You can store things for later in chests and have those things go back onto the line automatically when they're needed. This only requires a little finesse but is doable even for relative noobs. Accounting for inventory on-hand is simple for the player (there are integrated charts) but incredibly difficult to do anything with that sort of information automatically (you would need to manually make your own logic gates).
It's a lot simple to just figure out what you don't have enough of (or just want more of) and then back trace your production lines until you find the bottleneck. The conveyor belts in the game really help with this and make this very easy since you can immediately see if you're short on something because those conveyor belts would be getting fully emptied. I think this is a strength of the game since it replaces looking at charts and reports with running around the factory you built.
Edit: If you haven't played Factorio then you should know that there a few things you do want reserves of. Ammo is a big one, as well as stuff for expanding your factory; conveyor belts, inserters, assemblers, miners, walls, etc. Those aren't buffers though, those are finished products you need.
It's also slightly better, because mining productivity means you want to keep ores unmined for as long as possible. But it is mostly because it's a lot easier.
Does factorio not have any way to warehouse things for later use, or account for inventory on hand?
You can store things for later in chests and have those things go back onto the line automatically when they're needed. This only requires a little finesse but is doable even for relative noobs. Accounting for inventory on-hand is simple for the player (there are integrated charts) but incredibly difficult to do anything with that sort of information automatically (you would need to manually make your own logic gates).
It's a lot simple to just figure out what you don't have enough of (or just want more of) and then back trace your production lines until you find the bottleneck. The conveyor belts in the game really help with this and make this very easy since you can immediately see if you're short on something because those conveyor belts would be getting fully emptied. I think this is a strength of the game since it replaces looking at charts and reports with running around the factory you built.
Edit: If you haven't played Factorio then you should know that there a few things you do want reserves of. Ammo is a big one, as well as stuff for expanding your factory; conveyor belts, inserters, assemblers, miners, walls, etc. Those aren't buffers though, those are finished products you need.
So it's not "Better"; it's just easier.
It's also slightly better, because mining productivity means you want to keep ores unmined for as long as possible. But it is mostly because it's a lot easier.