Not related to saws, but related to the topic:
I was in the Mercedes dealer getting parts for my car, and there was a sign on the parts counter that had 2 lengths of chain held together by a bent paperclip. The text of the sign went something like, "Using aftermarket parts is the weakest link in your Mercedes."
The parts manager was there and he and I are quite friendly. So, I pointed to the sign and made some silly comment. The parts manager pulled up his chair and started talking with me. He told me basically the following:
Mercedes like all manufacturers contracts out building many of its parts to other manufacturers, and those manufacturers stamp the Mercedes logos onto the parts. Buying the same part from the manufacturer rather than from mercedes didn't affect quality. These are called OEM or OES parts.
Also said that some manufacturers that weren't the original equipment manufacturers made parts that fixed a particular problem that cropped up years later and wasn't anticipated by the manufacturer (In this case Mercedes) or for special applications that were outside of the manufacturers recommended use of the original product. Most of these parts were well manufactured, and actually improved the quality of the car. These included coil over suspensions to replace hydraulic, or racing suspensions for track days. He went as far as to say that some of the mechanics would put those parts on their own cars on their own time in the shop.
Then there are the knock off aftermarket parts that were a lot cheaper that were made from inferior materials, sloppier machining specs, poorly lined up fastener holes, etc. Those were the parts that made the techs and the shop nervous.
For liability reasons, they would only use Mercedes branded parts on the shop unless the customer supplied their own in which case there was always notes made of that for insurance liability reasons.
Anyways, I hope this helps someone understand what is going on.
