Applying the Theory of Problem-Solving and AHP to Develop Eco-innovative Design

Abstract

Technology advancement and industry development not only bring people diversified products and convenience in using goods but also causes high pollution to environment. For recent years, people have begun to reflect on environment and emphasize on environment protection, and many enterprises have begun to think about how to balance products and environment. Therefore, the concept of “eco-innovative design” is more and more valued by various fields. This study utilizes theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) to generate eco-innovative principle and further uses AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) to find out optimal design scheme under multi-criteria decision-making. An example of O’right’s green product “ECO-Bottle:treeInTheBottle” is used to demonstrate feasibility of method proposed in this study. This study is divided into three stages. The first stage, data collecting, adopts literature discussion and focus group discussion. KJ method is used for classification and three aspects of green design strategy are obtained: green material, environment safety and expenses. The second stage is data mapping, which maps 40 inventive principles in contradiction matrix of TRIZ into 39 engineering parameters so as to form innovative principles. At the third stage of decision weight, expert questionnaire and 9-point scale about previous-stage data are used to generate a weighted model of relationships between target, sub evaluation criteria and detailed rules. Finally, eco-friendly recycled bottle is used for verification, questionnaire survey is implemented among 10 experts and 10 consumers, and ANOVA is adopted to test consistency. Therefore, this study applies TRIZ into “ECO-Bottle” and proposes ecoinnovative design rule as well as optimal design scheme chosen through multi-criteria decision-making. From the viewpoint of green enterprise business, this study establishes green product strategy and evaluation, weighs various hierarchies including green materials, environment safety and expenses, and finally sets up eco-innovative design rules and weight model that can be used as a reference for future researchers and scholars.