History of the LEGO brand. The history of the creation of the Lego constructor Who is the founder of the Lego company

All children love LEGO. This is a construction set that has given millions of children the opportunity to enjoy, develop, invent, think logically and spend hundreds of hours with their parents, assembling different cars, ships, planes, houses, robots and mechanisms. Of course, it's not just kids who love LEGO. Many adults enjoy an original hobby - assembling LEGO construction sets.

In 2014, I watched the National Geographic movie Megafactories: The LEGO Movie. And then it all began. I became more interested in the history of the creation of this brand and everything connected with it, I studied the work of the company and how the processes and production itself are organized. Of course, the idea of ​​visiting the LEGO factory haunted me, and I began to act. Not everything is as simple as it turned out.

Over the course of 2 years, I wrote hundreds of letters directly to the LEGO Group website, as well as to factories in Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. I couldn’t believe that it was so difficult to get to the factory to look at the production of the designer. There were a dozen stories on the Internet from the plant in Denmark, people somehow got there and wrote beautiful stories. Having contacted a couple of such lucky people, I realized that my goal was moving away. The Danish Lego factory in Billund conducted excursions to production only three times a year, and then only for “our own people.” Others said that the cost of a group tour to the plant was 1,600 euros. I didn’t give up, I connected different travel agents. Unsuccessfully. Nobody dared to help. One tour operator said that he would try to help me for 400 euros, but there are no guarantees. And at the beginning of 2016, on a Hungarian website, I found news that the LEGO factory in the city of Nyiregyháza was conducting excursions for schoolchildren. However, after 2 months I was still unable to find a contact who could help with organizing the excursion. I even found those who went to the factory and posted their photos on Instagram and Facebook, no one responded. At this point I stopped hitting the wall. For a while :) Six months later, I continued my steps towards searching for a tour to the Lego factory in Hungary.

Know that if you really want something and go towards your dream, then you will always succeed! Thanks to the assistance of the Consul of the Consulate General of Hungary in Uzhgorod, Mr. Laszlo Vid and Alexander Koval, head of the portal "Tourinform Transcarpathia", the dream came true, and we visited the LEGO factory in Nyiregyháza. Read about how it happened after a small selection of facts about the LEGO Corporation.

LEGO history

The LEGO company was created by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from the small town of Billund in Denmark, in 1932. At first, the company consisted only of carpenters and joiners, whose task was to create a toy that would develop the imagination and creativity of a child.

LEGO is an acronym derived from two Danish words “leg godt”, which means “to play with passion”. “This is our name, and it reflects our ideal,” as they say in the company. Over the course of 80 years, Lego has come a difficult path - from a small carpentry workshop to an international company, which today is the third largest toy manufacturer in the world in terms of sales.

The LEGO company has been passed down from father to son, and today it is owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the great-grandson of the founder.

Ole Kirk Christiansen with his son Gottfried Kirk Christiansen and grandson.

The first Lego toys were made of wood, and they had nothing in common with the bricks we play with now. Along with wooden toys, the company produced chairs, stepladders, and ironing boards.

A wooden duck on wheels released by LEGO in 1935.

At first, the company employed 7 people and produced 42 toy models. Things started to go well. But as a result of a short circuit in 1942, the LEGO factory burned down. All supplies and drawings of new toys were burned. Ole Kirk even thought about giving up continuing the business, but he gathered his will and started all over again.

In 1947, LEGO became the first company in Denmark to acquire equipment for the production of plastic toys and parts for them. And already in 1949, LEGO produced more than 200 models of plastic and wooden toys, including those with an easily connected mechanism, which laid the foundation for the future designer.

In 1958, a significant event occurred - LEGO patented a special method of attaching parts, which is called stud-and-tube. Since then, all sets released by the company are fully compatible with each other. You can take Lego bricks that were released in 1958 and bricks from 2017 - they will be completely comparable to each other. This is great!

Now the LEGO Group is an international company with production in Denmark, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Hungary and China. Lego currently employs more than 18,500 people worldwide.

LEGO company slogan

“Det bedste er ikke for godt” - “Only the best is worthy.”

Do you know why this slogan appeared?

When twelve-year-old Gottfried Kirk, the son of the founder, boasted to his father that when making ducks he saved money and instead of three layers of varnish, he coated only twice, his father was upset and told his son to spend the whole night varnishing all the toys that he did not make as expected. . Gottfried's experience inspired him to immortalize his father's words by carving them on a wooden tablet.

• With 6 Lego 2x4 bricks you can create 915 million different combinations.
• On average, 15 Lego sets are sold per second worldwide. On holidays - 50 constructors per second.
• Lego factories produce about 600 bricks per second, and this number is growing every month. Some sources contain a figure of 1300 bricks per second.
• The number of Lego elements in different colors is 34,703. The number of colors in which the parts are painted is 136.
• LEGO produces approximately 400 million tires a year, making it the largest tire manufacturer in the world.
• LEGO plastic heats up to 232 degrees Celsius during production. You can knead it like dough :)
• Billund Airport in Denmark was built by LEGO creator Ole Christiansen.
• The first Google server rack was built from Lego.
• Almost all Lego minifigures are yellow.
• The LEGO Group has prohibited any mention of the LEGO® brand in Internet domain names.
• The quality of production is such that out of 1 million bricks, only 18 pieces do not meet the high standard.
• Anyone can upload their own construction set to the Lego website and offer it for mass production. If the model gets 10,000 votes, the company's employees will consider your option.

LEGO factory in Nyiregyháza, Hungary

In 2014, a new, second LEGO factory for the production of bricks for the LEGO® DUPLO® construction set was opened in the Hungarian city of Nyiregyháza. It is simply incredible to build such a huge plant in 1 year. The fact is that in 2008, a LEGO factory was already built at the other end of the city. But its capacity was not enough, and the LEGO Group built another plant, which has huge potential for expansion.

