Supply Stockpile/Stockpile extension

Production Line Suggestions
1

Hello,

Stockpiles seem to be very unbalanced at the moment.
The loading frequency is way to low in comparison to normal(upgraded) importers.

I see stockpiles as a buffer between manufacturing and mounting stations and those buffers require space and money, but should increase productivity as enough goods are always in reserve to keep the machines running. What happens in production line is that the buffers are actually so slow that it’s better to avoid them alltogether.
In the attached screenshot I placed three stockpiles between three window and two wing mirror fitting stations.
I set all fitting stations to prefer local sources (I did a similar setup with the door panels that were actually manufactured by me). As a result all stations are waiting for resources, it doesn’t matter how many stockpiles I put in there - even if I have one window fitter and have one stockpile deliver windows and one deliver servos I am waiting for resources 50%…
The point isn’t only that the importer works better without a stockpile interfering, but that a manufacturing of parts lacks in the possibility to distribute those parts effectively.

I see three solutions to this:

  1. Increase loading frequency according to research to keep up with importers, (maybe) even surpassing them. While drastically increasing cost to keep stockpiles. Easiest one programming wise.
  2. Have an upgrade for the stations (imagine two layers of storage rack) that increases the storage space (especially if complexity increases and you need servos sensors and other stuff for one step of production, there are stations that have a really small storage and then have to idle, waiting for newly ordered components…). Isometrically shifted second and maybe third layer of stockpile, some textures of steel construction for racks.
  3. A placable mini storage extension that has to be placed right next to the stockpile of the different stations and delivers instantly without need for resource conveyors. Easy to place but maybe hardest to implement as you have to differentiate between stockpiles placed next to two production sites… which one belongs where?

Thanks for reading, apart from that I really enjoy the game.

Smada

image
screenshot_26-05-2017_23-39-19.jpg1920×1080 1.46 MB

2

This is an issue I run into frequently as well. In some cases it’s hard to feed the machines fast enough.

An additional solution which could work in some cases is to split the process even further. For example, “Fit Seats” with the “Leather Interior”, “Heated Seats”, and “Powered Seats” upgrades applied requires 6 resources in total:

2x Seat
2x Leather
1x Heater
1x Servo

Perhaps there could be a component “Leather Seat” that you can manufacture at a “Make Leather Seat” station. Or why not a “Make Seat” station that can be upgraded to produce seats with Leather and a Heater already implemented? That way you could have a “Fit Seats” station that only needs 3 resources:

2x Seat (with leather and/or heater)
1x Servo

This would mean you can have enough resources for 5 cars at the “Fit Seats” station, instead of the current 2 + spare parts.

3

That may be a good fix, and It would be something to look at for the Fit Door Panels slot as well, Fully Upgraded each car can take up to 9 components. A Build Door slot would be nice, so then there are only 4 components to use.

That still leaves the fit windows which for sedans is always asking for 9 components as well. 4 Servo and 5 Windows. (well, Ive been watching it, and it seems to change, sometimes its 3 windows, then 5 windows. Seems to vary from sedan to sedan)

4

what is the current situation with your idea?