Factory Automation Guide & Upgrade Order

Can 'Em All factory automation is not about buying every upgrade that glows; it is about keeping bodies moving, cans selling, and cash reinvested in the slowest step. If your crew is still hand-carrying corpses while a Grinder sits idle, more damage will not fix the shift. A strong Can 'Em All factory automation plan starts with can value, then removes manual handling, then connects the line.

Build the First Profitable Loop

Your opening factory is intentionally inefficient. One creature produces few cans, each can sells for little, and nearly every task demands manual work. Spending your first cash on combat can feel productive, but it often delays the upgrades that actually raise income.

Start by improving output per creature, then raise the price of each finished can. Premium Cans costs $12 for its first level and pushes can value to +200%, making it a better early production purchase than another melee upgrade when creatures are already dying quickly. Add more arrivals only after you can clear and process the current batch.

The Baseball Bat is not an automatic first buy. Early punching handles small groups of weak creatures. The Bat matters when fights consume so much time that collection and processing stall. If your Grinder is already packed with bodies, stronger melee attacks mostly create a larger queue.

Check the end of each shift before choosing. A factory that sells every can can afford more arrivals. A factory with bodies on the floor or cans stranded near the seller needs a production fix first.

Should You Add Arrivals or Improve Damage?

Add arrivals when the current batch is fully processed and delivered with time left. Improve damage when creatures remain alive at the timer. If bodies pile up beside a busy Grinder, neither choice solves the main problem; you need faster processing or another machine.

Move Bodies Faster Without Wasting Cash

The Basket in the factory corner can carry multiple cans at once. It is easy to overlook, but it reduces trips while you are still moving output by hand. It does not raise can value or production, so treat it as a time-saving tool rather than an income upgrade.

The Industrial Vacuum costs $40 and lets you collect bodies, cans, and other objects, then launch them toward the next stage. For Can 'Em All factory automation, it becomes worthwhile when walking each corpse to a Grinder is clearly consuming the shift.

Vacuum upgrades are not all equal. Storage capacity helps when you collect several bodies before unloading. Suction range saves walking. Firing speed matters when the tank fills too often. Firing range helps when you can aim at a machine from farther away. One documented capacity upgrade raises storage from 150 to 250 for $20,000, which is useful only if capacity is your actual delay.

Improve the part of the Vacuum routine that is slow. If you spend more time chasing objects, buy range. If you spend more time unloading, buy capacity or firing speed.

Diagnose the Bottleneck Before You Buy

The most useful question after a shift is simple: what stopped the next can from being sold? That question prevents you from buying firepower when transport is broken, or buying another machine when the existing one is idle.

A Grinder processes one creature at a time. When kills speed up, bodies can accumulate much faster than one machine can handle. Reduced processing time is the first fix when a Grinder runs continuously. A second machine makes sense only when enough bodies exist to keep both busy.

Increasing cans per creature is powerful, but it also increases the load on transport. If bodies are already waiting, faster processing helps more. If machines have spare capacity, more cans per creature can pay off immediately. Buy these upgrades in the order that matches the visible backlog.

Turn Conveyors and Roombas Into Real Automation

Conveyor upgrades arrive in sections. Buying one section does not guarantee a complete route from a processing machine to the seller. The key milestone is connecting enough sections that cans travel without being picked up and carried.

Walk the route after each purchase. If cans stop at a gap or gather at the end of a belt, the line is not fully automated. Conveyor Speed becomes valuable after the route is connected and finished output is waiting to move. Buying speed while machines rarely produce cans adds little.

For factories with several Grinders, inspect each line separately. One well-connected machine does not mean every production line is equally efficient.

When Does a Corpse Roomba Help?

The Corpse Roomba automates body movement. It is most useful after arrivals and weapon damage rise enough that corpses scatter faster than you can collect them. It can reduce Vacuum time when several machines need a steady supply.

Prioritize a Roomba when bodies are spread across the floor, you constantly stop shooting to recover corpses, your Grinders have spare capacity, and you want to spend less time handling individual bodies. Do not expect it to solve a processing bottleneck. Moving more corpses into an overloaded Grinder does not increase throughput.

