Problem is that nearly all production went overseas. From what I've heard, they contract with a company for a price to make a production run. Say between clothing manufacturing orders, they set up and do ARF's. So, it can be more than one manufacturer / region / country doing this. Without consistency in manufacturing, when parts are out of stock they are out.

Maintainability has gone out the door for many of our consumer products. You end up in the long run paying more, because more often than not, there is no longer a life cycle for more durable items. When it breaks (household appliances for example), you buy a new one.

I kept our gas dryer repaired, doing the cleaning and repairs myself. Midway, controller board went out along with a thermal fuse, replaced, thoroughly cleaned all passageways of lint and dust and it ran like new again. It lasted for 23 years. But when I started getting noisy, can no longer get most parts, I dumped and bought a new one. This is why I got 23 versus 8 to 12 years that most trash and buy again.