Science & Industry

Good day,

I'm a newbie to planetary interaction, and I was hoping someone could give me some additional help with regard to visualizing the math and physical setup needed for making a processing-oriented colony.

(apologies, as I had a really long post made earlier, but the forums ate my post and didn't publish it, so I'm more frustrated now)

Right now, I've got a colony on a barren planet in high security space where, for practice, I created an extraction system for noble and base metals. The thing is, the output is really horrible anyway, so I decided I'd remove the extractors and make the system more of a processing system instead of an extraction system.

The end result is to make mechanical parts that I would put up for sale at a profit.

My issue is two-fold. The first issue is that I can't visualize the math needed to make a profit and the second is that I don't quite understand the mechanics required to make a processing oriented setup.

First issue:
It takes 3000 base and noble metals to make 20 tier 2 products needed for Tier 3 production, and to make one set of 5 tier 3 products, I should be getting 40 of each tier 2 product.

Right now, 210 mechanical parts are selling for 8000 ISK a piece in JITA. In my mind, this means that I should be buying either 6000 of each Tier 1 ingredient for a total less than 40,000 ISK (the price of five mechanical parts) or 40 of each tier 2 ingredient for less than 40,000 ISK, and then selling the Tier 3 product (the mechanical parts) for More than 8000 a piece to make a good enough profit.

Is my reasoning sound, and is there a mathematical formula or a program I can use to help me with figuring out how to make a profit?

Second Issue:

How do I make an effective processing setup? I'm not sure what the colony should look like, and what routes the items should take, so I'd appreciate some assistance. :D

BONUS!

Just for clarification: Do I use a customs office to send stuff From my ship to the setup I have on the planet?

Thank you for your time.

Oh man, that spreadsheet is amazing. Gives me better ideas for understanding it all, though I'm still kinda hoping for more explanation if my reasoning is sound. :)

Thanks also for the PI link. Reading it is helpful! :D