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🧮 Production Ratio Calculator & Guide

Last updated: June 2026

The Production Ratio Calculator helps you plan optimized production lines across three factory games. Input a target output rate and get exact machine counts, input material requirements, and belt throughput recommendations. This page includes the interactive calculator below, plus comprehensive ratio reference data for each game.

How to Use the Calculator

The interactive tool below works in three simple steps:

  1. Select a Game — Choose Satisfactory, Factorio, or Dyson Sphere Program from the dropdown. The recipe list updates automatically for each game's unique item set.
  2. Choose an Item / Recipe — Pick the item you want to produce. The calculator uses base recipes only (alt/advanced recipes are not yet included).
  3. Set Your Target Rate — Enter the desired output per minute (or per second for Factorio). The minimum is 1, maximum is 10,000.
  4. Click "Calculate" — The results panel shows:
  5. Number of machines required (Constructors, Assemblers, Smelters, etc.)
  6. Input material rates — exactly how much of each ingredient you need per minute
  7. Belt requirements — which belt tier can handle each material flow
  8. Total power consumption for the production line
  9. Space estimate — approximate footprint in foundation tiles

Pro Tip: For multi-step production chains (e.g., Reinforced Iron Plates in Satisfactory), calculate each step separately. Start with the raw input stage (smelters), then work forward through each assembly tier.

🏭 Satisfactory Ratio Reference

Base Smelting Ratios

Input Output Smelters per Belt Belt Tiers
Iron Ore → Iron Ingot 30 → 30/min 1 Mk.1 belt feeds 1 smelter Mk.1 (60/min) supports 2 smelters
Copper Ore → Copper Ingot 30 → 30/min Same as iron Mk.2 (120/min) supports 4 smelters
Limestone → Concrete 45 → 15/min 1 smelter per 45 ore input Mk.3 (270/min) supports 9 smelters
Caterium Ore → Caterium Ingot 45 → 30/min 2 smelters per Mk.2 belt Mk.4 (480/min) supports 16 smelters

Key Production Ratios

Item Machines Required Input Rate Output Rate Power (MW)
Iron Plate (30/min) 2 Constructors 60 Iron Ingots/min 30 Plates/min 8 MW
Screw (120/min) 2 Constructors 40 Iron Rods/min 120 Screws/min 8 MW
Reinforced Iron Plate (5/min) 1 Assembler 30 Plates + 60 Screws/min 5 RIPs/min 15 MW
Rotor (4/min) 1 Assembler 20 Rods + 100 Screws/min 4 Rotors/min 15 MW
Cable (60/min) 2 Constructors 60 Copper Ingots/min 60 Cables/min 8 MW
Wire (60/min) 2 Constructors 60 Copper Ingots/min 60 Wire/min 8 MW
Modular Frame (2/min) 1 Assembler 12 RIPs + 24 Rods/min 2 Frames/min 15 MW
Steel Beam (15/min) 1 Constructor 45 Steel Ingots/min 15 Beams/min 8 MW
Steel Pipe (20/min) 1 Constructor 40 Steel Ingots/min 20 Pipes/min 8 MW
Motor (2/min) 1 Assembler 6 Rotors + 12 Stators/min 2 Motors/min 30 MW

Manufacturer Recipes

Item Inputs (per min) Output Power
Heavy Modular Frame 10 RIP + 30 Pipe + 10 Concrete + 40 Screw 2/min 75 MW
Computer 20 Circuit Board + 28 Cable + 4 Plastic 2.5/min 75 MW
Supercomputer 20 Computer + 10 AI Limiter + 60 High-Speed Connector + 20 Plastic 1/min 225 MW

💡 Factorio Ratio Reference

Smelting

Ore Furnace Type Output per Furnace Belt (Yellow) Belt (Red) Belt (Blue)
Iron Ore Stone Furnace 22.5/min 13 furnaces 26 furnaces 39 furnaces
Iron Ore Steel Furnace 45/min 7 furnaces 13 furnaces 20 furnaces
Copper Ore Stone Furnace 22.5/min 13 furnaces 26 furnaces 39 furnaces
Copper Ore Steel Furnace 45/min 7 furnaces 13 furnaces 20 furnaces
Steel Steel Furnace 22.5/min 13 furnaces (5 iron:1 steel) 26 furnaces 39 furnaces

