Overdimensioning refers to the act of designing, manufacturing, or specifying components, systems, or structures with dimensions (size, capacity, strength, or features) that are excessively large or powerful relative to their intended function or required performance. This often leads to inefficiency, increased costs, material wastage, and potential complications in operation or integration. The motivation may be due to a misunderstanding of the requirement, a conservative approach to engineering, or using materials that are too heavy duty than the job requires. It can occur across industries such as construction, engineering, manufacturing, and software development, negatively impacting efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and design aesthetics.
Overdimensioning meaning with examples
- The bridge engineers, driven by safety concerns, opted for Overdimensioning the structural steel supports. This resulted in an unnecessarily heavy and expensive structure. The excess material added to the project cost and time, and the aesthetic impact was criticized by local residents.
- After the server crash, the company opted for Overdimensioning the new server infrastructure with more processing power and memory than initially estimated. While ensuring future performance, it resulted in significantly higher energy consumption and ongoing maintenance costs.
- During the preliminary stages of product design, the team chose Overdimensioning for the motor that drove the robot arm. This led to a significantly larger and heavier device, hampering the robot's agility and overall efficiency, with higher production costs.
- The software architect employed Overdimensioning in the database, using excessively large data types for certain fields. This resulted in inflated storage costs, slower query times, and reduced scalability for other processes as well, compared to other implementations.
- In response to projected power fluctuations, the power grid operator elected for Overdimensioning the power lines, using cables that exceeded the expected maximum current. This increased the grid's capacity unnecessarily, leading to higher initial investment and energy distribution costs.