Category:Production

Production blocks refine ores into materials, and assemble and disassemble items. The factory block category includes Refineries, Basic Assemblers, Assemblers, and Survival Kits.

Assembly means turning ingots into components; disassembly means turning components back into ingots. Be aware which mode you are in.

Usage

How to open the Production tab

The Production tab in the Terminal lets you control factory devices, if any exist on this grid. As a shortcut, target a production facility inventory port and press K key to open the Production tab.

If there are several Assembly-capable blocks on a single ship or station, select specific Assemblers or Survival Kits on the Production tab from a drop-down menu.

How to refine ores

Though part of the production process, refineries are not listed in the Production tab. That's because they pull ores automatically (see also Conveyor Sorter for more control) and don't have any other user interaction.

Queue up ores simply by placing them in the Refineries’ Inventory tab. The refinery processes the ores from left to right.

How to assemble components

Most of usage is the same for Survival Kit, Basic Assembler, and Assembler, even if only "Assembler" is mentioned here. The difference is that Survival Kit and Basic Assembler are restricted and cannot produce late-game components.

Basic Assemblers and Survival Kits habe the same UI but let you choose fewer items from the Blueprint tabs.

Requirement: Any Assembler requires refined materials in its inventory. Either insert them manually, or let the Assembler pull materials from a conveyored cargo container or Refinery.

On the Production tab:

1. On the left side: If you have several, select a specific Assembler.
2. On the right side, make sure that it is in Assembler Mode.
3. On the left side, browse through the Blueprint tabs and click the item that you want to produce. Hover the mouse pointer for tooltips.
   Available blueprints categories are:
   • Large Grid Blocks
   • Small Grid Blocks
   • Components
   • Equipment
   • Tools
   • Weapons
   • Ammunition
   • Components needed for blocks in your Build Planner queue
4. Verify you see the items queued up on the right side.
   • To reprioritise items, drag&drop queued items on the right side so the urgent ones are leftmost in the queue.
   • To cancel production of an item, click it in the queue on the right side to remove it.

The assembled items are output into the Inventory.

How many components will I need to produce this block?

Make sure the Assembler is in Assembler mode.

The Production tab has three columns:

• In the left column, hover the mouse over which block you want to produce.
• In the middle column, it shows you the total needed materials, out of how many you have in storage.
• In the right column, it lists the equivalent total required components.

This is useful information so you can plan ahead in early game to hand-mine just enough common materials to upgrade to the next tier; or in late game, so you gather enough rare materials to build endgame blocks; and to prepare for speedruns.

How to recyle components

If you have looted some items and are lacking certain materials, you can extract the materials by disassembly. (Basic) Assemblers can recycle items back into materials, destroying the item but returning the same amount of materials as it took to create it. The Basic Assembler can only disassemble the items it knows how to produce. The Survival Kit cannot do disassembly.

On the Production tab:

1. On the left side, select an Assembler if you have several.
2. On the left side, browse through the Blueprint tabs and find the items you want to recycle. Hover the mouse pointer to read tooltips.
3. On the right side, make sure that you are in '''Disassembly''' Mode.
4. On the left side, click the icons to start recycling items.
   The items are queued up on the right side.
5. If you need to reprioritise, drag&drop queued items on the right side to reorder them.
6. To cancel recycling of an item (maybe because you still need it), click it in the right-side queue to remove it.

The recycled materials are output into the assembler's input Inventory.

Which item is best to recycle to get needed materials?

You urgently need one last material to complete production, and you want to identify the least needed item to sacrifice for the most outcome?

First make sure the Assembler is in Disassembly mode.

The Production tab now shows three columns:

• In the right column, hover the mouse over which items you have, that you can recycle.
• In the middle column, it now shows you the total materials (ingots) to gain if you recycle it.

Compare the values to find the best candidate for your situation.

Why did production halt?

First, verify that you have the required materials in your grid's inventory.

If you are out of required input materials, production halts until you supply more. This can also happen if the assembler's input inventory is full of the wrong materials (e.g. overflowing with gravel). Drag some materials into another inventory to give the Assembler room to pull the required materials.

Next, verify whether you are in Assembly or Disassembly mode.

If you are certain you have the materials in a conveyored cargo container, check whether you can manually drag and drop the materials into the assembler on the inventory screen. If not, check for directional Sorters and broken conveyor tubes.

In early-game bases, running out of power is also a factor that halts production.

Inventory

• The Refinery's input inventory accepts only Ores.
• The Refinery's output inventory accepts only Materials.
• The Assembler's input inventory accepts only Materials.
• The Assembler's output inventory accepts the Component, Equipment, Consumable, and Tool type items that it can produce.

Progression

You build up your production chain as follows, no matter whether the progression option is on or off.

1. First, you start with a Survival kit which can refine  Stone and produce basic components and tools.
2. With the components it produces, you build the Basic Refinery and the Basic Assembler.
3. To be able to (dis)assemble advanced components and to refine all ores, you finally build an (advanced) Refinery and an (advanced) Assembler.
4. Optionally, you add Upgrade Modules.

Read from top-left to bottom-right:

Survival Kit
|
|_ Basic Refinery
|  |_ Refinery
|     |_ Power Efficiency Module
|     |_ Speed Module
|     |_ Yield Module
|
|_ Basic Assembler
   |_ Assembler
      |_ Power Efficiency Module 
      |_ Speed Module

Production Tips

• Can't recall the needed components? Assemblers are integrated with the Build Planner!
• Connecting your production blocks and some cargo containers to a Conveyor system is immensely helpful in keeping production running smoothly. Production blocks can pull through conveyors what they need, and push their output into cargo containers when their inventories are full, so you don't need to do it manually.
• Can't find the right Assembler in the Inventory? Select it on the Production tab and click Inventory in the bottom right to jump to it quickly.
• Can't find the right Assembler in the Control Panel Screen? Select it on the Production tab and click Control Panel in the bottom right to jump to it quickly.