Build:Manufacturing Systems
5.10 Manufacturing Systems
(Required for most vessels)
Replicators are not available for starships until 2341. Prior to that, Star Fleet vessels use manufacturing systems to prepare food and create tools and parts. A vessel must have either a manufacturing or a replicator system installed.
5.10.1 Food Processor System
(Required for most vessels prior to 2341)
Cost: Varies
Power Consumption: see table
Star Fleet vessels come equipped with food processor systems. The system consists of special consoles installed in appropriate areas of the ship (cafeterias, rec decks, expanded and luxury quarters, and so forth), several large galley areas (some operated by crewmembers, others entirely automated), and sometimes sterile delivery tubes linking the consoles and the galleys. Thanks to this system, all crewmembers can have tasty, nutritious meals every day.
A crewmember desiring something to eat or drink goes to one of the processor’s consoles. Each console has menu display screens, instruction screens, and dispenser slots for food and beverages. He selects his order and inputs it into the machine. Depending on the nature of his order, the ship’s computer routes it to a manual or automated galley for preparation. The preparation time depends on the complexity of the food, but typically ranges from 20 seconds to 20 minutes. (The system can prepare simple orders—a cup of coffee—or orders for food that come in pre-packaged packets almost instantly.) When the galley finishes making the food, it sends it to the console. Older models (up to the Mark III) use a system of hermetically-sealed sterile delivery tubes (similar to the turbolifts) to carry the food, but the most recent model, the Mark IV, employs transporter technology to beam the food and drink to the appropriate delivery slot.
The earliest food processors had a basic menu of from 100 to 1,000 different foods and beverages, typically from a single species. Advanced models have larger menus, often encompassing the cuisine of multiple species, though this increases the complexity and size of the system. Ships engaging in diplomatic missions, or hosting important guests, usually carry a stock of normal foodstuffs, which the ship’s chefs use to create traditional meals in the ship’s galley.
Only ships of Size 3 and larger may have food processor systems. Smaller vessels either have no food facilities (being intended only for very short-term flights) or nutrient paste systems.
A malfunction or error in the food processing system may result in food with the wrong taste, color, texture or other properties—or, less humorously, food that seems normal but is actually poisonous or causes illness.
Table
| Type | SU | Power | Menu Size | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food stores | 2 (for galley) | 0 | 20 items | 1989 |
| Nutrient paste system | 3 (for galley) | 0 | 40 items | 2134 |
| Mark I | 1 x Size | 1 | 150 items | 2215 |
| Mark II | 2 x Size | 2 | 1,000 items | 2231 |
| Mark III | 2.5 x Size | 3 | 2,000 items | 2238 |
| Mark IV | 3 x Size | 4 | 4,000 items | 2257 |
| Mark V | 3.5 x Size | 5 | 8,000 items | 2270 |
- Upgrades: For every +1,000 items on the menu, add 1 SU as cost.
5.10.2 Industrial Fabrication Units
(Required prior to 2341 on vessels Size 3 or larger)
Cost: Varies (see table)
Power Requirement: Varies (see table)
Starships prior to the 24th century have special systems that allow them to rapidly manufacture tools, spare parts, certain types of raw materials, and other equipment needed by the engineering department and other crewmembers. Though nowhere near as complex or efficient as an industrial replicator, they still reduce the necessary storage space on the ship tremendously.
Certain items or substances, such as latinum or some chemical concoctions, defy fabrication—either the units themselves cannot create them at all for some reason, or creating them by traditional means poses danger. Additionally, the ship’s library computer must have the specifications for the substance or item to be manufactured and the ship’s stores must possess the necessary raw materials.
Fabrication units cannot create items larger than 1 meter on a side. To build something larger, the crewmembers must create the item in pieces and then assemble it. The time it takes to fabricate an object depends on its complexity (see accompanying table). "Complex" objects include duotronic circuits, firing circuits for energy weapons, most pre-assembled devices (such as a tricorder, ready for charging), certain medicines and other complex chemicals, and the like. "Simple" objects include everything else.
