Factorio belts and inserters: first automatic smelting line

Separate transport from transfer

Belts carry items across the factory while inserters move them between belts, machines and containers. A furnace beside a conveyor does not necessarily receive everything it needs automatically; a working transfer path is required. The first useful automation exercise is one ore source feeding a furnace and an output route collecting plates.

Think in arrows: ore from drill to belt, belt to furnace, fuel to furnace where needed, and completed plates from furnace to storage. Drawing those arrows on paper often reveals an omitted inserter.

Build one repeatable module

Place one furnace near an ore feed and make sure its inputs are supplied. Use inserters to load and unload where the recipe and machine require them. Observe several complete production cycles before copying the design along the line.

Use the game interface to inspect which machine is missing a resource. A half-full belt does not prove an inserter can grab the item it needs; position, direction and the belt lane all matter.

1. 01Supply one machine and confirm that it completes a cycle.
2. 02Add an output path and verify plates are removed.
3. 03Copy only after the single-machine module works.

Expand without hiding mistakes

When production stalls, trace the line from input to output. A full output chest, blocked conveyor, incorrect insertion direction or insufficient fuel can all look like a broken furnace. Solve the nearest observable bottleneck first.

Avoid expanding ten machines at once and guessing which one is failing. Small modules give you an easier debugging path and form the building blocks of a larger factory.