How Manufacturing Jobs Work Step-by-Step

Once you have a blueprint and the required materials, the next step is creating a manufacturing job. A manufacturing job is the process that tells the game what you want to build, how many items you want to produce, where they should be built, and where the finished products should be delivered.

While the manufacturing interface may seem intimidating at first, every production job follows the same workflow. Once you understand each stage, manufacturing becomes a repeatable process that can be scaled from building a single module to running hundreds of production lines simultaneously.

This guide walks through the complete manufacturing process from selecting a blueprint to delivering the finished product.

Before You Can Start a Manufacturing Job

Before installing a manufacturing job, you must have everything required for production.

You will need:

A Blueprint Original (BPO) or Blueprint Copy (BPC)
The required materials
The necessary character skills
Access to a manufacturing facility
Enough ISK to pay the installation cost
An available manufacturing slot

If any of these requirements are missing, the job cannot be started.

Step 1 – Open the Industry Window

The Industry window is where all manufacturing, research, copying, invention, and reaction jobs are managed.

To open it:

Neocom → Industry

This window allows you to:

View available blueprints
Start manufacturing jobs
Monitor active jobs
Deliver completed jobs
Access other industrial activities

For most manufacturing work, this will become one of the most frequently used windows in the game.

Step 2 – Select a Blueprint

Manufacturing always begins by selecting a blueprint.

Blueprints can be located in:

Item Hangar
Corporation Hangars
Containers
Asset locations
Personal blueprint collections

When selected, the Industry window displays important information including:

Item being produced
Required materials
Manufacturing time
Required skills
Material Efficiency (ME)
Time Efficiency (TE)
Manufacturing activity

Always verify you have selected the correct blueprint before continuing.

Step 3 – Choose the Manufacturing Activity

Many blueprints support multiple industrial activities.

Examples include:

Manufacturing
Material Efficiency Research
Time Efficiency Research
Blueprint Copying
Invention

For production, select:

Manufacturing

This tells the game you want to build the finished item rather than perform research.

Step 4 – Select a Manufacturing Facility

Next, choose where the item will be manufactured.

Available facilities include:

NPC Stations

Advantages:

Always available
Safe
Good for beginners

Disadvantages:

Higher installation costs
No production bonuses
Slower than specialised player structures

Player-Owned Structures

Engineering Complexes offer:

Material bonuses
Time bonuses
Reduced manufacturing costs
Specialized rigs

These are generally preferred for serious industrial production.

The facility you choose directly affects both manufacturing cost and production time.

Step 5 – Select the Input Location

The manufacturing system needs to know where your materials and blueprint are stored.

Choose the location containing:

Blueprint
Minerals
Components
Planetary materials
Any additional manufacturing inputs

If required materials are spread across multiple hangars or stations, the job cannot start until they are consolidated.

Step 6 – Choose the Output Location

Next, select where the completed items should be delivered.

Typical options include:

Personal Item Hangar
Corporation Hangar
Structure Storage

For organized industrial operations, many players separate:

Raw materials
Work in progress
Finished products

This makes large-scale manufacturing significantly easier to manage.

Step 7 – Choose the Number of Runs

One of the most important settings is the number of production runs.

A run represents one complete execution of the blueprint.

Examples:

A frigate blueprint:

1 run = 1 ship

An ammunition blueprint:

1 run = hundreds or thousands of ammunition

Increasing the number of runs increases:

Materials required
Manufacturing time
Total output

Running larger batches is generally more efficient than constantly restarting small jobs.

Step 8 – Review Material Requirements

Before starting the job, carefully review the materials.

The Industry window displays:

Required quantity
Available quantity
Missing materials
Waste reduction from ME research

If any materials are highlighted as missing, the job cannot begin.

This is an excellent opportunity to double-check whether purchasing additional materials is actually profitable.

Step 9 – Review Manufacturing Costs

Every manufacturing job has an installation cost.

This typically includes:

System Cost Index
Facility tax
Corporation tax (if applicable)
Structure owner fees

These costs vary depending on:

The system
The manufacturing facility
Local industrial activity

Busy manufacturing systems generally cost more than quieter locations.

Step 10 – Check Manufacturing Time

The interface displays the estimated completion time.

