LogFAQs > #973318974

I usually set up engines for direct insertion when I do blue science. They take 10 seconds to build, blue science consumes 2 every 24, which is close enough to 1:1 that just slapping down a row of 12 engine assemblers next to a row of 12 science assemblers does the job nicely. With Assembler 2's, that works out to 0.75 engines per second, which consumes 3 iron and 0.75 steel per second, or about 5 steel furnaces producing iron and 6-7 producing steel.

As far as expanding indefinitely goes, remember that you're limited by belt throughput. Putting down a line of 200 engine assemblers might seem like an easy way to expand production, but a yellow belt full of pipes will only be able to supply 100 of those. Engines aren't necessarily the best way to illustrate this, since they're a slower recipe, but for something like green circuits you can pretty quickly exhaust what even a blue belt can give you (one AM2 will consume 2.25 copper per second, so one blue belt will cap out at 20). Scaling up will eventually require you to have multiple subfactories operating in parallel, though you'll likely be able to launch your first rocket without running into that issue.