Industry & Manufacturing[]
This is an attempt at giving some key basics that everyone ought to know regarding the manufacturing of goods for sale on the market.
Skills[]
Here is a list of skills that are simply crucial to any manufactuerer:
- Industry
- Production Efficiency
- Mass Production
- Advanced Mass Production
First and foremost are the skills involved with manufacturing. Industry (Rank 1), the skill, reduces manufacturing times by 4% per level. The most important skill to a manufacturer would be Production Efficiency (Rank 3). This skill reduces materials waste by 5% per level. This is crucial in turning a profit anywhere from building frigates to Tech 2 ships. The Mass Production skill increases the amount of manufacturing lines usable by the user by one per level for a total of 6 at level 5. If the user trains Advanced Mass Production to level 5, the maximum is then 11.
Optional Skills[]
Some optional skills are as follows:
- Frigate Construction
- Cruiser Construction
- Industrial Construction
- Battleship Construction
- Capital Construction
and so on. These skills reside in the mechanic section of skills. These skills are exclusively used to build Tech 2 ships.
Tech 2 production requires either a BPO (extremely rare) or a BPC to produce that item. Generally speaking, Invention produces most of the BPCs in existence. Invention is a viable advanced path for a manufacturer to pursue. Tech 2 production involves components aside from materials. These are enumerated on the BPC, and should be acquired from your nearest market (Jita, Rens etc). If you are planning on following this route, these are the basic principles you must know:
- Production Efficiency 5 is absolutely critical.
- Check the Info for the components requires (i.e., Ferrogel etc.). Unless you have a moon mining operation these components will be nearly impossible to manufacture on your own.
- Check the Info for what skills are required to build the Tech 2 module or ship. This will require some training in science.
- Make absolutely sure that the cost of components does not exceed the overhead from building the module or ship. This can be an easy error to make since prices fluctuate easily, and profit margins can be razor thin at times on these items.
Material Efficiency[]
Another important feature to keep in my as a manufacturer is material usage. Of course, Production Efficiency helps, but also one needs to ensure the acquisition or secure the use of BPOs with at least some levels of Material Efficiency. This is optional, but should not be avoided for long if this is a career choice. It improves the profit acquired through production for each level. A quick look at Material Efficiency:
- Material Efficiency decreases the amount of materials wasted to build said item per level. The level decreases the amount of Material . Each BPO starts out with .1 waste. Each level of M.E. reduces the waste by half in this fasion: Level 0, .1 -> Level 1, .05 -> Level 2, .025 -> Level 3, .0125 and so on into infinity. One must decide for themselves the value of adding M.E. to a blueprint. Generally, M.E.s higher than level 10 are applied only to Battleships and larger structures since the reduction in waste is valuable. Increasing the M.E. of a Shield Booster I to level 15 would be, frankly, useless. Use discretion before installing a blueprint for M.E. research, or purchasing a BPO with M.E.
Manufacturing in Empire[]
Only certain Empire stations allow manufacturing within them. The cost of renting this manufacturing line relates to standing. To save money running manufacturing jobs, consider setting your base in a station where you have excellent standing. This standing relationship also relates to renting research slots from NPC corporations. If your running both a research and manufacturing operation then it may be prudent to set up a base in a location with several research and manufacturing stations nearby within two to three jumps. Such locations exist all around the Empires, and may be found with relative ease.
An optional path to take as a manufacturer is to develop a relationship with a player mining corporation. Often in deals where large orders of minerals change hands, these corporations are willing to cut a discount under market rates and even offer free deliveries. Otherwise, it may be an option to set up a mining wing to your corporation. Lastly, buying minerals is generally done in major marketplaces -- although you may not always get the best deal there. Don't be afraid to advertise and attempt to develop a working relationship with a mining corporation. Often, they are just as interested as you in making money and retaining a good, working relationship with customers. In fact, you may even consider selling them equipment at a discount in return as a way to have at least a loyal customer base.
Manufacturing in 0.0[]
Manufacturing outside of Empire, in 0.0 space, falls into two categories mainly. POS manufacturing, and station manufacturing. Station manufacturing is similar to Empire stations with the caveat that the controlling corporation and/or alliance must approve and allow you access to their station's manufacturing lines.
P.O.S. or Player-Owned Station manufacturing takes on a slightly different aspect. This requires certain modules be locked down within the bubble. These hangar arrays can range from small to capital. Some POS's contain refining, manufacturing and research capabilities all within its bubble, or multiple POS. These operations act slightly different than station based manufacturing, but rely on the same basic principles.
Time is Money[]
Take this as a word to wise regarding a manufacturing operation: personal or corporate freighters can make all the difference. One should heavily consider this option. Either recruit a pilot or learn to fly one yourself. Making multiple trips in an Iteron V will eventually wear on you as a manufacturer trying to mass produce anything. A freighter can move well over 20 times more than an Iteron V. Sure they are slow, but when you make a trip twenty times for the same thing, who is really faster?
Whether it's learning Production Efficiency to 5, learning to fly a freighter, or simply choosing a good location to set up your operation, time always matters. Everything that can be done to remove even a sliver of time from a job, transport, or even learning times should be considered viable for profits. If you compound the time saved then you really begin to see the results. Let us look at the Iteron V example above:
- You make a trip to Jita in your Iteron V. It takes approximately 20 minutes to travel there and return. The same trip takes 40 minutes in a freighter. You need 400,000m3 worth of material, but learning to fly a freighter will take at least 60 (probably more for most) days in some cases. Now, you move it in an Iteron V with a cargo capacity of 30,000m3. It takes around 13 trips to move all your materials. 13 trips at 20 minutes per move can take 260 minutes, or slightly over 4 hours. The same trip with a freighter could carry double the capacity in 40 minutes. Make that trip many, many times over several months, and the time wasted in move those materials with the Iteron V will quickly outpace the time it would take to learn to fly a freighter. Not to mention the frustration, agony, and sheer boredom of four hours of hauling.
As an industrialist myself, pre freighter days, I can tell you the time it saves. Additionally, just because a skill seems long (Production Efficiency 5 etc.) doesn't mean it's not worth it. Believe me, the time one spends doing something the long way continually adds up over time. The time it takes to traing a skill to remedy that inefficiency remains stable over time unless trained. You either pay a fixed price for compounding savings in time, or pay in time putting off what you will need eventually anyway. You can run 11 jobs at the same time with Advanced Mass Production 5, or 6 if you don't want to pay for Advanced Mass Production. Time is money, the more time you save the more money you make.
Have questions or comments? Do you think this was inadequate? Want more? Contact me, Vandigeth, and I will certainly try to address any issues. Thanks.