Core Production Chains

Item Machines Input Output Notes
Copper Wire 1 Assembler (T2) 1 Copper Plate/s 2 Wire/s Speed module candidates
Electronic Circuit 1 Assembler (T2) 1.5 Wire + 1 Iron Plate/s 1 Circuit/s Your first production bottleneck
Iron Gear Wheel 1 Assembler (T2) 1 Iron Plate/s 2 Gears/s One gear assembler feeds ~10 red science assemblers
Iron Stick 1 Assembler (T1) 1 Iron Plate → 2 Sticks/s 2 Sticks/s Used in transport belts
Pipe 1 Assembler (T1) 1 Iron Plate/s 2 Pipes/s For fluid handling
Belt (Yellow) 1 Assembler (T1) 1 Iron Gear + 1 Plate/s 2 Belts/0.5s 1 assembler = 4 belts/s
Inserter 1 Assembler (T2) 1 Circuit + 1 Gear + 1 Plate/s 1 Inserter/s

Science Pack Ratios

Science Pack Recipe Materials (per pack) Optimal Ratio
Red (Automation) 1 Gear + 1 Plate 1 Iron Plate, 1 Gear 5 assemblers (10/s for 1/s)
Green (Logistic) 3 Inserter + 1 Belt 1.5 Circuit + 1 Gear + 1 Plate 6 assemblers (12/s for 2/s)
Gray (Military) 1 Piercing Round + 1 Grenade 1 Plate + 1 Copper + 1 Coal + 1 Iron + 1 Steel 3 assemblers per 1/s
Blue (Chemical) 1 Engine + 1 Red Circuit + 1 Sulfur 2 Pipe + 1 Gear + 4.5 Copper + 2 Plastic + 1.5 Iron 1 assembler per 1/s
Purple (Production) 1 Electric Furnace + 1 Productivity 1 20 Iron + 5 Copper + 10 Circuit + 5 Plastic 2/s requires 3 assemblers
Yellow (Utility) 1 Express Splitter + 1 Speed 1 10 Iron + 7.5 Copper + 2 Circuit + 2 Plastic + 1 Battery 1/s requires 2 assemblers

Classic 1 Science Per Second Setup

Item Assemblers Needed Input Materials / min
Red Science 5 60 Iron Plates, 60 Gears
Green Science 6 90 Iron, 90 Copper, 45 Circuits
Total iron demand — ~150 Iron Plates/min (3 steel furnaces on iron)
Total copper demand — ~90 Copper Plates/min (2 steel furnaces on copper)

🌌 Dyson Sphere Program Ratio Reference

Basic Smelting

Ore Smelter Output Smelters per Mk.I Belt Smelters per Mk.II Belt
Iron Ore → Iron Ingot 60/min 1 (60/min belt cap) 2 (120/min)
Copper Ore → Copper Ingot 60/min 1 2
Stone → Stone Brick 60/min 1 2
Coal → Graphite 60/min 1 2

Core Production Ratios

Item Machines Input Rate Output Rate Notes
Magnetic Coil 1 Assembler 60 Iron + 30 Copper/min 30 Coils/min Early game bottleneck
Circuit Board 1 Assembler 60 Iron + 30 Copper/min 30 Boards/min Rush this
Gear 1 Assembler 60 Iron/min 120 Gears/min 2:1 ratio vs iron input
Prism 1 Assembler 30 Glass/min 30 Prisms/min Glass needs stone smelting first
Plasma Exciter 1 Assembler 30 Prism + 15 Coil/min 15 Exciter/min Mid-game component
Processor 1 Assembler 30 Board + 15 Microchip/min 15 Processors/min Your first big bottleneck
Particle Container 1 Assembler 30 Graphene + 15 Copper/min 10 Containers/min Unlock with yellow science

