Read the Factory view

Open Factory → Overview after solving your first block. This page combines the cached flows from all enabled blocks. It answers a different question from the block editor:

• A block asks, “What does this production unit need and produce?”
• Factory asks, “Across the whole plan, what do I still need to make?”

The four flow groups

Group	Meaning	What to do
Deficits	Enabled blocks consume more of the item than they produce.	Build or scale an upstream block.
Surpluses	Enabled blocks produce more than they consume.	Route it, use it in another block, or reduce production.
Balanced	Planned production and consumption are effectively equal.	No immediate planning action.
Stock buffers	Production exists only to satisfy a keep in stock goal.	Treat it as replenishment, not continuous surplus.

The first automation-science block creates deficits for every ingredient left as an import. Pick one of those deficits and make it the goal of your next block. As you add producer blocks, return to Factory to see which deficits remain.

After adding four supplier blocks, Native flora, Planter boxes, and Small parts are balanced. The remaining deficits identify the next upstream blocks to plan.

Small residuals are treated as balanced

Factory ignores differences below roughly one percent of an item's throughput. This keeps hand-entered rates such as 0.083/s from appearing as actionable deficits against an exact 0.0833/s demand.

Planned totals and live statistics

Factory totals come from your solved PyOps blocks. The live indicator is separate: it shows recent production statistics sent from the game through the companion mod. Seeing no live stats does not stop planning and does not mean the block solve failed.

Overview and Connections

Overview sums every enabled block by item. Connections inspects the block-to-block wiring. A surplus in one block can cancel a shortfall in another in Factory totals even when those blocks are not connected as intended. Use Factory to choose what the overall plan needs; use Connections later to find boundary mismatches that totals can hide.

You now have the core planning loop:

1. Set a goal in a block.
2. Choose recipes and machines until the block solves.
3. Review its imports and exports.
4. Use Factory deficits to choose the next block.