Researching blueprints

“So you want to sell me blueprints for a Dominix. I can get them anywhere. Get lost.” Jaxul sneered at the face on her screen. “Jita is full of people with blueprints for a Dominix. They all make the same ship, you know.” Her tone was tight and irritated.

“You may be correct, Madam,” the face on the screen said, “but how many of those blueprints will make you a ship with a 20 percent savings on materials, all at only 80 percent of time?”

Jaxul’s expression changed from irritation to interest. “Really? Tell me more.”

Researchers are the efficiency experts of New Eden. They exist to find a more efficient way to manufacture things, thus decreasing the costs and manufacturing time of various items. This is achieved by researching into the material and productivity of a blueprint originals (BPOs) at stations or starbases (including POSes).

Tools of the Trade

Skills

Advanced Laboratory Operation: This skill builds on Laboratory Operation. For each level of this skill you gain the ability to run 1 additional research job. Prerequisites is Science to level 3 and Laboratory Operation to level 5.

Laboratory Operation: This skill lets you use research facilities for copying and researching blueprints. For each level of this skill you gain the ability to run 1 additional research job. Prerequisite is Science to level 3.

Metallurgy: for each level of this skill you'll get a 5% bonus to material efficiency research speed. Prerequisite is Science to level 4.

Research: for each level of this skill you'll get a 5% bonus to blueprint manufacturing time research speed. Prerequisite is Science to level 3.

Science: for each level of this skill you'll get a 5% bonus to blueprint copying speed.

Scientific Networking: Skill at running research operations remotely. Each level increases the distance at which research projects can be started. Level 1 allows for range within the same solar system, Level 2 extends that range to systems within 5 jumps, and each subsequent level then doubles it. Level 5 allows for full regional range.

Blueprints

All new blueprint originals bought from the market from an NPC corporation come with a material level and a production level of zero. This means that in order to manufacture one item from that blueprint it will take the maximum amount of materials and time to do so. In other words, the blueprint is not as efficient as it could be and it will cost the manufacturer more than it could to produce one item, making the profit margin smaller than it could be.

The Researcher at Work

Once you have a laboratory slot available to you and you've got the BPO you want to work with there are several ways you can make ISK off your talents:

• Resell a researched BPO via a contract. This typically works out best for Tech I modules, ammo, and small ships where the investment on a BPO isn't too great, and it is unlikely that copies of the BPO will be purchased.
• Research a BPO, make limited run copies of it and sell those via contract. This typically works best for more expensive BPOs such as the ones that create components for capital ships. Manufacturers may not want to invest the ISK needed for capital ship component BPOs, but will be happy with a good profit margin when investing in efficient BPCs.
• Leverage your BPOs to go through the process of invention to make Tech II BPCs which can then be sold via contract.

Note that copying blueprints and researching the material efficiency and time efficiency of a blueprint all follow the same steps to install a job as manufacturing an item does.

Material Efficiency

Material (Efficiency) Research (abbr. ME) reduces the amount of manufacturing materials wasted in the process of producing from that blueprint. The materials required to manufacture from the blueprint are dynamically updated in the blueprint details as your Production Efficiency skill and the level of ME research on the blueprint increases.

Blueprints with level 0 ME normally have 10% material waste, though there are known cases of 5% and 0% waste. Each level of ME reduces the remaining amount of wasted materials by ever decreasing amounts; increasing the level of ME research will yield a lower reduction in wasted materials at higher ME levels.

The ME level that results in a BPO with 0% waste, resulting from the blueprint, is called 'Perfect ME', and varies between blueprints. This level is determined by the highest demanded material for production (normally Tritanium). This is discussed, in detail, in this forum thread and this PDF.

See also Material research

Production Efficiency

Production efficiency (abbr. PE) reduces the time required to manufacture one batch of an item with the respective blueprint. This time is dynamically updated on the blueprint original each time a level of PE is researched. Each level of PE will decrease the time required to produce one batch by a differing amount that is relative to how many levels you have already researched. The more levels you already have, the less effect each additional research level has.

Blueprint Copying

This research creates copies with the same ME/PE level as the original. Such copies may only be used for a limited number of manufacturing jobs, also known as runs, until the Blueprint is used up and destroyed.

