There are two key componants to being able to play this game. First one must be able to think in terms of strings, mapping out in their head what will happen to the tape as it goes through the machine. This is something you have to enjoy thinking about (even if it's hard) in order to have fun playing this game.
The other thing you should know is that while each part has a specific out side, it doesn't matter where it comes *IN* from. It is perfectly acceptable to go out one side of a B/R branch only to be pushed back in; in fact, this is the basic operating mechanism of almost all the later levels! That discovery was, for me at least, not surpassed in terms of being obvious only in retrospect until I figured out how to sample the *end* of a string.
 "Manufactoria"){kind=icon}