Manufacturing

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In the EvE universe, most items are manufactured by player characters and traded in a relatively free way in the marketplace. Students of economics will note that these markets are neither perfect nor efficient in the technical senses; volumes of many items are low enough that the market can be manipulated (and is), and supply of materials and modules is partly provided by loot drops in missions, which can be adjusted without warning by the game developers. Similarly, the developers may adjust the requirements for a manufacturing process, or increase the availability of ore, or otherwise mess in the sandbox. So it's not a bad proxy for real life at that. (All these interventions have happened within the 90 days prior to this writing.)

Nonetheless, manufacturing and selling items can provide interest and ISK profit for the careful and canny player. The player must be aware, however, that there are plenty of items which actually destroy value -- that is, there are a great number of T1 items, modules especially, that are worth less than the cost of manufacture. There are many more items which can be sold at a profit, but only in a limited volume in certain markets. Manufacture in these cases may simply be an alternative to hauling stuff between markets.

T1 Production

Skills

The following skills are useful or required for T1 production. Most or all of these will be needed for T2/T3 production as well.

Production Skills

Production skills are found in the Industry category. Basic:

• Industry - 4% reduction in manufacturing time per skill level.

At least level 1 is required to use most blueprints, and level 3 is required for further manufacturing skills. The speed bonus increases the rate at which you can produce items (and therefore, produce profit) and reduces installation costs slightly.

Increase number of concurrent jobs:

• Mass Production - Allows 1 additional job per level.

By default, all characters can run 1 manufacturing job at a time. Training this skill lets you run additional jobs simultaneously from 2 jobs at level I up to 6 jobs at level V. Any industrialist who wants to create things will need to train this to IV or V fairly early in their plans. Level 5 is required for:

• Advanced Mass Production - Allows 1 additional job per level.

The current NPC price for this skill is 20M ISK. So if you invest, train it to level IV quickly. At level I you'll be able to use a total of 7 job slots (1 base + 5 from mass production + 1 from this skill) up to a total of 11 slots at level V. Most people stop training after level IV and instead choose to roll up a new production alt.

Reduce materials needed:

• Production Efficiency - 4% reduction per skill level to the material requirements needed for production.

If you are just production ammo for your own use, training this skill to level III or IV is all that is needed as you won't care about an extra 8-12% waste. But for the profit-minded industrialist, training this skill to level V is a very strong recommendation.

Allow remote management of jobs:

• Supply Chain Management - Proficiency at starting manufacturing jobs remotely. Each level increases the distance at which jobs can be created. Level 1 allows for range within the same solar system, Level 2 extends that range to systems within 5 jumps, and each subsequent level then doubles it. Level 5 allows for full regional range.

This skill is more of a convenience skill then a must-have for a budding industrialist. The current NPC cost is 6.75M ISK, but it allows you to manage your production lines for a distance. If you invest in this skill, training to level III or maybe level IV would offer the most flexibility. Note that you still have to haul the materials and blueprint to the relevant station.

Research Skills

Research skills are found in the Science category.

Basic:

• Science – 5% Bonus to blueprint copying speed per level.

Basic skill, reduces time needed to create BPCs. Level 3 is required for Research.

Time reduction:

• Research – 5% bonus to blueprint manufacturing time research per skill level.

• Metallurgy - 5% Bonus to material efficiency research speed per skill level.

Increase number of concurrent jobs:

• Laboratory Operation – allows you to run a research operation, either ME or PL, per level.

Basically equivalent to the Mass Production skills. Level 5 is required for:

• Advanced Laboratory Operation – allows you to run a research operation, either ME or PL, per level.

Blueprints

All manufacturing jobs require a blueprint. These come in two forms: originals (BPOs) with infinite runs and copies (BPCs) that can only be run a limited number of times. For most blueprints, a single run of a blueprint will produce a single item, but there are some exceptions including ammo, which produces 100 ammo per run. BPCs are produced through copying (T1) and invention (T2).

T1 BPOs are seeded by various NPC traders, with costs varying from 100,000 to 72 billion ISK.

Blueprints have a "Bill of Materials": this is a list of the materials and skills that a single run of the blueprint requires. Most simple blueprints require Industry 1 to run, although more advanced blueprints will require more advanced skills, probably increasing the total cost of owning the blueprint.

Blueprints have a number of attributes that affect the efficiency of the BPO. All newly purchased BPOs have a degree of wastage associated with them. These are split into:

• Material Level

New BPO's will always use 10% more material than ideal, independent of character skill. The level of material waste is controlled by the Material Efficiency (ME) level, and can be reduced by performing Material Research at a laboratory slot. With no skills, blueprints will have an additional 20% material waste, which is reduced with the Production Efficiency skill.

• Productivity Level

As with ME, the amount of time needed to produce the item will take x% longer than ideal. The level of time waste is controlled by the PE level, and performing Time Efficiency Research at a laboratory slot will reduce the wasted time during manufacture.

Both forms of research are subject to fairly severe stacking penalties, so while a few levels of research are almost mandatory on most blueprints, it becomes much less worthwhile after that. Free research slots in public stations are extremely hard to find, and most stations have a queue of two weeks or more to do research. The University provides a service to research BPOs for students who have the R&D or Graduate titles.