How do I make manufacturing plants?

I'd love to make my own ammo, but the UI is not very helpful... how do I set up manufacturing plants? Do the tracks need to be connected to anything? How do I supply them with resources?

Solution 1:

Basic ammo manufacturing plants require:

1. Ammunition Plant (Workshop Mode -> Power -> Manufacturing -> Machinery)
2. Conveyor Belt (Workshop Mode -> Power -> Manufacturing -> Miscellaneous)
3. Conveyor Storage (Workshop Mode -> Power -> Manufacturing -> Miscellaneous)

Build these in the order of an Ammunition Plant connected to Conveyor Belt connected to Conveyor Storage.

You will also need to power them up on the same power network along with a Terminal. The terminal controls what kind of ammunition you will produce. More ammunition recipes may be unlocked by leveling up the Gun Nut perk.

A switch can also be added to provide convenient on/off for the whole assembly else you could disconnect/connect a power cable to turn the whole thing off/on.

Depending on the type of ammunition you want to produce, add the requisite components to the Ammunition Plant. Power up the constructed assembly, program the terminal appropriately for the ammo type and watch the ammunition travelling from the Ammunition Plant to the Conveyor Storage.

To feed into this assembly directly from your workshop, you can attach a Vacuum Hopper. Just build it next to the Workshop bench. This will only work for the Workbench itself and not any other crafting stations.

You can get increasingly fancy by building Sorters (Regular sorters work by placing an item(s) in their internal storage. For example if I place a teddy bear in the Sorter then items that pass through the sorter will go through forward but any teddy bear on the conveyor will get sorted to the right. Component Sorters work the same way but with components).

You can also try other other manufacturing machinery apart from Ammunition Plant for manufacturing a whole assortment of things. There are 10 different types of builders with different requirements.

1. Builder (Basic Objects)
2. Armor Forge (Armor)
3. Weapon Forge (Basic Weapons)
4. Auto-Loom (Clothes)
5. Energy Weapon Forge (Energy Weapons)
6. Heavy Weapon Forge (Heavy Weapons)
7. Ammunition Plant (Ammo)
8. Explosive’s Mill (Mines or Grenades)
9. Pyrotechnic’s Mill (Fireworks Mortar Shells)
10. Food Processor (Food)

Hope this helps you get started with supplying the Commonwealth. There is also an achievement Mass Production for building 100 objects from your Builders.