**1.4 Operation**

When the first new product is created, it must be reliably reproducible with an equal quality and in a certain quantity. The manufacturing facilities must be set up so that parts can be manufactured, assembled, tested, packaged, and delivered to customers in a timely manner with a reasonable price and with supports for maintenance, repair, and even recycling.

Technological innovation is a form of complex problem-solving with humans as the primary problem solvers. Its chances of success heavily rely on deep knowledge about the product, the industry of the domain [5], and imagination and creativity. Creative ideas always spring from an individual's mind. Although CDIO may represent activities from different industries or individuals, the underlying cognitive tasks necessary for a person to come up with an innovative idea are similar. Understanding how the human mind stores, retrieves, transfers, combines, and transforms ideas in the human cognitive system is important to facilitate the generation of original and satisfactory solutions at each CDIO phase.
