autofac

plural autofacs

1. literatureSynonym of autofactory (“a factory capable of running autonomously”).

   The autofacs were a different kind of machine altogether. They could make things. They could make anything from clothing to robots, from weapons to music machines.

   1974, Edmund Cooper, The Slaves of Heaven, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Medallion, published 1975, →ISBN, page 57

   2 more examples

   Behind them, the dilapidated settlement lay spread out, a disorderly checkerboard of houses, buildings and streets. Since the autofac network had closed down its supply and maintenance, the human settlements had fallen into semi-barbarism.

   1955 November, Philip K[indred] Dick, “Autofac”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 11, number 2, page 87

   All around her the holo displays glowed faintly. Even some of the units that had gone blank over her long sleep were replaced, now that she and Jeffers had gotten the autofac working properly up on A Level.

   1986, Gregory Benford, David Brin, Heart of the Comet, Toronto, O.N. […]: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 327

   Synonyms: autofactory