During beta i noticed my companion made a weapon which was green BUT it was a good success( if i remember right) and caused the item to create a mod slot. So yeah little something to think about to. So yeah more bonus to craft from companion better chance of mod slots being added to the item.
Slicing is a great alternative at low levels not to mention i had several blues drop from sliced containers. The credits were decent and like i said some nice items dropped at times.