---
key: mechanic/automation-programming--t107
type: mechanic
id: automation-programming--t107
lang: en
title: Production chains and factories
summary: >-
  A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and
  constrains total production.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/automation-programming--t107/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/automation-programming--t107.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/automation-programming--t107.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Automation and programming
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-96be186d8ada50a0
  - source-fee3301bed8a96da
sources:
  - id: source-96be186d8ada50a0
    title: 'Factorio: Content'
    url: 'https://www.factorio.com/game/content'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-fee3301bed8a96da
    title: Factorio
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: automation-programming
    id: t107
    title: Automation and programming
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/automation-programming/#t107'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Production chains and factories
    description: >-
      A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input
      and constrains total production.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp
      width: 1224
      height: 689
      game: Factorio
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/427520/ss_37aa19e26e20e18a220fd8870dac6efb0e98b5f0.1920x1080.jpg?t=1787348817
      credit: Wube Software
      rights: © Wube Software. All rights reserved.
      caption: Copper plates become cable
      alt: >-
        Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and
        deliver copper cable onto another.
      markers:
        - x: 29
          'y': 51
          label: 'Input: copper plates on a belt'
        - x: 53
          'y': 66
          label: The machine converts its input
        - x: 74
          'y': 50
          label: 'Output: cable for downstream consumers'
    tips:
      - Show recipe dependencies and the stage that limits production.
    examples:
      - title: Factorio
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/automation-programming
---
# Production chains and factories

id: automation-programming--t107
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/automation-programming--t107
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/automation-programming--t107/

A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and constrains total production.

## At a glance

![Factorio: assembling machines take copper plates from one belt and deliver copper cable onto another.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/factorio-copper-wire.webp)

[Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) · © Wube Software. All rights reserved.

1. Input: copper plates on a belt
2. The machine converts its input
3. Output: cable for downstream consumers

- Show recipe dependencies and the stage that limits production.

- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/)

## How it works

A factory connects recipes so one stage's output becomes another's input and constrains total production.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t107-variants"></a>

- Recipe ratios determine parallel machine counts. <a id="t107-v1"></a>
- Byproducts require a separate output line. <a id="t107-v2"></a>
- Modular cells simplify capacity expansion. <a id="t107-v3"></a>
- Recycling returns part of the raw materials. <a id="t107-v4"></a>

## Design example

Three furnaces feed two assemblers until one missing reagent stalls the whole chain.

Prototype check: Measure sustained output over a long interval rather than only with fully stocked input buffers.

## Context and limits

Automation moves repeated work into a system; the player builds connections and identifies the limiting stage. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [Factorio: Content](https://www.factorio.com/game/content) (id: source-96be186d8ada50a0)
- [Factorio](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) (id: source-fee3301bed8a96da)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors