The Inventive Principle Taking out or extraction - examples from everyday life

Real life examples of applying inventive principle "taking out"

 

Take out a part from the whole and you have a new set of inventive ideas

Extract the disturbing part or property from an object: Example: Split air-conditioner.

Taking out - TRIZ principle

This is the basic definition of the second principle of Altshuller’s 40 inventive TRIZ principles. Like all other principles this one is also is an abstract principle and its application is limited only by your imagination.

A common example of the principle of Take out - the split type air-conditioner

Let us see what problems get solved by application of this principle, and the consequent additional benefits that could be achieved.

Today, the split air conditioner is the most used air conditioner type outnumbering the older type of window air conditioner. Before we go ahead, can you list out all the problems of the older type window ac?

Problems of the window air conditioner

Cooling, compression, circulation and blowing all happen in the single unit of window type air conditioner. It needs to be mounted in a window or a wall that opens outside the room being cooled (or air conditioned).

Problem 1: This destroys the beauty and usability of the window or the wall on which the air conditioner is mounted. 

Problem 2: It is difficult if not impossible to install a window ac in a room that doesn’t have a wall opening to outside of the house. If a room has three walls common to adjoining rooms and one opening to a passage, one can install a window ac on the wall opening to the passage but this greatly diminishes the usability of the passage.

Problem 3: The compressor, condenser and condenser cooling fan are the important components of the ac unit that create most of the noise and throw out the heat collected from the room inside to outside. The outside of the room near the external side of compressor and the condenser looks not only bad but also you can’t stand near the place because of hot air coming out. The window ac not only mars the looks and usability of the inside wall of the room, it does so to the outer wall also.

Problem 4: The other components of the window ac comprise of the room cooling unit and the blower fans that suck in the air inside the room, cool the air by passing it over the cooling coil carrying the refrigerant and then blow the cooled air into the room. Together with the other components, the window ac unit is bulky, difficult to handle and more fault prone. It is a well-known principle that if you use more numbers of different components together in one single equipment, the equipment gets more fault prone.

Problem 5: Contrary to common belief, both split and window ac can be equally energy efficient, but as split ac sells more in number, there are more models from more manufacturers offering high energy efficiency in the split ac category. The problem category here is: you won’t get many choices of highly energy efficient window ac models compared to split ac models.

The market inclination has changed from window ac to the split ac by the simple application of the Taking out principle.

The troublesome heat and noise generating components are combined into one unit and this external unit is extracted out of the ac to place it at a fairly large distance from the indoor cooling unit in a split ac (usually above the eye level of the room). The two units are connected together by thin insulated tubings only. 

Indoor split ac unit

This novel idea and its implementation have revolutionized the home cooling segment. Split air conditioners are silent in operation and elegant in looks. You don't have to make the hole in the wall for installing the air conditioner and destroy the beauty of the room. The split ac market has expanded and manufacturers have focused not only on increasing the energy efficiency of the indoor unit but also the looks and design of the indoor unit. These days the indoor units of the split air conditioner are available in wide range of colors and designs; the ac unit now is considered part of the decor of the room rather than a liability to the looks of the room.

Our objective is not to make you an expert on room air conditioners but to show you an example of detailed analysis of problems and advantages of a solution. In this case, the solution has removed the disturbing part from the room without adding to its cost or problems; instead a number of new advantages are created.

This undoubtedly is an example of innovative solution.

Business domain examples of application of Taking out principle

Infrastructure service providers in Mobile telecom service domain:

Getting a suitable mobile site, preparing the site and maintaining the site environment—all are taken out of the functions of the mobile service providers and are outsourced to the infrastructure service providers. As all the mobile operators have finally decided to take out the troublesome site related functions thus concentrating on service related functions, the volume of this special function justified creation of an altogether new segment of service, that is, the segment of Infrastructure service providers.

Back office operations:

Back office operations have become so standardized for almost all kinds of operations in business that a new class of service providers specializing in back office operations has come up thus generating gains for all concerned.

Off-shoring:

We have heard a lot about off-shoring jobs. The service consumers are located in a place where certain skill cost is high. These skill requirements are Taken out and relocated to another place in the globe called earth where the skill cost is comparatively cheaper. This has become possible primarily because of advancement of communications and modularization of business functions.

