> For example, no one cares about screws, as long as they are machined according to spec, and torqued correctly during installation. This just isn't true. Of

> For example, no one cares about screws, as long as they are machined according to spec, and torqued correctly during installation. This just isn't true. Off the top list: - are they the right spec for the load - are they the correct material and finish for environment - do they have the right head (for manufacture, but also support, etc.) - what vendor options do we have (the more unusual, the more this gets interesting) and what risk - are the manufacturing SOPs correct for this - are the manufacturing SOPs being followed - etc. And that's the simple things like screws. You may not care about any of this stuff until it fails; but if nobody cares, things will fail. The real difference between stuff like this an software engineering is that in far more cases for hardware an engineer can look up the correct solution and use it. You still have to care enough to check that, and check it against any change, etc.