Production time depends on:

Blueprint Time Efficiency
Character skills
Structure bonuses
Implants
Manufacturing rigs

Always review the completion time before installing large production batches.

Long manufacturing jobs may tie up valuable production slots for days or weeks.

Step 11 – Install the Job

Once everything has been reviewed:

Click Start or Install Job.

The game will:

Reserve the production slot
Remove the installation fee
Lock the blueprint for the duration of the job
Begin manufacturing

The job now appears in your Industry window under Jobs.

Monitoring Active Jobs

Active jobs can be viewed at any time.

The Industry window shows:

Job progress
Remaining time
Facility
Blueprint
Output quantity
Status

This allows you to manage multiple manufacturing jobs simultaneously.

Large industrialists may have hundreds of active jobs running across several characters.

Delivering a Completed Job

Once manufacturing finishes, the items are not automatically placed into your hangar.

You must deliver the completed job.

Open the Industry window.

Select:

Completed Jobs

Click:

Deliver

The manufactured items are then transferred into the chosen output location.

Only after delivery can the items be:

Sold
Contracted
Used
Transported
Incorporated into another manufacturing chain

Cancelling a Manufacturing Job

Manufacturing jobs can be cancelled before completion.

However:

Progress made is lost.
Some materials may be consumed.
Installation costs are not refunded.
Time already invested cannot be recovered.

Cancelling production should generally be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Manufacturing Slots

Every character has a limited number of concurrent manufacturing jobs.

This limit is increased by training:

Mass Production
Advanced Mass Production

More production slots allow:

Greater manufacturing throughput
Better scaling
Increased ISK generation

One of the biggest milestones for any industrialist is expanding from a single production line to managing multiple simultaneous jobs.

Understanding the Job Cost Breakdown

Many new industrialists only look at material costs.

A manufacturing job actually includes several expenses:

Materials

Minerals, PI products, salvage, components, and reaction materials.

Installation Cost

Paid when the job begins.

Facility Tax

Charged by NPC stations or player-owned structures.

Corporation Fees

Some corporations charge members for using industrial facilities.

Logistics

Moving materials to and from production facilities also costs ISK or time.

A profitable manufacturer considers every one of these costs before beginning production.

Common Manufacturing Job Mistakes

Installing jobs without checking profitability

Always calculate expected profit before committing materials.

Manufacturing enormous batches immediately

Start with small production runs to test market demand.

Forgetting to deliver completed jobs

Finished products cannot be sold until the job is delivered.

Using expensive production slots for low-profit items

Manufacturing slots are valuable.

Prioritise products with strong demand and healthy profit margins.

Ignoring production time

A slower job with a slightly higher margin may actually generate less ISK over time than a faster-moving product.

Beginner Workflow Example

A typical manufacturing job might look like this:

Purchase a Blueprint Original for Small Hybrid Charges.
Buy the required minerals using market buy orders.
Move the minerals and blueprint to an Engineering Complex.
Open the Industry window.
Select the blueprint.
Choose Manufacturing.
Set the job to 20 production runs.
Review the material requirements and installation cost.
Install the job.
Wait for the production timer to complete.
Deliver the finished ammunition to your Item Hangar.
List the ammunition for sale on the market.

Once you are comfortable with this process, you can repeat it for virtually any manufacturable item in the game.

Scaling Manufacturing Jobs

As your industrial operation grows, you'll move beyond managing individual jobs and begin planning continuous production cycles. Instead of asking, "What should I build today?", successful manufacturers ask:

Which production slots will become available next?
Do I already have the materials for the next batch?
Which products have the healthiest margins this week?
Should I manufacture or sell my raw materials?
Are my blueprints already queued for the next production cycle?

Large-scale industrialists often keep production lines running continuously, with materials arriving, jobs starting, products finishing, and goods heading to market in an ongoing cycle.

Final Thoughts

Manufacturing jobs are the engine that powers every industrial operation in EVE Online. Although the interface contains many settings, the underlying process is straightforward: choose a blueprint, provide the required materials, select a facility, configure the job, and begin production.

As you gain experience, you'll spend less time learning how to install jobs and more time optimising what you build, where you build it, and how efficiently you can keep your production lines running. Mastering the manufacturing workflow is the first step toward building a profitable industrial enterprise, and every successful manufacturer—from solo producers to alliance logistics directors—starts with the same simple manufacturing job.