With performing products, say a globe valve or a more complicated actuated valve, there could be (and usually is) a difference in buying price between two competing suppliers.
This, of course, do not necessarily mean that the cheapest has the same quality as the higher priced, or that the cost over the liftime is the lowest for the cheapest one.
Hence, for simple gate valve products, the 'design qualifications' is fairly simple. For uncomplicated pipe 'design qualification' this would mainly mean same material, measurements, grade, tests, approvals, surface etc, from any supplier. But: it could also mean from only a few given pre-qualified suppliers, this being a part of the approved design preview and qualifications for the project.
For more complicated products or projects the 'design qualifications' review and selection should absolutely, for any company or project, include performance and lifetime cost comparison, along with comparison of technical details influencing performance, standtime and maintenance and running cost.
All this is valid both for cars and globe valves.

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