A main bus is one spine of belts carrying common materials to every branch line. It is the classic Satisfactory layout and it scales well — but only if you size each lane to the real throughput numbers rather than guessing.
Belt throughput, by mark
These are the exact items-per-minute values for each conveyor mark, from the game data:
| Belt mark | Items / minute | Unlocked at |
|---|---|---|
| Mk.1 | 60 | Tier 0 (HUB upgrade 4) |
| Mk.2 | 120 | Tier 2 |
| Mk.3 | 270 | Tier 4 |
| Mk.4 | 480 | Tier 5 |
| Mk.5 | 780 | Tier 7 |
| Mk.6 | 1,200 | Tier 9 |
A Mk.2 belt carries exactly twice a Mk.1; a Mk.3 is 2.25× a Mk.2. Plan each lane to the mark you can unlock at the tier you are building for, and upgrade the belt rather than doubling machines when you outgrow it.
Machine footprints
Every branch factory sits beside the bus, so its floor space matters. Real footprints from the building data:
| Building | Footprint | Inputs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | 8 × 10 | 1 belt | Makes parts (iron rod, wire, etc.) |
| Assembler | 9 × 16 | 2 belt | Makes components (Smart Plating, etc.) |
| Manufacturer | 18 × 20 | 4 belt | Late-game parts (Modular Engine, etc.) |
| Foundry | 10 × 10 | 2 belt | Alloy ingots |
| Blender | 18 × 16 | 2 belt + 2 pipe | Fluid recipes |
| Refinery | 10 × 22 | 1 belt + 1 pipe | Oil processing |
| Storage Container | 5 × 11 | 1 in / 1 out | Buffer on the bus |
A Manufacturer takes more than twice an Assembler’s floor space, so leave wider bays for the late-game branches.
How to lay it out
- Pick one direction for the spine and run it straight — long, straight belts cost nothing and stay readable.
- Give each material its own belt lane; never merge branch outputs back onto the spine.
- Use splitters to tap branches so the bus direction stays one-way.
- Buffer each material in a Storage Container (5 × 11) at the tap point so a branch never starves.
- Expand by adding a parallel lane per material, not by rebuilding.
A bus that grows by adding lanes beats a bus rebuilt every tier. Label each section by material, because a bus past 20 lanes is unreadable without labels.
Common mistakes
- Merging branch outputs back into the spine, which breaks the one-way flow.
- One belt per material at the start, then refusing to add lanes when demand climbs.
- Branching without splitters, so one branch steals from another.
- A bus too short to reach the late-game branches it needs to feed.