Lab

thumb|right|Science packs put into the front lab will be passed to labs behind it. Labs are buildings that perform research for technologies by consuming science packs. Use of a lab is required to progress in Factorio.

When productivity modules are used in labs, the productivity bonus is directly calculated and applied each tick so the productivity bar is simply cosmetic. This means that it does not matter that the productivity bar resets when the research is changed, no productivity bonus is lost. [https://forums.factorio.com/26860]

The player can only research one technology at a time, but can use multiple labs for faster results. The speed bonus of labs when lab research speed is researched and modules are present can be calculated using this formula: research_bonus × module_bonus = speed_bonus; the percentage bonuses have to be converted to decimals (e.g. +140% = 2.4) before the formula is used.

Inserters can insert and remove science packs from labs. This allows chaining multiple labs together with inserters, each inserter taking science packs, as needed, from one lab and placing it into the next.