Stock Gate

The Stock Gate is one of the Auxiliary Machines in Big Pharma. It is a special case in that it is not a freestanding or process machine, but rather a process control device.

Description
Add-on for belt. Use to control the flow of drugs in your factory based on current stock levels.

Unlike other machines, Stock Gates are entirely optional. It is possible to run a factory without them, but they enable a factory to run more cost effectively by preventing over-production of drugs.

Use
When a particular drug is being produced more quickly than it is being purchased, its cost effectiveness drops; additional units of the drug aren't needed, but incurring costs to be made. The result is product sitting in stock that cost money to produce but is not bringing in revenue. The Stock Gate is the solution to this problem.

Unlike most machines in Big Pharma, the Stock Gate is not installed as a freestanding device to have belts led into and out of it. Rather, the Gate is installed on an existing conveyor belt. When first installed, the gate is not configured and will not halt the line under any circumstances. Clicking on the Stock Gate will open the control panel shown to the left. Configuring a Stock Gate is easy:
 * 1) Click the grey box under the "Choose product:" heading. From the drop down menu, select the product which will govern whether the gate is to be open or closed.
 * 2) By default, the gate is configured to leave the gate open while the product stock on hand is less than a certain level. You can change this by clicking the "Less than" tab.
 * 3) Finally, select the product count. A good default is 30.

The control panel as shown in the example image will have the following effects:
 * While the stock of Winterfox is below 20, the gate will be open, allowing items to pass.
 * When the stock of Winterfox reaches or exceeds 20, the gate will close. Nothing will pass the gate until the stock drops below 20 again.

As a result, Stock Gates are best installed just prior to or after packaging of a given product. Installing them further up in the production line is risky; unless all inputs are halted, the line won't stop, and worthless product can be created unintentionally, requiring purging of the line.

It is advisable to set Stock Gate levels high enough that there is a "buffer" stock kept on hand; depending on the cost of making the product, rate of sale, and financial limitations, a stock level of 10-30 is sufficient - this ensures there is stock on-hand to cover sales while the line restarts.

Upgrades
The Stock Gate has no upgrades. While it appears in the Research pane, there are no interactions for it. As its process time is one beat and process cost is zero, there aren't any improvements to make.