On the Identification of Contradictions Using Cause Effect Chain Analysis

Modern TRIZ has evolved from a methodology used to solve technical problems to a method that increasingly incorporates tools to analyze initial problem situations before deciding on core problems formulating contradictions and problem solving.One of the tools used for this purpose and assimilated into TRIZ is the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) [1], in its various forms and derivatives: Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagram [2], , Cause Effect Chain Analysis and Root Conflict Analysis [3] (RCA+).From a practitioner's viewpoint it is not always easy how to link these analytical tools to TRIZ problem solving tools, and particularly to the formulation of contradictions. The present paper investigates this issue, and gives some advice on how the results of the analytical tools can be directly used as input for the problem solving tools.