Lab — Factorio Production Calculator
Lab is crafted in the assembling machine in 2 seconds, producing 1 per craft from 10 × Electronic circuit, 10 × Iron gear wheel, 4 × Transport belt. At 60 per minute you need 4 assembling machines, and the chain behind it draws on 2 raw resources: iron ore, copper ore.
Production chain for 60 Lab / minute
| Item | Per minute | Machines | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron plate | 2,160 | 115.2 | Furnace |
| Copper cable | 1,800 | 15 | Assembling machine |
| Copper plate | 900 | 48 | Furnace |
| Iron gear wheel | 720 | 12 | Assembling machine |
| Electronic circuit | 600 | 10 | Assembling machine |
| Transport belt | 240 | 2 | Assembling machine |
| Lab | 60 | 4 | Assembling machine |
Raw materials
| Resource | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Iron ore | 2,160 |
| Copper ore | 900 |
Machine counts are not rounded up. Add a little headroom in game — belt throughput and inserter speed usually mean you want 5-10% more than the exact number.
Lab recipe
| Machine | Crafting time | Output | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembling machine | 2 s | 1 | Electronic circuit × 10, Iron gear wheel × 10, Transport belt × 4 |
What the whole chain needs
60 labs per minute pulls in 6 intermediate products, and the whole tree comes to 206 machines across 2 machine types, fed by 2 raw resources. The table above already sums demand across every branch — if copper cable is used by two recipes, you see the total, not one of them.
Belt check: the busiest input here moves 2,160 per minute, which is 2.4 of a yellow belt's 900 per minute. Above 1.0 and you need a second belt (or a faster tier) before the machines themselves become the limit.
What uses lab
No base-game recipe consumes lab — it is an end product. Once you build it, the chain stops here, which makes it a good target if you only want to size the sub-factory that feeds your mall.
What lab is made from
- Electronic circuit — 10 per craft
- Iron gear wheel — 10 per craft
- Transport belt — 4 per craft
FAQ
How many assembling machines do I need for 60 labs per minute?
4 assembling machines. One at standard speed produces 15 per minute, so 60 ÷ that number is the count. The calculator above rounds nothing — add 5-10% headroom for belt and inserter losses in a real factory.
How much raw ore does lab take?
At 60/min the chain consumes 2,160 iron ore per minute, 900 copper ore per minute. Those numbers are the theoretical minimum — mining productivity research and productivity modules both reduce them.
Machine counts assume bare machines at standard speed. Recipe data comes from the game's own prototypes (PlayerCalc, Factorio 2.0 base game). Not affiliated with Wube Software.