The art of innovation

At first it may seem incongruous to combine the creative process of innovation with the deterministic methodology of reliability engineering. However, correctly applied the two are complimentary. TTP develop novel, innovative devices and products using a mixture of 'Creative' and 'Embodiment' sessions. The Creative sessions are typically conceptualisation meetings designed to generate ideas which meet a requirement specification. A team of engineers, scientists, and designers gather to generate concepts - at its heart, innovation is a creative process and it should not be controlled too tightly. The next step is Embodiment and although a concept may at first appear to be attractive, the question is "whether it is feasible?". When production volumes are high, and reliability requirements stringent, the traditional empirical approach (prototype-test-modify) is both extremely risky and time consuming, and also likely to be unsuccessful. The solution is to use advanced reliability engineering methods to quantify the feasibility of a concept at the early, innovation stage. At the heart of TTP's reliability engineering is probabilistic design. Based on statistical design calculations, it determines the design performance and reliability at a lower cost than prototyping. As a result, testing becomes largely design verification rather than performance discovery-which is quicker and less expensive. Using probabilistic methods, the major design sensitivities are determined at the outset, long before tooling is made. The result is that materials selection, tool configuration and other downstream manufacturing activities are better qualified. All these factors help to reduce risk, which in turn reduces cost and timelines. In conclusion, the combination of creative innovation and reliability engineering methods create a competitive advantage for TTP and our clients. In our experience it is cheaper, faster and gives a significantly better chance of success. The Technology Partnership (TTP) is Europe's leading independent technology and product development company, enabling innovation in many industries including communications, healthcare, life sciences, consumer products, industrial systems, digital printing, cleantech and the advanced automotive industry.