Local Quality is one of the 40 Inventive Principles of Problem Solving.
Why do I want to fit Principles into SCAMPER approaches? In a recent post (check it here first) I explore how SCAMPER can embrace the 40 Principles of Inventive Problem Solving. The goal is to wrap the complexity of the Principles in the approachability of SCAMPER. Modify defined in Applied Imagination Under the category of…
Amazon is a dominant player now, but its birth was plagued with doubt and financial weakness, reveals the book The Everything Store by Brad Stone. Amazon started as an online book seller, and this was a canny move by Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder. Books were true commodities – all the same, no question of whether…
Divide and conquer? Saturn was a division of car manufacturer General Motors (then alongside today’s survivors like Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac) that was started in 1985 as a semi-autonomous company with its own models, designs, dealer network and manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This was a bold move, because at the time GM was…
Making running shoes faster Not necessarily making faster running shoes. Adidas brings together components from around the world to make its shoes. Each component may have been around the world having separate steps of manufacturing to it before ending up the final assembly of a running shoe. This process can take up to two months…
Levels of driving automation The Society of Automotive Engineers identifies five levels of driving autonomy. Level 0, which is now common in even economy cars, issues warnings or take action if a collision is imminent. At the other end of the spectrum is Level 5, in which the car could be fully functional without a…
The problem I live in the fashionable SoFo (south of Fortinos) neighborhood of Maple, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Prominent in the local news is the Toronto School Board’s decision to suspend over 5,000 elementary students with incomplete immunization records. For as long as I have been a parent (13 years) the standard method for…
Diesel Diesel engines are renowned for fuel efficiency and torque. They use compression ignition, which means that as the piston squeezes the fuel and air mixture, it ignites without the need for a spark plug. Their advantages stem from the ability to burn with a very lean air-fuel mixture, and their large expansion ratio (valve…
So bridge and tunnel The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel connects the city of Hampton on the Virginia Peninsula with the City of Norfolk. Its 3.5 mile length is divided into two lengths of bridge and a tunnel in the middle. The middle tunnel section is to open up a vital shipping lane which includes traffic from…
Tweel nice Conventional pneumatic tires use air pressure to maintain their shape and resistance to weight and driving forces yet also cushion the vehicle from road imperfections. Principle 29 – Pneumatics and Hydraulics Michelin has developed an airless tire called the Tweel. This is a merging of tire and wheel into an integrated unit. Principle 5…
In this video, Rick Spina, the executive chief engineer of crossovers at GM discusses how his team shaved 300 pounds from the Buick Enclave. Challenge your engineers Put money on it. For example, set a metric that says saving x weight is worth y dollars. That lets engineers pursue strategies that may be more expensive…