This guide explains how to build a massively scaled iron factory producing all the purely iron based materials, which are 2,160 iron ingots, 1,440 iron plates, 1,440 iron rods, 4,800 screws, 180 reinforced iron plates, 192 rotors and 90 modular frames per minute. We will first discuss the ideal location, then the required production lines, and then tips for the various production lines.

Starting with the location, pick somewhere with good access to iron ore, which is the only required input. For further scaling you can deliver more iron ore using a transportation network, although with about 3 pure iron ore sources, Mk. 3 miners and 1 power shard each you will be producing the iron materials in the game at quite sufficient rates to do anything in the game.

The next step is to design the production lines. We will design each material output, to either produce at lest 1,440 per minute for the basic materials of iron plates, rods and screws, to feed an industrial storage container at the maximum rate, or whatever rate consumes all of the iron ore on the input (in our case 2,160 per minute). This will mean that we will need to produce much more than 2,160 screw to maximise the output of the advanced iron materials, which are reinforced iron plates, rotors and modular frames. We will be using the basic recipes for each of the materials except for screws where we will be using the cast screw recipe that steps the usual iron rod step. The following are the required production lines:

• uses 2160 iron ore to produce 2160 iron ingot per minute in 72 smelters
• uses 2160 iron ingot to produce 1440 iron plates per minute in 72 constructors
• uses 1440 iron ingot to produce 1440 iron rods per minute in 64 constructors
• uses 1200 iron ingot to produce 4800 screws per minute in 96 constructors
• uses 1080 iron plate and 2160 screw to produce 180 reinforced iron plate per minute in 36 assembler
  • 6 iron plate = 6 * 30 / 20 = 9 iron ingot
  • 2 screw = 12 * 12.5 / 50 = 3 iron ingot
  • total iron ingot is 12 per reinforced plate
• uses 960 iron rod and 4800 screw to produce 192 rotor per minute in 48 assembler
  • 5 iron rod = 5 iron ingot
  • 25 screw = 25 * 12.5 / 50 = 6.25 iron ingot
  • total iron ingot is 11.25 per rotor
• uses 135 reinforced iron plate and 540 iron rod to produce 90 modular frame per minute in 45 assembler
  • 1.5 reinforced iron plate = 18 iron ingot
  • 6 iron rod = 6 iron ingot
  • total iron ingot is 24 per modular frame

For the advanced materials the total iron ingot cost was calculated to determine the rate of production for that material which would consume all of the iron ore input. This determined the minimum rates of production for the basic materials. For example, the rotors require the most screw at 4,800 screws per minute which was used to determine the rate for the screw production. Note that not all of the materials can be produced at the maximum rates, however each individual material can on its own. This is so that the production lines can scale up to produce at the maximum rate for any given individual item since only that particular item might be required at a particular time.

The production lines for the smelters are straight forward, just build 3 lines of 24 smelters which uses the 720 items per minute maximum of the Mk. 5 Conveyor belts. The iron plates can be build the same, except using constructors instead of smelters, although to get full Mk. 5 belts the output should be combined into 2 conveyor belts of 720 per minute each. The screw production produces the most of any given material. Since the recipe produces 50 screw I combined 14 constructor outputs into 1 belt producing 700 screws per minute with a residual belt of 200 screws per minute.

For the reinforced plates, the easiest production line connects 24 assemblers to one iron plate line 12 to the other and combines 6 of the screw belts into 3 going at 720 per minute feeding 12 assemblers each. Similarly, the rotor production can put 36 of the assemblers on the same rod line and feed 7 assemblers with one of the conveyor belts holding 700 screws per minute. Finally, the modular frame production line can use a single input belt for each input for all of the assemblers due to the low rate per minute requirement of the input materials.

So, there you have it. This factory will produce basically as much iron materials as you need and can easily be scaled to any rate per minute that you need.