In Big Ambitions 1.0, the normal automated chain is Importer → Factory → Warehouse → Store. You generally do not route a warehouse's imported stock backward into a factory. Assign factory raw-material contracts directly to the factory, then use a factory logistics route to move finished goods to a warehouse.

Why older guides show a different route

EA 0.10 separated factories and warehouses into distinct business roles. The factory overhaul also changed production flow, ingredient handling, speed, producible items, and the effect of Factory Worker skill. Pre-0.10 advice that treats a factory as a warehouse which can deliver directly to stores is outdated.

The developer's current model is explicit:

  • factories manufacture goods;
  • factories can send finished goods to warehouses;
  • warehouses distribute those goods to stores; and
  • factories can sell excess production back to import/export companies.

Leg 1: importer to factory

Use a Purchasing Agent in your HQ to contract with the importer that supplies the recipe's raw ingredients. Select the factory itself as the destination for those materials. The factory must have compatible storage and enough free capacity when the order is processed.

Check success by watching the raw material appear in factory inventory and then decrease when the production line runs.

Leg 2: factory production

The factory turns raw inputs into intermediate or finished products. Every required machine, workstation, scheduled Factory Worker, input, and output location must be available. If production stops here, a warehouse route cannot compensate; diagnose the factory before changing delivery targets.

Check success by confirming finished goods move out of the production station and into accessible factory storage.

Leg 3: factory to warehouse

Give the factory its own scheduled Logistics Manager, driver, assigned vehicle, and warehouse destination. Set a destination target for each finished product. The route sends enough available stock toward that warehouse target, limited by source inventory, storage room, and transport capacity.

Check success by confirming factory stock falls and warehouse stock rises after the scheduled route.

Leg 4: warehouse to store

The warehouse uses a separate Logistics Manager route to send products to retail destinations. Add each store, choose the products it can accept, and set a store target. A store at or above target receives nothing, which is correct behavior.

Check success by confirming warehouse stock falls and the correct store inventory rises.

What if raw ingredients are already in a warehouse?

The reviewed sources establish direct importer-to-factory supply as the standard workflow but do not establish a universal reverse-transfer rule for every 1.0 warehouse and factory combination. Before redesigning the chain:

  1. check whether the current Logistics Manager UI offers the factory as a destination;
  2. test one small transfer if it does;
  3. keep the raw-material importer contract pointed at the factory for future orders; and
  4. avoid assuming a selectable destination is equally efficient or supported in every build.

If no factory destination is offered from the warehouse, move only the stranded stock manually or consume it elsewhere; do not invent a route the UI does not support.

Prevent stock from backing up

  • Set the factory-to-warehouse target high enough for store demand plus a reserve, but within warehouse capacity.
  • Size warehouse-to-store targets from actual sales.
  • Reduce factory schedules or production when finished goods accumulate faster than stores consume them.
  • Use a documented factory export destination for excess only after the warehouse reserve is protected.
  • Test each leg separately after changing a manager, vehicle, business type, or storage layout.