Table
| Type | SU | Power | Average Creation Time (Complex Object) |
Average Creation Time (Simple Object) |
Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark I | 2 | 1 | 20 minutes | 16-18 minutes | 2063 |
| Mark II | 3 | 2 | 17-19 minutes | 14-15 minutes | 2096 |
| Mark III | 1 x Size | 3 | 15-16 minutes | 12-13 minutes | 2145 |
| Mark IV | 1.5 x Size | 3 | 14-15 minutes | 11-12 minutes | 2162 |
| Mark V | 2 x Size | 4 | 12-13 minutes | 9-10 minutes | 2215 |
| Mark VI | 2.5 x Size | 4 | 10-11 minutes | 7-8 minutes | 2231 |
| Mark VII | 3 x Size | 5 | 8-9 minutes | 5-6 minutes | 2245 |
| Mark VIII | 3.5 x Size | 5 | 6-7 minutes | 3-4 minutes | 2269 |
| Mark IX | 4 x Size | 6 | 3-5 minutes | 1-2 minutes | 2290 |
- Upgrades: For +1 SU cost, decrease Creation Time by 30 seconds (min time 30 seconds).
- See also Early Industrial Fabrication Units for pre-2063 equivalents.
5.10.3 Replicator Systems
(Required post-2340 for most vessels)
A vessel must have either a manufacturing or a replicator system installed.
Replicators, one of the greatest marvels of modern technology, can create virtually any sort of food or inanimate object, seemingly out of thin air. They actually use a variant of transporter technology to transform raw material—usually a sterilized organic particulate suspension formulated for ease of use, or recycled waste products—into other objects. This saves a ship the trouble of having to carry thousands of different foods, or countless bins full of spare parts. Instead, crewmembers can simply replicate whatever they want. (Ships still carry supplies of crucial spare parts for times when the replicators are not functioning.)
However, replicators are not perfect; they suffer from five major restrictions. First, they can only produce objects stored in the ship’s memory banks. If an object or food item is not in the computer, or a crewmember doesn’t have a sample to scan in, the replicators cannot produce it. Second, the larger the item replicated, the greater the energy cost. Thus, standard procedure dictates that large items are produced one part at a time, instead of all at once, which can be time-consuming. (Industrial replicators are better suited to producing large objects all at once.) Third, and most importantly, replicators cannot produce items at the quantum level of resolution used by transporters. Therefore, living beings cannot be replicated, nor can certain items (such as medicines) which require quantum-level resolution. (This relative lack of resolution explains why some people can discern the difference between replicated food and the real thing.) Fourth, some objects simply cannot be replicated for various other reasons. The most notable example is latinum, which explains its popularity as a medium of exchange. Fifth, safety interlocks prevent users from creating dangerous items (such as poisons or explosives) or weapons without special authorization.
Starships have two types of replicators: food replicators and industrial replicators.
5.10.3.1 Food Replicators
(Required post-2340 for most vessels)
Cost: 1 x Size
Power Requirement: (Size) Power per round
Available: 2341
As the name indicates, these replicators create food (and drink). They have a menu of 4,500 items and are located in every quarters, the bridge, recreation facilities, and other approximate areas of the ship.
5.10.3.2 Industrial Replicators
(Required post-2340 for most vessels)
Cost: 1 x Size for a network of small replicators; 3 SUs for each large replicator.
Power Requirement: 2 Power per network or large replicator per round of use
Available: 2341
Industrial replicators produce spare parts and other inanimate objects. They range in size from units no larger than food replicators to ones with emitter pads about 25 meters on a side (planet-based units can be much bigger).
SFC Technology Index
Food Processor System:
- Food Stores represent more of storage requirement than a technological status and, as such, have no index.
- Early Industrial Fabrication Units: Index