Invention

In order to access advanced technological items, invention is required to upgrade a Blueprint copy from Tech I to Tech II. This is a complex process and there are no guarantees the process will succeed. However a successful invention result is entirely worth the risk and effort.

Installing A Blueprint For Research

To use a factory slot for manufacturing, researching the material efficiency of your Blueprint, invention, etc open the Science and Industry tool. Go to the Blueprints or Corp Blueprints tab depending on the ownership of the Blueprint you are using and find the Blueprint in the list. The Blueprint can also be located via the assets window or from the hanger floor. However the Blueprint is found, right click it and select the option desired (manufacturing, copying etc).

You will be asked to pick an installation and once you have found an open slot and clicked on "use assembly line" in the "slot" window, you will be brought back to the previous window. There you can make final changes like changing the Blueprint, input and output hangars, the amount of additional levels of ME/PE research desired and how many runs you want to perform. A final confirmation window pops up, notifying you about any missing materials or skills required to perform the task at hand, the total cost of the job, and the time needed to complete the job. If everything is in order then click on the "accept quote" button. Your job will be installed and you can then view its status in the Jobs tab of Science and Industry window at any time.

When the job is done, click on the job in your jobs listing, and then click on the "deliver" button in the lower right corner of the Science and Industry tool.

Tech II Blueprints

If you are lucky enough to own one of the rare Tech II BPOs in New Eden it is important to know that the research and copying of them is slightly more complex than with Tech I blueprints. In addition to the blueprint itself, you will need to supply some material components along with the appropriate research databases (RDb). The material components will be consumed during the research process but the RDbs will be returned, often somewhat damaged.

Special science skills are also required for these processes, with different skills being required for different types of blueprints. Make sure you have the required skills trained and that the required items are in the station where your research job will be run, then install the blueprint into a laboratory.

Advice and Tips

Material (Efficiency) Research Formulas

Material (Efficiency) Research (abbr. ME) reduces the material waste during production. This material waste is listed in the blueprint details as a percentage (%), named the 'Wastage Factor'. At ME level 0, the default wastage factor is typically 10%.

The base equation for material requirements is:

Material Needed = Base Material + (Base Waste)/(1 + ME)

• At ME level 1, waste is halved. At ME 19, waste is reduced to 5%. Material requirements for production is always rounded up to the nearest whole number.
• A blueprint's wastage factor is reflected in the (Base Waste)/(1 + ME) part. At ME 19, the wastage factor is 0.5% ( 5% x 10% ).
• For 10% wastage BPOs, Perfect ME is approximately: (quantity of highest level material demanded) / 5.5.

For a blueprint where the waste factor is 10% at ME level 0, waste factors at higher levels of ME can be calculated as follows (ME is the material efficiency level of the blueprint):

(0.1 / (1 + ME) )

Therefore, the following ME levels result in a further decreasing wastage factor:

• ML0 - 10%
• ML1 - 5%
• ML2 - 3.3%
• ML3 - 2.5%
• ML10 - 0.9%
• ML50 - 0.2%

By researching a blueprint's Material Level to 1, the material requirement has been reduced by up to 5%. This can be a large big saving in manufacturing costs.

Production Efficiency Research Formula

The equation for production efficiency time savings on manufacturing an item is:

Production Time = Base time + (Base Waste)/(1 + PE)

Third-party Tool

BPOCalc is a web-based tool that allows users to see the perfect ME/PE of blueprints by name: http://zofu.no-ip.de/bpo

Troubleshooting

• Lab/Factory Already Taken: On occasion two individuals can select the same laboratory research slot at the same time to setup and run their job. When this happens, whomever first finishes the setup and submits the job to run will get the slot. The the latter will have to wait until the first job finishes before their research will begin. This is difficult to prevent but it is not recommended to ever rush through job setup due to the penalties of canceling the job.
• Time Delay Issue: Note that it can take the server a while to process the requested job, so refreshing the job's status after a few minutes should display its correct status.
• Cancelling a Job: If canceled, only the blueprint will be returned. All other materials used for the job will be lost and the slot will remain be rented until the normal expiration date.