Oil Filter Manufacturing Defect

I bought my 1996 Thunderbird in 2003 with about 54,000 miles on it. Since then, I've been running full synthetic 5W30 engine oil in it, and changing the oil about every 4,000 - 6,000 miles. Now the car has 228,000 miles on it. It doesn't lose any oil between oil changes. I checked the dipstick before I changed the oil yesterday, and the oil level was at the full mark. I hadn't added any since I last changed the oil 6229 miles ago. I also like to pour new oil inside the new filter so that the oil pressure builds up much faster.

I like to use high quality oil filters because if a filter fails, it can kill the engine. So yesterday, I took my new Mobil 1 M1-209 oil filter out of the box and saw a potential engine-killing defect.

The clean oil is returned in the tube that threads onto the center of the baseplate. If I just screwed this filter on and that metal fragment came loose inside the filter, it could have gone into the engine and destroyed a bearing.

This defect was from machining the threads. I pulled on it and more came off. But I dropped the filter as I was taking the picture, and you can see I dented the side of the baseplate on the left. I'll have to watch for leaks.

Lot number and "country of origin"
You can see my reflection as I'm taking the picture.

The baseplate is machined before being assembled with the filter. Since nobody noticed, the assembly process appears to be highly automated. But I don't know if they have any kind of automated visual inspection on the threads since they missed this defect.

To prevent this kind of defect, they need to either improve their thread cutting process, or add a de-burring step after cutting the threads. That leaves me to wonder why a premium oil filter would be manufactured with such cost-cutting measures as skipping a de-burring process that is vital to product quality.

How to make your engine last longer:

1. Don't lose oil pressure by running too low on oil. 
2. Don't overheat the engine.
3. Don't run low on oil. This accelerates oil breakdown.
4. Fill the new oil filter with oil before installing it.
5. Use a high quality oil filter. 
6. Use synthetic engine oil of the correct weight.
7. Change the oil frequently enough.