Science & Industry

1x Factory Planet - makes p2/p3, harvests nothing. (may not need one depending on what your trying to make.)

1-5x Harvesting planets - 1-2 extractors on each and refine to at least p1 if not p2.

Your launchpad is connected to everything. Route everything through it.

The actual command center building doesn't need to be attached to anything.

Easiest products to start out with and that are almost always profitable are pos fuels.

Do it in Low if you can. I've been using CovOps'ed Blockade Runners for 2 1/2 years of across 5 toons and 3 regions and never been caught once. Would not this apply in Null as well though ? I've not had experience there.

If you're in the same system and you have a POS just use a T1 hauler.
I've only been SB'd once in 3 months.

Production
Extraction



It's up to you to get the ratio of extraction planets per single production planet as close as possible. (it's normally 2 extractors of the same resource per production planet that's using that type.) On a 2 day cycle, to keep the production planets running. <- and that's the goal.

EG my lava is ****** for magma so I'm having to use 3 extraction installs just to keep up. The rest are 2 per.

Because the amount of product you pull from each planet will be different you'll never get it exact. So long as you don't end up with 500k of 1 and 0 of something else you'll be fine.

It took me 6 weeks to iron out the rates with 28 extractors and 10 production installations.

I concur. If you are in LS, WH or Null I recommend a cloaky. If your local chat in LS or Null is dead, use a T1 hauler. Do NOT use a freighter, it's way overkill for the m3 space you'll use.

My addition to the comments above: pay attention to the tax rates on these planets as they'll eat into your profit margins. Do you know the corps that run the POCOs? Can you negotiate a better price? Aim for 5%, which is a standard among 'friends'. To that end, though, can your corp set up their own POCOs? Food for thought...

Secondly, if transferring between planets is okay due to low/no taxes, then yes, go with the setup above (manufacturing planet, etc.).

Third - my frank recommendation is this: look at what P2/3 products are in constant demand. And I mean constant - some of these PI products fluctuate depending on what's being produced out there. Some standards that never change: Hobgoblin II's need Guidance Systems to make; POS fuel needs Robotics, Coolant, Mechanics, and E. Uranium; T2 Missiles, HAMS, etc need Rocket Fuel; etc. ... All these products are consumed rapidly and often, and the demand remains constant. If you produce these, you'll never see your profit margins shift rapidly and can predict your income. It's up to you and what your desire is.

One last thing: whatever you choose, stick with it. Changing your PI setup constantly gets costly and messes with your production outflow rates way more than you want. Once you dedicate yourself to it, stay with it. Only change if the market drops so hard that it makes you change. The only little changes you should be making are the tweaking on the P0 end to maximize the output for the factories, which takes time (if you are that anal about it).

PI is a pain, but glad to see someone else really investing time into researching it. The right PI setup on the right planets with the right POCO owner can net you enough to pay your account every month :)

Good luck o7
Coffee