I believe LOW builds to the specs provided by the company they are building for.
....there would be a lot wrapped up in that. Quality of parts used, what parts are made of, tube thickness, coatings, etc. Building exactly the same scope, but with one having a "cheaper" sourced washer, spring, etc...will result in a different quality end product. A difference that may not show up until a point in the future when that lower quality part fails.
I suppose that is probably the case - I guess when I look at this I look at it from my perspective - in that if it came from my factory regardless of name on the side of the scope I'd want it to be the best product I can produce since its coming out of my factory. But then I suppose thats why I don't run a manufacturing company
I’ve been in and around manufacturing plants, both fab and assembly, my whole career. I’d say JCMCUBIC & War Eagle are spot on. The specs/requirements most likely come form the customer. Those could be a high level, completed scope assembly, requirement only (likely for lower volume or smaller brands). Or, it could be at the level of a unique drawing, with a set of dimensional, material, finish, coating specs for every single part used in the assembly, and standardized work instructions for every assembly step, each with its own QC heck. The manufacturer is responsible to provide proof that all requirements have been met, so they will (at least should) put the necessary quality controls in place to ensure this.Japanese companies typically do this as well as, if not better than, manufacturers anywhere in the world.
It takes product engineers who know what to specify and how to specify it, manufacturing processes that are capable of doing what is specified, and quality controls that ensure producers (pieces and assemblies) ALWAYS meet the specs. Based on what I read about LOW, I think they have capable manufacturing processes and can apply the appropriate quality controls. I suspect the difference in performance between various brands produced at LOW is having sufficient product engineering knowledge to specify everything that matters. Perhaps LOW has this resource as well, but you can bet that it isn’t cheap. So it either takes lump sum investment on the front end, or high volume of product over an extended period of time to fund it.
