In my seminars I distinguish between problem and opportunity as follows: A problem is when something in a process which was working right, suddently does not work and must be fixed by identifying the variable which is out of control. Not as easy as it sounds.

An opportunity is when imagination comes into play and you can visualize an improvement which may be new or borrowed from some other application. Innovations fall into this category and are very difficult to sell because they involve change and we all know how difficult it is to change the way things are done.

See my article on Innovative Manufacturing, creativity, how to invent, etc.
in Kevin's www.superfactory.com under resources, then experts.