> Why would anyone do that unless the part was inferior? To save certification costs. For many safety critical parts, the actual manufacturing is a small part

> Why would anyone do that unless the part was inferior? To save certification costs. For many safety critical parts, the actual manufacturing is a small part of the cost - the testing / certification process is the bulk of it. (This is no excuse, natch - the part may or may not be inferior, but without the process we have no way to know; and for safety critical applications WE NEED TO KNOW.)