Algorithm of integrating QFD and TRIZ for the innovative design process

TRIZ, the Russian acronym of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, is a useful tool that can solve the problem of "how to do" effectively in the innovative design process, while QFD (Quality Function Deployment) is able to settle the problem of "what to do". Although the potential of using both QFD and TRIZ in the product design process is huge, there are little tools to integrate these two methods effectively. In this research, we describe an algorithm that can integrate QFD and TRIZ effectively for the purpose of the innovative design process. The core of the algorithm is to identify the contradictions in TRIZ by defining rules based on HOQ (House of Quality) in QFD. A software tool called TRIZmatrix is developed based on this algorithm. Application of the algorithm to the case of the airbag problem is studied in detail. The software application and the case study show the advantage of this algorithm for CAI (computer aided innovation) software development.