Matrix Lab (Science) Ratios

Matrix Color Recipe Labs for 1/s Notes
Energy Matrix Blue 1 Coal + 1 Magnet → 2 Matrix 1 Lab First science — rush to automate
Electromagnetic Matrix Red 2 Circuit + 1 Coil → 2 Matrix 2 Labs Requires circuit automation
Matter Matrix Yellow 1 Processor + 1 Prism + 1 Diamond → 2 Matrix 2 Labs Processor bottleneck is real
Information Matrix Purple 1 Chip + 1 Processor + 1 Plastic → 2 Matrix 3 Labs Endgame science requirement
Gravity Matrix Green 1 Graviton + 1 Processor + 1 Particle Container 4 Labs Endgame

Optimal Science Setup (1 Matrix / s each)

Color Labs Supporting Factory Requirement
Blue 1 60 Coal + 60 Magnet/min (one miner each)
Red 2 120 Circuit + 60 Coil/min (4 assemblers)
Yellow 2 30 Processor + 30 Prism + 15 Diamond/min
Purple 3 Heavy processor + microchip factory
Green 4 Full endgame factory with interstellar logistics

⚡ Power Consumption Reference

Satisfactory

Building Base Power (MW) Clock Speed Scaling
Constructor 4 Linearly proportional
Assembler 15 Linearly proportional
Manufacturer 75 Linearly proportional
Refinery 30 Linearly proportional
Smelter 4 Linearly proportional
Foundry 16 Linearly proportional
Miner Mk.1 5 Fixed per node purity
Miner Mk.2 12 Fixed per node purity
Miner Mk.3 30 Fixed per node purity
Oil Extractor 20 Fixed per node purity

Factorio

Building Power (kW) Power While Idle
Stone Furnace 90 kW 6 kW
Steel Furnace 180 kW 12 kW
Assembling Machine 1 75 kW 3.75 kW
Assembling Machine 2 150 kW 7.5 kW
Assembling Machine 3 375 kW 18.75 kW
Chemical Plant 210 kW 10.5 kW
Electric Mining Drill 90 kW 18 kW

Dyson Sphere Program

Building Power (MW) Notes
Mining Machine 0.5 Per unit
Smelter 0.3 Base consumption
Assembler I 0.3 Early game
Assembler II 0.5 Upgraded version
Assembler III 1.0 Endgame
Oil Refinery 1.0 Fluid processing
Chemical Plant 0.8 Advanced refining
Matrix Lab 1.5 Science production
Energy Exchanger 4.0 Accumulator charging

Optimization Tips by Game

Satisfactory

  • Underclock to save power. A Constructor at 50% clock speed uses only 2.5 MW (not 50% of 4 MW — it's actually less!). Power scales with clock speed^1.3219.
  • Belt bottlenecks are common. Always check the input/output rates in the calculator. A single Mk.1 belt (60/min) can only feed 2 smelters.
  • Use manifolds. Instead of splitting belts evenly, let one long belt feed machines sequentially. It takes time to fill up but requires fewer splitters.

Factorio

  • Direct insertion saves belt throughput. Feed Copper Wire directly into Green Circuit assemblers without belting it.
  • Priority splitting using splitter output filters helps manage multi-output production blocks.
  • Ratio perfection matters for science. A 5:6:12 (Red:Green:Blue) ratio is a common early-game template.
  • Use the calculator for complex chains like Purple/Yellow science where sub-component ratios multiply.

Dyson Sphere Program

  • Smelters first. Before building any complex chain, set up automated smelting of iron, copper, stone, and coal.
  • Interstellar logistics changes everything. Once you have ILS towers, production becomes about throughput, not adjacency.
  • Matrix labs consume massive power. A single 1/s science setup pulls 5+ MW from your grid.
  • Build ratios matter early. A 2:1 assembler ratio (Circuit Board → Processor) is the most common bottleneck spot.



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