[svnt]

I guess this is the point — the workflow is adapted to the lack of immediate feedback.

A soft goods shop I know bought everything they need to do prototypes in house. Now they can crush everyone else on delivery schedules and are fully self-determined and therefore also more reliable on those timelines than anyone else. Those two things together draw very lucrative projects.

Imagine if you could do the same thing with electronics, moving prototyping entirely in-house and modifying the workflow to match. It would create an entirely new class of shop, and I would bet a lot of interesting changes would flow from that.