Industry: Plastic Packaging
Region: Oman
Problem: High energy bills from plastic molding machines due to old-style resistive heating.
Function Analysis Findings:
- Heaters are performing both useful (melting plastic) and harmful (heating the surrounding air) functions
- Inefficiency due to non-focused heat delivery
TRIZ-Based Solution:
- Trimming: Removed non-directional coil heaters
- Used induction heating targeted only at mold cavity (Principle #35 – Parameter Change)
- Integrated thermal barrier coatings on molds to retain heat (Principle #3 – Local Quality)
- Mounted reflective shields to bounce heat back to mold zone (Principle #25 – Self-Service)
Results:
- Energy savings: 18%
- ROI in 5 months
- Increased mold efficiency without machine replacement
TRIZ Lesson:
TRIZ is not about replacing equipment. It’s about replacing thinking.
