"A large-scale product is a product by which man encounters his technical, organizational and economic limits with the methods and tools available at the time of observation, in the context of product creation. Significant for large scale products is a disproportionate increase in effort, e.g. construction, manufacturing or transport, for the augmentation of a characteristic feature of the product."
This definition for XXL products was developed by researchers of the IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover. Thus, there is no limit value and no size that defines a product as large-scale. XXL products can e.g. be distinguished from conventional ones through the greater effort that is needed for their production or transportation.
Therefore, every product is unique in its border between conventional and XXL – and that border shifts even further over time. While in 1982 wind turbines with a rotor diameter of 15 meters were classified as large-scale, 30 years later the rotor diameter had the tenfold value.
Distinction between conventional and large-scale products.
