Fit for purpose or specification compliant? [electric machine design]

In the context of rotating electrical machines, be they motors or generators, one could argue or indeed expect that a machine that is specification compliant should be fit-for-purpose or vice versa. As the millennium approaches, the author suggests that the concept of fit-for-purpose should be re-examined in the light of customer requirements and the design capabilities of the approaching 21st Century. The current practice of rigid compliance with the commercially influenced product definition and performance specifications, which are derived and agreed by defined consensus procedures, should be critically reviewed if material utilisation and energy efficiency are to be maximised