So for a mega-factory like this, how do you typically get from mining ore to the top of the pyramid? Do you bring the raw ore in by train and then process it from the ground up to the Assembly Director Systems?
Well that location was a bit of a hodgepodge. Most of it was raw resources processed on site, but there were some other "finished goods" that came in from other factories where I was making overkill amounts. And in one dumb case, aluminum was made there, sent via train to the drone hive to be turned into batteries, and then flown back via drone, I think because I didn't have room to make another train platform.
The Super Computer one though is more self-contained. The big train rail on the right brings in bauxite, and you can see in the top-middle there's some stuff back there that comes over, but most of the miners are in/around that big blob somewhere. I like to bring it all to one place when possible, but sometimes it just makes more sense to split it up. Or sometimes its a matter of compressing stuff, like one place builds Encased Beams on site to fill one train car, rather than 3 bringing iron/coal/limestone.
Also, it's not a big deal but I kind of wish the awesome sink was just the Space Elevator. There is something cool and a little mysterious about being this expendable agent of extraction destroying the local habitat to rapture goods to unseen space gods. Having the game transform from that to a fucking joke with tickets is goofy.
I could be wrong, but I thought something in game mentions that it still sends the sink stuff to FICSIT, just in the form of energy or something, rather than actual goods. At least that's my headcanon, must appease corporate space overlords!
edit - I guess I didn't really answer
how I do things in the mega factories. I try to do things in big blocks by each step, and then feed those into each other, manifold style I guess its called? So all the Ore->Ingots in one area, then they all flow to Plates/Wire/Etc after that. And often up against belt limits, so there's some form of balancing/smart splitting in between. Things that really expand in # of items I try to keep localized, i.e. send a belt of ingots, but do Ingots->Rods->Screws right next to where they are needed. Or the opposite if possible, build right next to the miners and do Ore->Ingots->Wire->Cable and ship the Cable elsewhere. I try to locate stuff nearby where it will be used, like I'll make Pipes and Wire near where I make Stators, but that usually only lasts 2-3 steps before going all spaghetti from block to block. Production generally flows upwards, but sometimes liquids make that tricky, especially byproduct liquids. It takes longer and longer for each stage to fill up, so I usually build one section and run that into a sink while I build the next and try to troubleshoot as I go.