Have you ever been in the middle of a build and then run out of material to keep going? Or had planned a big project, added everything to a to do list only to realise you don’t have enough inventory slots? Well, have I got a guide for you. After this guide you will never be in that situation again!

The basic idea makes use of a transportation network, storage containers, preferably industrial, and smart or programmable splitters so that you can progressively collect all the required material at one location, dump it into storage and have it be delivered to you destination and sorted into storage containers so that you have everything you need to complete the build.

The first thing you will want to do is be somewhere where you have plenty of building materials. Put together a to do list with the following items:

1. About 10-20 storage containers, preferably industrial if you have them, depending on the complexity of your build. The more variety of building materials the more storage containers you will need.
2. The same number of smart or preferable programmable splitters. These are unlocked through the cateriam research tree in the MAM.
3. Enough for the transportation network. I prefer to use drones, however the other transportation mechanisms, such as tractors, trucks and trains, will also work. Trains will be the fastest but also take the longest to setup. Drones are the easiest and still faster than the tractors or trucks.

The second step is to setup the transportation network. You will need a stop near your source or building materials and the second at the construction site where you are planning to build something. Make sure that the network is working and has carrying capacity, so a train network actually has trains on it and that you have assigned drones to your drone ports.

The third step is to put down some foundations and all the storage containers you have brought with one splitter each, I usually use industrial storage containers and programmable splitters. Pull a conveyer belt out of the transportation network and connect each of the splitters in series.

The fourth step is to figure out all the materials you will need for your build. This will help you setup the programmable splitters. Don’t be afraid to put together a long to do list with more materials than you could carry in your inventory, that is the whole point of this method which will help you get any amount of material to your build site.

The fifth step is to set all of the ports of the splitters that connect to the next splitter to any undefined so that materials keep getting passed down the line. The port that is connected to the storage container will need to be set to the particular material you want in that storage container. I usually reserve whole containers for materials, that I will need a lot of, such as concrete and iron plates for foundations or the material for conveyor belts. I usually aggregate similar materials that I need less off so that it is easy to find what IO am looking for. For example, I usually put all the iron based materials together in one storage container. Be sure to have one splitter at the end that is set to any material so that you catch anything that you might have forgotten to add to an earlier splitter. Without this the conveyors will get clogged up.

Finally, head back to your source of materials and start collecting the materials and dump them into the transportation network. I usually use one or more industrial storage containers to dump the material in and use aggregators to get all of them into the transportation network. I usually find some logical way to collect materials, such as from the top of the to do list down. It is also good to collect materials that you will need less of first so that they are available at the destination earlier and are not held back by large volumes of items. It is also usually good to leave some materials in your inventory that you can start with whilst you wait for everything to be delivered by the transportation network.

So there you have it! Now you will never need to keep going back to your source of building materials over and over and can just concentrate on completing your build!