During The Arks scenario in Frostpunk, one of your biggest tasks is to find the factory plans. This will allow you to to create a fleet of Automatons to keep the seed vaults safe, as well as automate your entire city.
Getting these plans should be high up on your to-do list. The sooner the better, and will make surviving the final storm much easier. You can check out some more Frostpunk Guides here.
Finding the Factory Plans
To find the Factory Plans, you are going to need to build a Workshop. Here, you can research new technologies. Start with the Beacon, found under ‘Exploration & Industry’. Beacons allow you to assemble scout teams, who explore the frost-zone.
The area you are looking for specifically is called ‘Lost Dreadnought’. When you find this area, send your scouts. You will receive some Coal, Steel, Wood, Steam Cores and most importantly, the Factory Plans.

The Factory can’t actually be built until you bring the scout team carrying the plans back to the City. Then, you can build a factory found under the ‘Tech’ tab. Inside of Factories, you can create Automatons for 100 Wood, 100 Steel, 50 Coal and 1 Steam Core. You can even automate the factory with an automaton.