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Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

manufacturingdive.com

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Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#191

Post by gtop3 »

dukeyukey wrote: post #62
obblekk wrote: post #6

Interesting learnings for me from this article: - Lego operates multiple $1B+ factories around the world - they are not just a design and marketing company - 1400 manufacturing jobs in Virginia expected - not just an automated thing. Anyone know what changed economically to justify the high US labor costs? Particularly compared to MX - 100% Carbon neutral via on-site Solar in Virginia (not particularly sunny). No off…

> Anyone know what changed economically to justify the high US labor costs? Particularly compared to MX My understanding is the US: 1. Is more politically, economically, and frankly physically secure than Mexico. 2. Has cheaper energy 3. Has a better-trained manufacturing workforce for the kinds of machine Lego is gonna use.

Questions:

* Does the cheaper energy come into play with such a large onsite solar system?

* (From the point of view of a manufacturing company opening operations in the us) Does the US currently have a surplus of well trained manufacturing workers? I hear a lot of factory management/executives still complaining that the skilled labor they need just doesn't exist.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#192

Post by PostOnce »

meibo wrote: post #115

They really need to work out their quality deficits first, a lot of recent mishaps have been inexcusable. You can't sell a $600 display model(which is a ridiculous price in the first place) with very visible gate locations from the molding process and uneven colors. These are purely caused by cheap molds and plastic mixes - it didn't used to be this way, but somehow they decided that they had to start jeopardizing th…

LEGO absolutely has a quality problem now.

I am in my 30s and I had never seen a LEGO defect, and I have seen quite a few bricks. In the past year, I have seen several in-person among the toys I've bought for my kids, and several more anecdotally around the internet.

Now I even see it here on HN.

the LEGO brand had an unassailable, invincible reputation for quality, and now, for what seems like the first time, that is being called into question?

I find this fascinating and worrying. Are all good things destined to cheapen and collapse in search of short-term profits eventually?

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#193

Post by meibo »

pcurve wrote: post #151
meibo wrote: post #115

They really need to work out their quality deficits first, a lot of recent mishaps have been inexcusable. You can't sell a $600 display model(which is a ridiculous price in the first place) with very visible gate locations from the molding process and uneven colors. These are purely caused by cheap molds and plastic mixes - it didn't used to be this way, but somehow they decided that they had to start jeopardizing th…

that's a shame. At least they're pretty good about sending you replacement parts for free

Yeah, it is. Sadly for a lot of these cases(e.g. the big 10307 eiffel tower) the parts you would get back are very likely going to look the same way, as the molds themselves are the problem and it's not usually a "bad batch". Might get more lucky with colors though.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#194

Post by gtop3 »

majormajor wrote: post #171
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve posted before that Lego in the USA in the 1970s consisted of multi-colored bricks of different sizes. That’s it. And usually someone replies “You’re wrong” and points to some Lego mini-figure or elaborate kit that existed in the US in the 70s but in reality, I never ever saw one and neither me nor any of my friends ever had anything besides basic bricks. It’s like there is some alternate 1970s Lego reality that…

The 90s are when fancy sets with specialized pieces REALLY took off. The 90s space stuff compared with the 80s was a big shift. But that's still 30 years ago so Lego has been fancy pieces and custom kits for a couple generations of kids now.

> But that's still 30 years ago so Lego has been fancy pieces and custom kits for a couple generations of kids now.

You can get a 790 piece big box of Lego brand plastic building blocks on Amazon for $35. These types of collections tend to end up in yard sells, or passed around extended families because they last longer than a single childhood. The none-fancy Lego branded blocks still exist, and are still a common part of childhood in America. Lego just doesn't have to market them as hard, and the sale volume is naturally lower.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#195

Post by gtop3 »

sergiotapia wrote: post #175
TheRealPomax wrote: post #162

Hopefully all American employees get the same treatment as European employees, rather than hiring a bunch of US-entrenched management and having them go "well this is an American plant, so we don't have to give you a minimum number of vacation days, and we only need to wage gauge you a tiny bit less than other companies in this space int he US for you to feel like we're treating you well". It's so easy to open a plan…

Is there any way to find a company that has those kind of benefits in the US? Or are the market forces in the United States just too harsh to allow for such a company to exist?

If I was looking for a manufacturing job with great benefits and fair treatment from management I'd look for someplace with a labor union.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#196

Post by ethbr0 »

mianm wrote: post #159
alexchamberlain wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this was parody... but geopolitical risks of Denmark!?!

I'd be more concerned about Lego setting up a factory in a country with very poor labour laws compared to most countries in that list, than the stability of Denmark.

It's a little known fact that Sweden has been in the process of declaring war on Denmark.

As soon as they finalize the phrasing of the declaration and approve it through committee, probably in the next few centuries, all hell is going to break loose.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#197

Post by aksss »

lkramer wrote: post #158
zeristor wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enfield, not just for the Enfield rifle, or Royal Enfield Motorcycles, or Matchbox cars; but Lego too? How did I miss that?

I suspect this is Enfield in Connecticut and not Enfield in Middlesex, UK which is where the Rifle and Motorcycle originated.

Small bit of trivia, but the M1917 Enfield rifle, used by American forces in WWI and a derivative of the SMLE from the UK, was actually produced in CT, but in New Haven not Enfield. :^)

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#198

Post by HeWhoLurksLate »

dukeyukey wrote: post #62
obblekk wrote: post #6

Interesting learnings for me from this article: - Lego operates multiple $1B+ factories around the world - they are not just a design and marketing company - 1400 manufacturing jobs in Virginia expected - not just an automated thing. Anyone know what changed economically to justify the high US labor costs? Particularly compared to MX - 100% Carbon neutral via on-site Solar in Virginia (not particularly sunny). No off…

> Anyone know what changed economically to justify the high US labor costs? Particularly compared to MX My understanding is the US: 1. Is more politically, economically, and frankly physically secure than Mexico. 2. Has cheaper energy 3. Has a better-trained manufacturing workforce for the kinds of machine Lego is gonna use.

Mexico has political stability problems, for one...

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#199

Post by downrightmike »

Armisael16 wrote: post #182
dblooman wrote: post #179

Do americans really call Lego bricks Legos? Based on the comments, it seems common enough, I always thought it was a plural like data

Americans do generally call them legos. The company hates it.

They are Legos, as in "go clean up your legos"
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