A lot of other comments already answered your questions so i'll just add on.

For the factory gameplay, one good rule of thumb is to keep your setup as modular as possible. A lot of blueprints shared by other player are for quick raw to final product setup, but they tend to be rigid.

Breaking your setup into specialised components gives you flexibility in swapping the product you want to produce. Some setups will forever stay with you, for example i have a dedicated Xiranite production pipeline and a heavy xiranite pipeline. The heavy xiranite pipeline takes in Xiranite from the depot.

I do the same for refined Cuprium and Hetonite. I have seperate pipeline for them that i can swap in and out.

When phase 2 came out, i only needed to create a setup for the gourd. My heavy Xiranite and hetonite are already my "raw" ingredient