The same model applies in film production, where (literally) tons of very expensive equipment get used for brief amounts of time by people who are hired based on long-standing personal relationships, then equipped by rental shops that can afford to maintain the massive inventories of often peculiar parts that are needed on any given show.
Actually, it's not the parts that are peculiar, it's the amounts and configurations that tend to vary. In any case, it makes good economic sense for everyone involved to handle labor and kit separately.
Actually, it's not the parts that are peculiar, it's the amounts and configurations that tend to vary. In any case, it makes good economic sense for everyone involved to handle labor and kit separately.