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Inside the Lego Factory
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Jul 21, 2008 02:05 PM
from the when-i-was-a-kid-there-were-only-2-kinds-of-bricks dept.
from the when-i-was-a-kid-there-were-only-2-kinds-of-bricks dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo has a fascinating report and video tour inside the Lego factory, which is full of robots and controlled by a mainframe. 'This video shows something that very few people have had the opportunity to witness: the inside of the Lego factory, with no barriers or secrets. I filmed every step in the creation of the brick. From the raw granulate stored in massive silos to the molding machines to the gigantic storage cathedrals to the decoration and packaging warehouses, you will be able to see absolutely everything, including the most guarded secret of the company: the brick molds themselves.'"
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Submission: Inside the Lego Factory by Anonymous Coward
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Beginning of the End (Score:5, Funny)
The big secret: Lego Mindstorm robots are running the factory.
I, for one, welcome our new bumpy-headed overlords.
Re:Beginning of the End (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
The horrible truth (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
What happened to interchangable parts? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems lego has been moving more and more over my lifetime of 27 years from interchangable brick type pieces to specialized pieces of plastic that are really only useful with the original kit.
Granted I haven't purchased a pack in 15-odd years, but when i look at them at the store, many of the pieces are very specialized.
Am I wrong?
Parent
Re:What happened to interchangable parts? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:What happened to interchangable parts? (Score:5, Interesting)
They still have the mixed bag packs, technics sets, etc. - it's just that most toy stores don't carry them. There's more money to be made in selling the smaller (less shelf real estate) movie-licensed themed sets (presumably better selling for younger children, the target market).
Amazon.com has a fabulous selection, and I'm sure with a little searching you could find an online retailer which had an even better selection with the same quality (or better) customer reviews.
I bought a Technics front-loader from them last Christmas when I needed some cheering up and was pleased that the quality was as high as ever, the instructions were just as graphic and cleanly presented, and the process was just as mystifying until it all came together.
It filled me with that same glee of discovery and revelation that I'm sure anybody who remembers Lego from their childhood knows.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You're wrong. It's simply the possibilities that have increased. If you want the simplicity of fewer kinds of part, just get simple sets - Creator, etc. Otherwise, at the very least, pretty much all parts are reusable in custom builds of a similar theme to the original set (vehicle, building, robot/mecha/spaceship). You can be inventive in your use of the detailed parts, or you can look at the original sets for hints as to how to incorporate them into your builds.
Many of the recent parts are very useful acr
Re:Beginning of the End (Score:5, Informative)
Grammar nazi:That's not an analogy, it's a synecdoche [reference.com].
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I wish I had mod points right now.
Expensive (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They're expensive because they're made in Denmark, not China like almost any other plastic thing made even 15 years ago.
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
so what's your point? Factories move to china for low wages,but obviously here that's not a problem because the process is completely automatic. You only need a couple of operators to change the molds and some QC, that's about it.
Doing this in China could cost just a little less than doing it in Denmark, proving that legos are expensive "just because", and not because the manufacturing process is necessarily complex to require human intervention in every stage (like, say, clothes, that need to be sewn manually).
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
They say that the entire plant (and robots) are controlled by computers, but that's actually a lie. Each one of those robots has a midget inside of it, controlling the vehicle. Its very expensive to hire and feed those midgets and also to supply a steady stream of hookers to keep them from uprising. Hookers aren't cheap and that's why lego cost so much.
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. There are Lego bricks in my kids' collection that are 40 years old from when I was but a tyke. The bricks that old seem to be a little more brittle than they are now, but otherwise are perfectly durable and compatible with the current Lego. It's cool to occasionally see the old logo on the studs.
Lego is very expensive, but it's worth it. They've been through many changes, including some that I thought moved away from the core of what Lego is all about, but they still make a great product, and I still buy plenty for my kids.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You pay VAT, the U.S. doesn't.
