Plan production for a Corporation delivery

Pick a completion time you will actually use

Start with the amount the Corporation requires and the amount of time you are willing to spend producing it. Divide the item total by the number of minutes. If a delivery needs 1,200 items and you want it finished in 120 minutes, the finished line must average 10 items/min.

Start with the completion time, then use the calculator to find the machine count. One machine may finish too slowly, while two may be more than you need. The items/min target shows how much of each machine is required. You can then round up to whole machines for the build.

Choose a time that matches how you play. Early deliveries may be worth finishing quickly. A late delivery with very large totals may justify a longer target if the extra machines would have little use afterward. Keep the chosen time with your calculation so you can tell later why the line was built at that size.

Account for every item in the delivery

Corporation progress often asks for more than one item. Give every item in the delivery the same completion time. Run each finished item separately in the calculator at its required items/min, then add the rates for any inputs they share. If three products must all finish in 120 minutes, their upstream factories have to support all three during that window.

This matters when products share Electronics, Sulphuric Acid, Titanium, or another input. Separate calculations can make the same upstream machine look available to several lines at once. Add the shared rates before deciding how many permanent machines to place.

The same rule applies when several Corporation deliveries may run in parallel. If they will run together, include both. Otherwise, calculate them separately.

1. Write down the required quantity of every finished item.
2. Choose one completion time in minutes.
3. Divide each quantity by that same number of minutes.
4. Run each finished item in the calculator and add any shared input rates.
5. Round the combined machine needs up to permanent whole machines.

Start with empty storage

A full depot can make an undersized campaign line look much faster than it is. For the first pass, assume there is nothing useful in storage. The result shows what the factory can complete on its own at a steady rate.

You can add existing inventory afterward. If you already have part of the delivery stored, subtract that amount from the required total before dividing by time. Write down how much stored stock you subtracted. Otherwise the result will look sustainable even though it depends on stock that will be gone after the first delivery.

Buffers are also reasonable when you have made a deliberate choice to build less capacity. Record how much of the delivery they cover and whether the line can refill before the next time the item is needed.

Plan for the next known use

Before finalizing the machine count, check whether later Corporation levels need the same product or its inputs. It may be worth placing the larger long-term line now, especially if rebuilding would disturb a busy factory. The public item pages and production calculators can help you trace those later relationships.

Keep a note of the output target, recipes, imports, and game version you used. When you unlock a V2 recipe or change your deadline, run the same calculation again and see whether the new option improves the build.