TRIZ - Cheap Disposables

Paper plates, disposable razors and cameras, and lighters are all inexpensive products that can be thrown away after one use. Obviously, there's no need to bring expensive china to a camping trip or picnic - and a disposable camera is usually preferred for a trip to the water park over an expensive digital version.

Disposable diapers, plastic cups, and many medical supplies operate on the same principle. These objects are simple, inexpensive copies of the real thing serve their purpose, and can be thrown away afterward.

This lens is technically defined as, "Replacing an inexpensive object with a multiple of inexpensive objects, compromising certain qualities such as service life, for instance."

In other words, create an inexpensive copy of your product - or an intermediary product - that can be easily replicated and disposed of after use.

Button Up

When I worked on the space shuttle program, I remember struggling to find just the right material to grit-blast some parts on the Solid Rocket Boosters. We needed a material that wasn't too hard, and not too soft. We experimented with many different types of materials because when you're grit-blasting a part, you want to be able to clean the part up and create a pristine surface to bond to. However, you don't want to take away too much metal because the metal cases have to be reused. The metal cases get thinner and thinner from the grit-blasting, and when they get too thin they become fragile and can no longer be used due to the pressure requirements.

Ironically enough, one of the best materials we found was plastic buttons, or rather the pieces ejected from the buttons to create holes for threading. Those tiny little dots of plastic were inexpensive, and basically a scrap product in button manufacturing - yet they worked really well as a grit-blast media.

Can you use improve your product or service using cheap, short-lived disposables?

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