Sales at the Lego Store (Score:5, Informative)
If you are fortunate enough to live near a Lego Store, watch for discounts on overstock.
I've been doing that since my son was born. Scored a bunch of Duplo train sets for more than 50% off the retail price.
Parent
Re:Sales at the Lego Store (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:4, Informative)
Lego bricks currently clock in at an average of 10 cents a piece (i.e. an 800 piece set will run you around $80, a 5000 piece set will run you around $500 dollars.)
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
I also find it surprising that advanced manufacturing technology hasn't driven down the price of Legos. However, this article [fastcompany.com] gives some insight into the business side of Lego and shows that the prices aren't simply inflated out of greed.
Parent
Several reasons... (Score:5, Informative)
None of which alone explain it, but can add up.
They are very particular about the ABS they use - it has to be metals-free, historically not very easy - which used to be supplied only by Bayer (until around 1998, LEGO US was still shipping ABS pellets from Germany to Enfield CT - one worth-his-weight-in-bricks engineer got GE Pittsfield MA to spec the plastic, saving them some bucks).
The bricks IIRC are build to a tolerance of 3/1000ths of an inch. Look at bricks and try and find the gates (where the plastic in injected and detaches from the flashing) or the knock-outs (where a part of the molding machine pushed the brick out - typically these are obvious kludgy bits of a plastic toy, in LEGOs they are all but invisible) The LEGO engineers used to smile a lot as other companies' engineers searched, often in vain, for these tell-tale machine marks.
In Enfield they have a lego-brick knight statue commemorating their ISO 9001 certification. Not so sure how many toy factories hit that mark.
For a long time the place was rather labor-intensive. A 1990 tour had more people on the packing line and a series of lights to alert someone on the floor (who had to be in sight of the molding machines) to a malfunction. The same tour in 1996 this was replaced by a pager system. In all that automation, they prided themselves on never letting someone go from the factory when their role was replaced by a machine -they always had something new to be done based on a lot of R&D. Haven't been there since 2000, but I understand that pattern was pretty much unbroken.
At least in Enfield, the factory was nearly as as spotless as the HQ office buildings. I doubt every plastic-toy-cranking factory elsewhere in the world has that level of upkeep, and it's not cheap.
Making the rafts of tie-in toys means paying royalties to Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. While base sets might cheaper at WalMart now than they were at a boutique toy shops a few years back, the brand name additions likely helped keep prices off the bottom.
Enfield CT likely isn't the cheapest labor market around, which explains why, sadly, a year ago the last nut and bolt of the factory were shipped off to Mexico. Blasted sad. A great bunch of people up there.
Parent
A couple of reasons... (Score:5, Insightful)
1. They're expensive because they are built to a much higher level of quality than is typical for injection-molded plastic toys.
Have you ever seen a defective Lego brick? Or heard of a set with a missing piece? A lot of work (and expense) goes into avoiding that. Hence all the automation - if they had humans doing all that work, Lego would be even more expensive.
The bricks themselves are little marvels of engineering - they use extremely heavy, multi-piece molds, and sophisticated molding machines to keep the dimensional tolerances to within (IIRC) .001 mm.
2. They're expensive because they're very durable.
Despite the relative cheapness of the plastic material itself, you can easily find Lego that's 30 years old, has been played with by dozens (or hundreds) of kids, snapped together and apart thousands of times, and still functions perfectly.
Given that they basically don't wear out, Lego bricks are priced higher than they would be if they were intended to be replaced from year to year.
3. They're expensive because people are willing to pay for them.
As a result of #1 and #2 above, Lego has a well-deserved reputation for quality. Despite plenty of lower-priced competition, Lego continues to sell well.
You can even buy bricks that are inter-operable with Lego for literally 1/10th the price, and they still don't out-sell the real thing. Why? Because they're simply not made as well - they don't stick together or come apart as well as Lego bricks, and they aren't nearly as sturdy.
