Integration of TRIZ problem solving tools in a product-service engineering process

The development of a new service proposed by Service Engineering relies largely on inspiration and past experiences of service designers. This article illustrates the viability of applying TRIZ, the theory of inventive problem solving, to service engineering proposing a new approach to traditional service design. By integrating TRIZ system modelling and problem-solving tools, the authors propose a new TRIZ-based approach to cover this weakness in service design. This integration has been evaluated by a theoretical study of the key concepts of both methods, and, practically, through the application to a real case study. The proposed integrated process shows the relevance of TRIZ for service design and its possible use as a support tool in the traditional service design.