Thanks for the tip. Good to know there is an alternative approach. To be able to copy and paste would still be useful for small ad-hoc edits that don't warrant the somewhat more involved (or at least intimidating – I've never quite mastered it) upgrade planner interface – though I appreciate you ...

An assembling machine cannot be upgraded to a higher level machine with a higher quality.
To reproduce:
1. Place an Assembling Machine 2.
2. In remote view, copy an existing Uncommon Assembling Machine 3
3. Attempt to paste the Uncommon AM3 in the place of ("on top of") the AM2
4. Note error ...