Even as an 8-year-old, I noticed that the knock-off blocks were not worth building anything out of, and quickly separated them from my "real" Legos.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
Legos do have much higher quality than similar "block" toys. They have higher durability and don't wear out as fast, and have more stringent quality control. They may cost more than a competitor like Mega Bloks, but they'll last longer.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:4, Insightful)
What gives better value for your money than Lego?
I have yet to see a toy that will get as much play as a tub of Legos
Now I do think they have way to many special parts these days but that is just because I am old.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Funny)
Tub of hookers?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
maybe kids blocks shouldn't be made with cornstarch, since then they might degrade too quickly. there is an advantage in that though, since you can price the blocks closer to margins, knowing they've got a limited shelf life in humid/hot environments...
Ugh. Only in Capitalist America would planned obsolescence be considered an advantage.
Re:Lego is recyclable (Score:4, Insightful)
The only problem is that most countries lack a proper public plan to recycle plastics (mostly only a couple of type of plastics used in some bottle, like PET and PEHD - but not ABS which is what legos are made from)
At risk of going off at a tangent, this is a bugbear of mine. I live in the UK, where the general public is under increasing pressure to recycle, while producers are under very little obligation to make that at all easy, say, by reducing packaging, using more easily recyclable materials, or collecting recyclable materials themselves. Similarly, councils are pushing for powers to punish people for not recycling enough while not providing the necessary facilities.
Most packaging in this country these days has little numbers to say what type of material it is, in a little recycle-y triangle logo. So, for plastics, PE is number 1, HDPE is 2, PP is 5, PS is 6, and so on. So far, so good. It goes awry when you find that a lot of the plastics can't be recycled - PE and HDPE are easy, but I'm thinking particular of PP, which is used for loads of food packaging, bottles, etc. but apparently can't be recycled anywhere.
The labels always have a little bit of text next to the recycle-y number/logo which says "Recycle where facilities available", and I'm like "Where the fuck is that then? Germany?". "Recycle where facilities available", like it's my job to hunt out some mystical place where I can recycle this stuff. Fucking idiots. Where facilities available my arse, build some fucking facilities and I'll recycle your plastic bottles.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:4, Interesting)
I've had a set missing a piece. Heck, the last set I purchased for my kid didn't match what was on the cover. When we opened the box up our Lego Star Wars set actually contained Indiana Jones pieces. Even worse, the retards at Target almost didn't take the set back. It's no wonder that people shop at Wal-Mart.
I buy Lego sets because that's what my son wants, and my son wants Lego because Lego is way better at marketing than the competition.
As an example. My kids liked Star Wars, but they didn't become obsessive over Star Wars until they played the Lego Star Wars video games. Next thing I know even my girls want Legos, and my boy has gone completely crazy.
I don't mind. I happen to like both Star Wars and Lego. I just bough my kids the Lego Indiana Jones video game and I hope it has the same effect. I'm going to spend quality time with my kinds anyhow, but I would much rather play Indiana Jones or Star Wars than American Girl Doll or Power Rangers.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:4, Insightful)
I've had a set missing a piece. Heck, the last set I purchased for my kid didn't match what was on the cover. When we opened the box up our Lego Star Wars set actually contained Indiana Jones pieces. Even worse, the retards at Target almost didn't take the set back. It's no wonder that people shop at Wal-Mart.
That's nothing. I opened up the case of my new improvised nuclear weapon and all I found was a bunch of pinball machine parts!
Parent
I'm sorry, I needed that Plutonium. (Score:3, Funny)
Sincerely,
Dr. Emmett Brown
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Informative)
That's not really true. Process engineers have a lot to do with the quality of plastic products. Those big injection molding machines are really finicky about temperature and pressure, and the molds have to be designed very well. Otherwise you'd get legos that shrink too much, or not enough, or worst of all - not consistently.
Legos have to strike a delicate balance between fitting too tightly and too loosely... it's actually amazing that all of the sets over the years are pretty darn compatible. It's the rare Lego that simply falls off.