Scale Output, Value, and Defense Together

Once bodies move reliably, income grows by making each creature and each can worth more. More cans per creature and Premium Cans reinforce each other: extra output benefits from the higher selling price, while the price bonus makes every additional can more valuable.

Shiny bonuses, duplication, and direct-shot bonuses are different tools. Shiny creature chance affects valuable arrivals, Shiny can chance affects valuable output, and Shiny value upgrades affect what that output earns. Can duplication gives produced cans a chance to duplicate; money duplication gives earned money a chance to duplicate. One midgame example raises can duplication chance to 10%, showing why high-output production makes duplication more attractive.

Hole in One rewards direct shots into the seller, but each shot takes time away from feeding machines. Conveyors become more attractive once several Grinders produce continuously.

Smoked Meat adds a late-game value route: smoked creatures produce cans worth twice as much. The Flamethrower is relevant because fire-based production can pair with that bonus. Still, higher-priced cans do not help if bodies remain unprocessed.

Which Weapons and Turrets Deserve Investment?

Weapons range from the Baseball Bat, Knife, Pistol, SMG, AK-style rifle, Shotgun, Chainsaw, RPG, and Flamethrower. They solve different problems.

Melee weapons work early because they do not depend on ammunition. The Pistol helps when melee is too slow or targets are hard to reach, but limited ammunition can leave you dry during a long shift. Ammunition upgrades and bullet recovery then matter more than unlocking another gun.

The Shotgun provides short-range power with pellet-count and firing-delay upgrades. The RPG adds explosions with radius and damage improvements. The Chainsaw is close-range but limited by fuel, so it is risky as your only weapon. The Automatic Turret attacks without direct aiming and is valuable when large groups arrive or you need to manage the Vacuum and Grinders.

Buy combat upgrades when creatures survive long enough to slow production. If Grinders are already overloaded, extra firepower can enlarge the backlog without increasing sales.

Workday Timing, Slot Machine, and Late-Game Choices

Workday extensions can increase the original 60-second shift to 1 minute 45 seconds. That extra time helps when machines are still running, bodies are waiting, or cans are nearly delivered. It is less urgent when everything is finished and you are waiting for the next batch.

Before the shift ends, finish any delivery you can complete. A body that cannot reach processing and sale before the timer may contribute nothing that day. Also check for survivors when new creatures seem to stop arriving; some setups do not send a fresh batch while previous creatures remain.

The Slot Machine is optional. It can add money, but a loss can remove cash needed for a guaranteed production upgrade. Secure your next important purchase—such as a Grinder, conveyor connection, or weapon upgrade—before gambling. Reliable production is more controllable than chasing a betting pattern.

After multiple Grinders, connected conveyors, body automation, and turrets work together, income rises quickly. Later upgrades grow expensive; one creature unlock costs $50 million. Run a full shift before paying that kind of price. Bodies waiting beside occupied Grinders or cans stranded before the seller mean the existing line still needs work. Once the ordinary tree is handled, you can sell the factory for permanent upgrades or work toward Freedom. Before leaving, check the 12 Steam achievements, since several require specific equipment interactions.

FAQ: Smarter Factory Decisions

What should I upgrade first for Can 'Em All factory automation?

Start with more cans per creature, then Premium Cans. The first Premium Cans level costs $12 and raises can value to +200%. Add arrivals only when your current batch is fully processed and sold.

Is the Industrial Vacuum worth $40?

Yes, once manual body handling is delaying processing. It lets you collect and launch bodies instead of carrying them. Upgrade capacity, range, or firing speed only when that specific part of the routine is slowing you down.

Should I buy another Grinder or increase cans per creature?

Buy another Grinder or faster processing when bodies wait beside busy machines. Increase cans per creature when processing has spare capacity and every finished can is reaching the seller. More output cannot help if the line is already backed up.

Is the Slot Machine required for Can 'Em All factory automation?

No. It is an optional gamble with no guaranteed return. Fund dependable upgrades first, especially machines and transport improvements that support consistent production.

Good Can 'Em All factory automation comes from reading the factory floor, not from buying every unlock. Fix the step that stops the next can from selling, and your income will grow faster than any single weapon purchase can provide.