My Factory Was Still Running, but Something Had Changed

A factory may still be running, but lower efficiency can make the whole business feel weaker than before.

Nothing looked wrong.

My factory still had supplies.

The employees were working.

The warehouse had enough space.

Production continued every hour.

But when I checked the results, it felt lower than before.

The factory had not stopped.

It had simply become less efficient.

I Thought the Employees Were the Problem

My first thought was the staff.

Maybe someone was absent.

Maybe I had moved my strongest employee to another building.

Maybe the factory needed workers with better production points.

So I checked everyone.

The employees were still there.

Their production points had actually improved during the round.

That made the lower result even more confusing.

If the staff were getting better, why did the factory feel weaker?

Then I checked the building’s efficiency.

Buildings Lose Efficiency as They Age

Factory efficiency can decline quietly over time, even when production still looks active from the outside.

Buildings in Tycoon Online do not maintain the same efficiency throughout the entire round.

As a building gets older, its efficiency gradually declines. The amount lost also becomes larger as the building continues to age.

The factory did not suddenly break.

Its efficiency had been dropping little by little.

That's why I hadn't noticed a single moment when the result changed.

One day looked almost the same as the day before.

But after enough time, the difference became easier to see.

Efficiency Affects the Minimum Result

At first, I thought efficiency was only a general condition score.

I did not understand what it changed.

Efficiency affects the minimum number of production points a building can generate during each ten-minute update.

For example, the Wiki explains that if a building has 50% efficiency and a base production of 40 points, it generates between 20 and 40 points during an update.

That meant lower efficiency didn't guarantee every update would be bad.

The factory could still sometimes produce a strong result.

But its possible minimum had become lower.

Over many updates, that difference could affect how much the factory produced.

This explained why the problem was easy to miss.

The factory was still active.

Production was still arriving.

The result was simply becoming less consistent.

My Supply Chain Could Feel the Difference

One weak factory can slow down the whole production chain if it creates shortages or delays.

A small production loss did not look serious when I checked only one factory.

But that factory was supplying another building.

If it produced slightly less raw material, the next factory received slightly less supply.

Then the final factory had less material to process.

The difference could travel through the entire chain.

My warehouse might still show plenty of stock at first.

But over time, the reserve could become smaller.

Eventually, another factory might begin waiting for supplies.

The problem would appear at the end of the chain, even though it started with the efficiency of an older building.

The Factory Upgrades Helped

Factories can receive two upgrades.

The first becomes available after the factory has produced 1,000 units, and the second after 3,500 units. Depending on the factory, an upgrade may improve efficiency, base production, or the maximum number of employees.

These upgrades could make a large difference.

An efficiency upgrade increases both the current and base efficiency by 20 percentage points.

But an upgrade did not mean I could ignore the building forever.

The factory would continue ageing after the upgrade.

Its efficiency could begin declining again.

The upgrade improved the building.

It did not stop time.

Then I Started Thinking About Rebuilding

A factory can still be active, but that does not always mean it is still the best choice for the company.

Once I understood the problem, rebuilding seemed like the obvious answer.

Remove the old factory.

Build a new one.

Return to stronger efficiency.

But rebuilding also meant a temporary loss of production.

The replacement needed construction points before it could start operating.

During that period, the factory would not produce the materials my chain needed.

If I rebuilt without preparing enough stock, I could fix one problem and create another.

The Tycoon Online Wiki notes that many players consider rebuilding after a building has lost around 5% to 8% efficiency, often when it is approximately 25 days old or more. However, it also says that the decision depends on the player’s goals and should account for the production or sales time lost during rebuilding.

So there was no single perfect moment for every factory.

I Needed to Prepare the Chain First

Before rebuilding, I started checking what would happen while the factory was unavailable.

How much of its product was already in the warehouse?

How quickly did the next factory consume it?

How long would construction take with my current employees?

Could I buy emergency supplies from the market?

Would rebuilding several factories at once create too many shortages?

The Wiki recommends spreading rebuilds out instead of replacing too many buildings at once.

That made sense.

One rebuilding project could be supported with warehouse stock.

Several rebuilding projects could interrupt the entire company.

Better Employees Could Make the New Factory Stronger

There was also one advantage I had not considered.

My employees were stronger than they had been at the beginning of the round.

They had improved while working.

So when the new factory was ready, those stronger employees could work inside a newer building.

After the factory completed its upgrades again, its production could become better than the old factory’s result.

Rebuilding was not only about replacing lost efficiency.

It could combine a newer building with a more experienced team.

But I still needed enough time left in the round to benefit from that improvement.

Rebuilding very late might not give the factory enough time to recover the production lost during construction.

Now I Check More Than Whether It Is Running

Before this, I judged a factory with one simple question:

Is it producing?

Now I check more.

What is its current efficiency?

Is its output still enough for the next part of the chain?

Has it completed both upgrades?

How much production would I lose while rebuilding?

How much of the round is still left?

An older factory is not automatically useless.

It may continue supporting the company for a long time.

And rebuilding too early can waste valuable production hours.

But a factory does not need to stop completely before it becomes weaker.

Sometimes, everything still looks normal.

The employees are working.

The supplies are available.

The goods are entering the warehouse.

But quietly, one number has changed.

And that small change can eventually reach the rest of the company.