understanding of how disruptive innovation thinking can help to further break mindsets. Contact Paul Filmore at pfilmore (at) plymouth.ac.uk.