Plastic quality is also important, but presumably they are just buying some standard high-quality type. (Maybe not?)
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Interesting)
it's actually amazing that all of the sets over the years are pretty darn compatible. It's the rare Lego that simply falls off.
Very good point, I have some nearly 20 year old legos that fit with brand new ones like they were from the same batch. I suppose I took it for granted without really thinking how much work would go into this level of quality control.
Parent
Try some of the competition some time (Score:5, Informative)
If you buy the cheaper competition, you'll quickly see how much Lego's focus on Quality Assurance matters. It's not unusual for the cheaper knock-offs to have a few bricks in each set that simply don't connect at all to the others.
And those are all from the same batch - I doubt that year-to-year, or decade-to-decade, compatibility is even on the roadmap for those products.
Parent
Re:Expensive (Score:5, Insightful)
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Quality (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, when Apple purchases Seagate HDDs, and Intel processors, and ATI video cards, they ensure that they are of a far higher quality than the Seagate HDDs, Intel processors and ATI video cards that Dell purchases.
Parent
It's all a cunning plot... (Score:4, Funny)
by an evil mainframe to enslave humans by hooking them on the irresistible construction toys, thus destroying productivity and creating an insatiable demand for new bricks.
So far, it's working pretty well....
meh (Score:4, Funny)
Waiting for the part about the spoiled rich girl falling down the bad block chute.
I declare... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Used Legos (Score:3, Interesting)
Legos have always been expensive, but a lot of people don't realize that there are plenty of used legos for sale. Ebay and yard sales are often full of them. A great deal of the time, the instructions are included or are available elsewhere.
Bulk Legos (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Interestingly, sets on ebay often go for an appreciable fraction of the price they originally sold for, or more than the original price for some of the really good ones. I can't think of many other toys that hold value or even appreciate in that way, insane Star Wars memorabilia, etc. notwithstanding.
LEGO - Now with Sharks with Lasers (Score:3, Informative)
Maybe their operations were infiltrated by Slashdot memes...
I made the plastic for those bricks.. (Score:4, Informative)
Almost 2 decades ago I worked in the color lab of one of the suppliers of the plastic granules that LEGO uses, and I can tell you that even then, LEGO had about the most tight color and quality control in place I've ever come across. That's probably why a new brick and a brick bought a decade ago are still so much alike.
I remember that most of that production was checked in double tact: twice as often during a run then any other plastic, and that included metamere checking (ensuring that the color also changes correctly when you switch from daylight to artificial light - not always a given as every pigment you use can act differently).
I've not been involved in developing the LEGO color recipes, but hats off to whoever did them from their samples - that must have taken at least a week. New stuff like matching the color of the leather going to be used in car seats was easier IMHO (although also challenging, precisely because of the metamere issues). But it was fun, albeit occasionally dangerous work, in those days some of the additives were highly toxic..
Re:Molding makes designing your house hard (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, making molds is a pretty complex process. The simpler Lego designs shouldn't be too bad, but they are often 'deep' shapes which can have problems.
Designing a mold to cast properly, without visible mold lines, is a definite science.
Parent
Re:Molding makes designing your house hard (Score:5, Interesting)
The thing with Lego is that if the molds aren't just right then the blocks either fall apart or jam together. Getting that right is a big factor of the success of Lego - it just feels so good when it all clicks together.
HowStuffWorks says the mold tolerance is 0.002mm. That's 500 to the milimetre.
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Re:Molding makes designing your house hard (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure... Call me when your molds and method are good enough to produce parts with tolerances of 2 microns, with only 18 bricks in a million failing QC. Reference, see page 18. [lego.com]
Re:Lego is too explensive for modern man (Score:5, Funny)
FYI, you're not supposed to count the digits to the right of the decimal point when reporting your income in terms of "N figures".
Parent
Re:Old (Score:4, Informative)
What you remember is probably about MEGA Bloks, the Montreal company.
Parent