FROM SIMULATION TO INVENTION, BEYOND THE PARETO-FRONTIER

In this article, the authors will present a general approach to build a continuum between optimization and dialectic based invention (problem solving) methods. The building of this continuum is mainly based on the consideration of the Pareto-frontier as a link between both approaches. The authors considered TRIZ contradiction models as the entry point of the inventive methods. As this Pareto-frontier is recognized as the limits of the optimal solutions for the optimization approaches, a link between this frontier and the contradiction model is described in this article. Then the general approach is described, and illustrated through the resolution of a supply chain problem.