I'm sure they have jigs and things to help the process along. Manufacturing/assembly is a lot different at home than someplace with dedicated work stations setup for the various aspects of manufacturing. Experience goes a long way too. I bet if they sent you ten of them to put together, the last wouldn't take as long as the first to complete. Same with them; More of them they produce, they better they get at it, the faster they become at it, the less their cost should be. That was why I proposed a group-buy scenario rather than +1 the member discount idea. It also allows EA to make more quantity purchases on their materials.
Thanks for the link too, I followed that thread as it happened as a lurker before becoming a member. I got a chuckle out of the last few pages then, and even more in reviewing it now. Experiences there with certain user(s) mirror certain experiences I've had with same certain user(s) since.
And since the subject is brought up: I'm fairly certain what was overlooked for the opening width is the fact PF's doesn't close tip to tip whereas the EA grapple does. Does this seem accurate? I prefer the tip to tip closing in the geometry EA worked out.