Ok im am a noob... now that I got that out of the way.

I'm not getting how manufacturing works. I did some of the quests and one in particular is the simple plastics one. Made them and completed the quest. Now I am on a quest that needs simple plastics. Brought all the ore needed to make it but nothing is happening. Now I know I'm missing something and I'm going to feel really retarded when someone helps me.

I'm thinking there should be a button for it or something and if there is. .... shame on me for missing it.

All manufacturing is currently completed through the mission system; if a mission is not updating, then you are probably missing an objective. Read through the mission carefully to see if there is anything you might have passed over.

Also, keep in mind that ore comes in different qualities. For example: the standard Aquean ore sold from stations appears as "Aquean Ore". Most manufacturing missions require premium quality ore (such as "Premium Aquean Ore") which must be mined from asteroids.

There is a mission to refine simple plastics. However, it's a one-shot deal. Simple plastics can also be purchased from certain stations under the "Commodities" tab.

Thanks for the info.