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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

#291

Post by datavirtue »

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.

....AND workers are dirt cheap and have nearly zero protections.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#292

Post by ratg13 »

tedivm wrote: post #43
skybrian wrote: post #35

It will be the first US Lego factory in a while, but here is some history: > The first LEGO factory in Enfield opens in 1975 – a packing facility for LEGO DUPLO® bricks. The elements to be packed arrive from factories in Billund, Denmark, and Baar, Switzerland – transported to the US in container ships. > The Enfield factory is constructed as a “conversion ready” building with open steel structures which can quickly…

I came here to say this- I toured the Enfield facility, as LEGO sponsored my robotics team. They had a whole manufacturing setup there. Everyone was kind of pissed that they closed it when they did.

LEGO was suffering financial hardships at the time due to plummeting sales.

They had no way of knowing Bionicle was going to save the company.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a31152877/le...

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#293

Post by specialist »

majikaja wrote: post #224

I wish Lego would just stick to Lego classic. I don't like having to check all the pieces in a themed set are present when putting them back in the box after my child's finished with it. It's difficult to reuse the pieces for other ideas because I can't just commingle them with other sets because finding the pieces again to build that themed set would be more difficult. Just following instructions has limited value a…

The way I heard it, the copyright on classic pieces ran out, so Lego had to differentiate. Further, the co-marketing arrangements like Star Wars and Harry Potter have been lucrative, and probably saved the company.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#294

Post by cesarb »

iso1631 wrote: post #270
nonethewiser wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s pretty incredible to think about. I didn’t think that was feasible.

Brazil has two or three 1200 mile plus HVDC lines in operation The longest curently runing line is over 2500km, which from Los Angeles would cover the entirety of 17 states as well as cities like Vancouver, Calgary and even Winnipeg

> Brazil has two or three 1200 mile plus HVDC lines in operation

There are four: Xingu-Estreito and Xingu-Rio for the Belo Monte dam, and the two parallel Rio Madeira lines for the Santo Antônio and Jirau dams on the Madeira river. They all take large amounts of hydroelectric power from the sparsely populated North region to the densely populated Southeast region. (There are also the two parallel Itaipu HVDC lines, but they're shorter than 1200 miles.)

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#295

Post by mminer237 »

datavirtue wrote: post #291
dukeyukey wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

....AND workers are dirt cheap and have nearly zero protections.

What? Essentially no US factory is paying less than $15/hour. Like $20/hour is more common. And they have to pay benefits. That's more expensive than most of Europe.

In Mexico you would be lucky to make $5/hour.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#296

Post by TheRealPomax »

drstewart wrote: post #207
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is striking how quickly the US turned into a backwater for all types of labor.

What's striking is that every time I talk about moving to Europe I have to cut my salary expectations in half. Talk about backwater expectations.

If you only look at salary, rather than "what you get to keep" based on total expenses, in turn based on factors like cost of living, cost of transport, cost of insurance, etc. etc., I have questions about your ability to budget. They money you get to keep, and what that buys you, is what matters, not the amount you start off with.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#297

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

proudeu wrote: post #220
dukeyukey wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Yes, absolutely. There are very few developed countries with large population centres on or adjacent to strong solar potential, and fewer again if you limit them by others stuff Lego is looking for (e.g. workforce compatibility, market access). 2. That's probably true, but the US labour market is simultaneously huge, flexible, and well-educated. That gives it an advantage over most competitors.

Is this well educated labour force the part of the voter base of the two biggest parties across the pond? if yes then I wish the very best to the manufacturing trials there. We already have seen the quality of Us manufacturing recently with Tesla cars. The times that made in America was synonymous with good quality are long gone.

As a general rule, the quality of manufacturing output has far less to do with the workers, and more to do with the procedures that they're made to follow.

If you put people in a situation where they can only produce crap, then that's what you'll get.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#298

Post by mrguyorama »

munificent wrote: post #113
akiselev wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're the "largest" manufacturer of tiny little toy car wheels that use a few grams of rubber. It's a paid ad for LEGO, not a serious record.

As opposed to those serious Guiness records like "farthest eyeball pop", "loudest purr by a domestic cat", "most face flesh tunnels", "most tennis balls held in the mouth (by a dog)", "most eyebrow waxes performed in eight hours by a team", and "longest head massage chain". Guiness has always been a half-commercial silly enterprise. It's literally founded by a beer brand to resolve pub trivia arguments.

>Guiness has always been a half-commercial silly enterprise.

No it is, in actuality, a marketing organization. They make all their money selling records. Their business is contracting with companies to come up with a marketable record, and then "observing" the client breaking that record, and then publishing that record. It's no different than those "award" companies that exist only to make up new awards to give companies.

It's the same as when JD power gave Chevy an award for "Highest Initial Quality", as if there is any customer value to a car that starts the best and immediately degrades.

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#299

Post by aksss »

rgoulter wrote: post #249
aksss wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :^)

The M1917 uses a Mauser action, and isn't directly related to the Lee-Enfield (SMLE).

Yes, certainly not my area. As far as I know the M1917 is just a P14 chambered in .06. The P13/14 Lee-Enfield was built/designed as an improvement to the SMLE, though as you say, probably incorrect to call it a “derivative” so much as a successor (though an ill-fated one).

Re: Lego breaks ground on first US manufacturing facility

#300

Post by dzamo_norton »

nonethewiser wrote: post #231
hanniabu wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's not pretend they care about the reduction in carbon. They'd only care about reduced shipping costs.

Their product is literally made out of oil.

Is making bricks out of oil as bad as burning it?
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