> Because it's not their job and therefore they don't have the information necessary to know what is or isn't expensive. It is your job, when you make somethin

> Because it's not their job and therefore they don't have the information necessary to know what is or isn't expensive. It is your job, when you make something, to understand how it works. How much it costs to operate is an integral part of how it works. > Ok, we can save 1 cent if we swap this part out. But now we have to purchase lot sizes that are 10x bigger. How does that impact production? How does that affect operational budgets? Etc. A 10x larger lot size makes each part per unit cheaper and it simplifies production to eliminate items from your BoM. Understanding that sort of thing in an order-of-magnitude sense is also part of your job. By the way, you don't need to know this stuff precisely to make good decisions. You need to know it roughly. You still need to know it, though.