Assembling Machines - Factorio-Access/FactorioAccess GitHub Wiki

Assembling Machines

The assembling machine is the key component for automating production. It is a 3×3 square machine that runs on electricity and automates crafting recipes for you. Inserters can access it from any tile around its perimeter, and long-handed inserters can reach it from one tile further away.

An assembling machine is configured with one recipe at a time. Once set, it crafts that recipe continuously as long as it has power, ingredients, and output space. It accepts one batch of ingredients at a time with no crafting queue, and unlike hand crafting it cannot perform intermediate crafting steps — it must be given the exact ingredients its recipe requires. Each ingredient and product slot holds up to one stack, though during normal operation inserters keep the slots moving so that items flow through rather than accumulate.

Basic assembling machines craft at half the speed of hand crafting. However, you can run as many as you like in parallel, so a group of machines will outpace the engineer. Higher tier assembling machines craft faster, consume more power, support fluid ingredients, and have module slots.

You can check the status of an assembling machine at any time with RIGHT BRACKET. Recipe selection is done through a dedicated menu tab when the machine is open.

Why automate

The main motivation for automating production is time. Building a larger factory and conducting research requires producing thousands of items, and hand crafting that volume is impractical. Some recipes — engine units, chemical products — can only be made in machines at all. Automating intermediate items like electronic circuits, then science packs, then the machines themselves, is what allows the factory to grow.

Rows of assembling machines

When assembling machines are arranged in rows, transport belts run in parallel along both sides. A regular inserter can reach a belt one tile away from the machine; a long-handed inserter placed beside it can reach a second belt further out. With this arrangement on both sides, a row of assemblers has access to four belts. If each belt carries a different item, the row can handle recipes with up to three input ingredients and one output.

Belts carrying two item types — one per lane — extend this further, giving access to up to eight different items across four belts, which covers nearly every recipe in the game.

Machines in a row can be placed tightly to maximise density, or spaced apart to allow walking between them or direct insertion from one machine to the next.

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