>>2131656
>Factories with assembly lines don't make more stuff, they just staff less people?? Refrigerated storage reduces laborers but doesn't increase the end production of meats/fish (to simulate less spoiled product)? It's bizarre.
I get confused by this too.
Main production method: work smarter! Make more! Labourer->Mechanic->Engineer!
Automation production method: mass production! But make the exact same amount... and we won't hire another mechanic to maintain the new machine... and we won't downgrade any skilled artisans into labourers... and we won't hire the old, or children, or drunkards, or even women because it's now actually braindead easy to make clothes or steel or whatever because all the (literally) heavy lifting and skilled work is automated...

I think it's a failing of how the game's economy is just production methods and workhouses that can be retrofitted in an instant to a better, or worse, production method.

>>2131697
>It doesn't magically let you turn a given amount of input material into more output material, it just means there's less manpower needed to process X amount
The "work smarter" PM is what you just described, magically taking more input, creating even more output from it, and using less manpower (and less factories) to make the same amount as before. I'd argue the best/most efficient PMs are wrong to enable in populous countries like Russia and China.
The actual answer is the game is gamey and has no basis in reality and its nuances.

>it should increase the range
I agree. That was a game changer for agriculture, at least until the great depression was caused by global overproduction.