Have you ever wondered how LEGO pieces are made? Here’s what a factory looks like inside.
LEGO has been with us for a few decades now, but it is possible that you have never considered what it is like, inside, the factory capable of creating the bricks and other pieces that we can enjoy in construction. Year after year, despite the digitization of games, it continues to remain a leader within its sector. In a way, this is so because its competitive advantage over other rivals. This has been the case for a long time and, everything seems to indicate, that this leadership will continue to be present in the future.
Even so, how are the figures that we have all had at some point created? Most of the nesting blocks are made of plastic, but all of the same size match perfectly in shape. It is difficult to find units that have some kind of damage and this is precisely due to the demanding quality controls that the company offers. Creating LEGO pieces is not an easy task, but it is very mechanical. In fact, the firm has specific machines for each of the shapes used.
Let’s see, therefore, how a LEGO factory works from the inside. In the end, there are some assembly proposals offered by the company They have thousands of pieces, so simply by probability, some failure could be understood. This, on the other hand, does not happen due to its high specialization. Here are all the keys that show why we are facing a differential manufacturer within the toy industry.
LEGO and his incredible ability to create pieces that fit together with extreme precision
The Twitter user @Trung Phan has published an interesting thread in which he wanted to show some of the most outstanding features of LEGO in different aspects. For it, has focused especially on the field of production, having placed special emphasis on the margin of error between one piece produced and the next. It is important to specify that, as these are nestable blocks, it is essential that the machines act with the precision that characterizes a surgeon.
Precision on Lego manufacturing is wild.
Every new piece has to fit with every piece ever made. So the most variability between pieces that Lego allows is 0.0005” (half a thousandths of an inch).
Here are some other details: pic.twitter.com/mDAw5SiEli
—Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) November 7, 2022
The most noteworthy note that can be observed is the maximum difference that can exist between one unit and another. According to the information provided through the blue bird’s social network, between the two there may be, at most, a variability between pieces that Lego allows is 0.0005”. This, translated, equals half a thousandth of an inch. If you have noticed the separation between the pieces when joining a set of blocks, you will have been able to see how there is hardly any space available to join a new piece.
This is so because a single machine is responsible for the production of a single piece multiplied by millions of times. In fact, production, being highly mechanical, does not stop for 24 hours a day. After all, we are dealing with a firm that works internationally in a multitude of markets. According to the information available on Reddit, a specialized machine can use the same mold to create up to 120 million units.
Well, have you ever wondered why there are batches in which we can find hundreds of pieces of different colors and that they only have a single square? These are some of the most in-demand due, above all, to the fact that they serve perfectly as a key element to fill a gap in which, perhaps, the piece that was originally adapted to said space has been lost.
The images above show how the technology that allows you to enjoy a passion that has ceased to be something exclusive of the little ones in the house. In fact, a multitude of projects are specially designed for adults due to the great complexity behind their assembly.