IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FED2
BUSINESSES AND FACTORIES
RUNNING YOUR FACTORY
Now you have a factory, you can sit back and let it get on with making you money. Well, almost. Factories do take a little bit of management!
You can look at the factory details with 'DI FACTORY factory#':
Newbod Enterprises: Clays Production Facility #1
Location: Rigel 4 Status: Running
Finance:
Working Capital: 38125 Top Up Level: 100000
Income: 1248000 Expenditure: 630825
Profit last company accounting period: 0
Structure:
Nominal Efficiency: 100% Current: 100%
Maximum Storage: 150 tons Available: 75 tons
Workers:
Required: 120 Hired: 120 Wages: 40
Inputs:
Mechparts Required: 10 Available: 75
LubOils Required: 15 Available: 75
Output:
Stored: 75 tons of Clays
Dispose of Clays to exchange where possible
Next batch is 1% complete
First, you have to make sure the factory has the raw materials it needs - look at the Inputs part of the display. The factory will first look for its inputs in the depot on the planet. If there are none in the depot (or if you don't have a depot) it will try to buy what it needs from the local exchange. If it still can't get its requirements, it won't be able to run. It will always take a 75 ton container, regardless of how much the factory actually needs.
If the goods are taken from the depot, the factory pays the business the base price for them. If the goods are bought from the exchange, the factory pays the current exchange selling price.
The factory also needs workers, so you need to hire yourself a labor force, by setting the level of wages you are willing to pay, using 'SET FACTORY factory# WAGES amount' - for example, 'set factory 1 wages 40'. Workthings will not show up for work if you set the wages at less than 40. If there is a shortage of workers on the planet, they will go to the factory paying the highest wages. The factory won't run unless it can get the full number of workthings needed.
Since wages cost money, and so does buying inputs from the exchange, part of the cost of building a factory is given to the factory as a float - the working capital, which starts out at 100,000 ig. This goes down as the factory pays for inputs and workers, and up as it receives payment for the output. The factory display shows the current working capital level. Each day at reset the business siphons off the surplus, or tops up the deficit (should the factory have made a loss), to bring the working capital back to the top off level.
The first factory cycle after you buy a factory, it will show a huge loss. Don't be alarmed - this is simply because before it can produce anything at all, the factory will buy up 75 tons of each required input, and pay wages for the first cycle. But after a few cycles, when the output is distributed, that will bring money into the factory to offset the expenses. The factory display shows the income and expenditure for the factory, which is cumulative until the end of the business accounting cycle; it also shows the profit for the previous cycle.
Assuming the factory can get the inputs and labor it needs, it will start the production lines rolling.
The factory takes one factory cycle to produce a 75 ton container of the product - the progress through the cycle is shown on the factory display as a percentage. If you leave Fed2 DataSpace, the factory will continue to run, but at a reduced speed - 75% to be precise. The running speed for the whole cycle is determined by your presence or absence at the start of the cycle.
At the end of the cycle, your first container of product will appear. Cause for celebration, break out the bubbly...
The finished product is stored in the factory's storage space. There's room in the basic storeroom for 150 tons of goods - two containers. When the third container is produced, the goods in the storeroom are distributed, and the third one placed in the storeroom. Should you wish to distribute the goods before the storeroom is full, you can flush them using 'FLUSH FACTORY factory#', in which case they will be sent on to their destination.
When the goods are distributed, they can either be stored in the depot or sold directly on the exchange. You specify the destination with 'SET FACTORY factory# OUTPUT exchange|depot'. Of course, if you set the output to depot but the depot is full - or you don't have a depot on the planet - the goods are sold on the exchange anyway.
You should be careful about directing the output to the exchange if you're not going to be around to keep an eye on it. Prices and planetary requirements fluctuate, so if you don't keep an eye on the exchanges, you may find you are selling goods for less than the base price, which is no way to make a profit. Make sure your depot doesn't fill up, either - if it does, the factory will end up selling to the exchange. Empty your depot before you log off.
If the exchange wants to buy the goods, it will pay the current exchange buying price. If it doesn't want them the exchange will look for a private buyer for the goods, at a reduced price.
At the end of the cycle, the work force is released back to the labor market, and has to be rehired for the next cycle. That's the power of the unions for you - always trying to negotiate a better deal. If you can't hire workers, you will have to wait until one of the other factories finishes a batch and workers come onto the market, for you to try to recruit at a higher wage.
Should you wish to halt production in a factory temporarily, you can mothball it using the command 'SET FACTORY factory# STATUS STOP'. This is a good idea if you're going to be away for a while, and won't be able to keep an eye on the factory. To start it up again, use 'SET FACTORY factory# STATUS RUN', at which point it will take up from where it left off.
If you realize you've bought a duff factory, you can dispose of it with 'SELL FACTORY factory#'. You will receive between 500,000 ig and 1,500,000 ig for a factory which is at 100% efficiency; the price will be adjusted up and down accordingly if the efficiency is higher or lower.
You can also sell a depot with 'SELL DEPOT planetname', for which you will realize 500,000 ig for a basic depot, and 750,000 ig for an enhanced one.
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