I will preface this idea by saying that many players are using bots(which are characters being run by a script to continuously do certain tasks while the player does not have to be involved), because of this it's only fair if legitimate ways to do such things are also implemented for those of us who do not prefer to use such bots.
Idea: After learning basic mechanics & metallurgy, a new skill automation will be able to be learned, which allows you to upgrade your smelters, fineries & clay kilns with automation properties by building attachments to them using certain materials such as metal bars.
These upgrades will allow extra clay, coal and ores to be stored in a separate compartment, which when fuel sources(coal) and resources (ore/clay) are empty, they will be automatically refilled using the excess stored in those compartments. The stones, metal bars, bricks etc that are produced are stored in a second compartment when they are created.
This should help remove bots/alts as well as give legitimate players a fair chance to level the playing field when it comes to bot automation. This may potentially also be enjoyed by people who do use bots, because it'd probably be a bit easier than keeping an eye on all the bots they are running.