Out-sourcing:

Practically all out-sourcing jobs use the Taking out principle to the advantage of both the outsourcing business unit and the outsourced business unit.

Though apparently it seems that outsourcing generally creates more jobs, reality is a little more complex and different.

Let us think about application of Taking out principle in a different way

Story 1.

The winter this year has been a bit more severe than before. Being susceptible to catching cold due to exposure, I needed to be specially cautious when I go out. For quite some time I felt the need of a warm piece of clothing that would cover my neck and that too gracefully. I looked for something that would act like a neck tie but is not exactly a neck tie. I can’t tolerate tying my neck at all.

On the eve of departure on a trip to a forest that was reported to be particularly cold, I went to a shopping mall and tried to describe my requirement as best as I could. I have not seen such a thing, but could vaguely imagine its form and function—more of function than form, as I am more of a functional analyst.

In two shops I failed miserably—the busy shopkeepers simply nodded a curt ‘no’ to my need. The third shop by chance had no customers and the shopkeeper was young and alert. He listened attentively to my awkward description. While listening his face brightened.

I notice such things when in a problem.

It seemed there is hope. He called out to a shopkeeper nearby and asked for something. The second gentleman answered in negative. My shopkeeper then explained his thoughts to me, “We don’t have it here. You need to go to the other shopping mall nearby.” “What is it?” I asked desperately before he decides to become less friendly. “Neck guard.” He replied.

With a little search in the second mall I got it. As soon as I had a look at it, I recalled the dear old Taking Out principle. What an idea!

Neck guard front

The human neck with part of shoulder and chest are taken out of the body, abstracted and combined together and an all-size woolen piece is created that sits on the shoulders covering the neck like a high collar pullover. It has attached two flaps, the smaller flap resting on the back and larger one protecting the upper part of the chest. It has only three parts: the high neck cover, the small sized back cover and the larger sized upper chest cover connected together. It is a small piece, costs little, can be worn easily without interference with looks (as both the flaps are covered by outer clothing, only high neck showing) and can be taken out while on the go if you feel uncomfortably warm anytime.

It is a wonderfully ideated piece where the parts of human neck, back and chest are taken out from the whole body in abstraction and a clothing piece is created for protection of the abstracted body portion (neck and part of chest and back) from cold.

A few days later while walking on a lane lined with clothing shops on both sides, I noticed a moulded model of a female body placed at a shop window. The model had only the lower part of the body that wore a pair of jeans. The lower part of the body is taken out from the whole body to serve the purpose of showing the jeans while the cost is at least halved for producing the model piece.

Can we think of any example of application of Taking out principle in our personal lives?

Before I proceed, you should try to think up yourself.

We Take out our daily cooking requirements at home when both husband and wife are busy with their work lives. Home delivery of occasional delicacies is common, but living fully on home delivered food is not uncommon nowadays.

During olden days, finding the spouse for our grown up children was our responsibility. Though young folks now choose their spouse largely by themselves, the highly difficult and important responsibility comes to rest on you if you are not that lucky .

Out of that need has come up the thriving business of matrimonial sites. You still have to go through a number of delicate steps carefully, but at least you have a never ending source of eligible partners for your son or daughter. The function of search is partly taken out and a new business segment has come up.

What about your mind? Can you Take out your worry? Yes, you can. You Take out your income tax worry and put it in the hands of your income tax consultant. Occasionally you Take out your anger venting mechanism, put on boxing gloves and punch the sandbag hanging from your ceiling in case you want to hit someone particularly badly.

Try to imagine examples of Taking out in further more ways. You will surely surprise yourself.

This is awareness of the abstract inventive principle of Taking out in the environment in which you live. The next step is in applying the principle in solving your problem, when the need arises. 
The 40 principles together practically covering all situations that can take place, awareness of these principles by repeatedly observing examples of the more important principles will enable you to ingrain the principles first in your MPSF, the mental problem solving framework. Once that happens, application of a suitable principle in a problem situation will automatically take place.

Till now we have taken the approach that is a little different from the usual approach of explaining the very rich TRIZ system tool by tool. From the next session, for some time we will go back to the use of the other tools and methods of TRIZ before occasionally coming back to the Principles again.

To me the TRIZ 40 Principles form the most powerful innovative problem solving toolset that one can find.

 


Read my main blog on Innovation & Problem Solving and the other related blog on Innovation - Basic Principles