• The Nyiregyháza plant produces and packages LEGO® DUPLO® bricks.
• The plant employs 2,400 people, mostly local people. The salary is average for the country, but everyone has very good social packages, insurance and bonuses. For example, each employee can buy a construction set directly from the factory at a price 50% lower than the market price.
• Plant area – 120,000 sq. m.
• 672 plastic pressure molding machines are installed on an area of ​​53,000 square meters. m.
• 16 product packaging lines.
• High warehouse with an area of ​​14,000 sq. m for storing boxes and pallets.
• Two high warehouses that can simultaneously store 82,000 pallets of products.

Photo source: lego.com.

LEGO Group development plans in Hungary

The company has ambitious plans and development strategy until 2020. It is planned to double the area of ​​the plant in Hungary. There will be a mirror image, the area of ​​the earth allows. The number of staff is planned to increase by 1,600 people, depending on the season, resulting in more than 4,000 employees.

Planned:

• Increasing the plant area to 290,000 sq. m.
• A production workshop where 768 casting machines will be installed.
• A new module where molds will be assembled.
• New warehouse with capacity for 500,000 boxes and 40,000 pallets.
• New packing room.
• New room for processing garbage and waste.
• New administrative building.
• New processing building for decorating and assembling LEGO System elements.
• New processing building for decorating and assembling LEGO Duplo elements.
• New building to manage the energy consumption of the entire plant.

Excursion to the LEGO factory

At 5 in the morning, our group in a minibus left Uzhgorod for Nyiregyhaza. Taking into account the border crossing, the journey took about 5 hours, although the journey was less than 100 km. They kept us at the border for a very long time. It is important to remember that even if you are traveling abroad in a minibus, your child must have a child seat or booster seat!

Hungary greeted us with sunny weather, we were in a great mood, a meeting with a dream lies ahead:) Immediately after crossing the border, the driver took out a navigator and plotted the route, everything seemed to go according to plan, and we were on time at the pre-agreed time. Arriving in Nyiregyhaza, I immediately noticed a huge number of sites selling cars, both new and used. Just a huge amount!

Nyiregyhaza is a sister city of Uzhgorod. It is the seventh largest city in Hungary. Residents of Transcarpathia often come here for shopping and relaxation, to thermal pools. There is also the best zoo in Europe, but how to spend time in Nyiregyháza is in a separate photo report.

A sign appeared on the horizon, and then the plant itself. Everyone perked up, our crew commander went to find out how to enter the plant.

Outside the window you could see the corporate red color of LEGO; there were trucks, probably loading them with fresh construction sets. It was the wrong plant! But I read that there are 2 LEGO factories in Hungary. The driver only knew this address; he didn’t know where to go next and where to look for the plant we needed.

And here, once again, the maps.me application came to our aid, which works exclusively with offline maps without the Internet, which is very, very useful when you don’t want to pay for roaming. I strongly recommend that everyone install this application on their smartphone and have up-to-date maps of the area where you are going. I even use this program in Ukraine, in general it’s a must have.

The funny thing was that we had to drive in the opposite direction for more than 10 km, fortunately at least there weren’t too many traffic jams.

And here it is - the right LEGO factory, where the scale is even greater.

The parking lot near the plant is huge and filled with cars. There are also parking spaces for electric vehicles. I didn’t count the number of charging posts, but there are clearly not even 10 or 20 of them here. There is a separate parking lot for bicycles with a canopy.

They drive nice cars to Lego :)

Everything is so interesting and clean, I take out a larger camera and start taking pictures around, heading towards the entrance to the plant.

The plant has its own street, with the correct name. Address: Nyiregyháza, LEGO street 15.

Checkpoint at the LEGO factory.

I don’t even have time to take two shots when the guard tells me to hide the camera and not take photos - it’s prohibited!

How so!? I wasn’t ready for this, but what can I do, these are the rules. We are determined to remember everything we see, without photographs.

This time we arrived at the right address and a guide came out to see us. A guy of about 25, who works as a tour guide at the factory, tells and shows everything that is included in the tour program.

First, we were shown a film about the plant for about 10 minutes, where they talked about safety precautions, where you can walk, where you can’t, where you can take pictures and where you can’t. We signed the special visitors' book, handed over our backpacks and cameras and left the entrance to the main building of the plant.

It’s about 50 meters from the entrance to the plant, and you can take pictures here, so I didn’t miss the opportunity to take a couple of shots with my smartphone.

You see a yellow cube behind the glass, do you know what’s inside?

That's right, they're Lego bricks. I don’t know how many of them there are, but there are a lot. And there are many such containers throughout the plant.

View of the factory entrance from the main building.

There was a group of schoolchildren in front of us, and this is the chaos they left behind:)

The excursion lasts 2 hours. We had a great translator with us who knew Hungarian, Alexander. Many thanks to him for participating in the tour and translating all the interesting things!

Excursion to the LEGO factory: let's go

First, we were told in detail the history of the creation of the LEGO company, introduced to the plant using the example of a large model of the plant under glass, with parts in blocks.

This plant produces and fully assembles LEGO® DUPLO® construction sets for children from 1 to 5 years old. The territory of the plant is huge, and soon exactly the same plant will appear nearby, only in a mirror image, construction is already in full swing.

We then moved even closer to the heart of brick production, where we were shown a piece of history, a brick casting machine. Nearby there is a container with granulate, which is used as raw material for production. Now attention! In one day, the factory produces 80,000,000 LEGO elements!

Photo source: nyugat.hu.

Workshop with machines for casting LEGO elements

The number of such machines at the plant is more than 600!

Photo source: LEGO Group website www.lego.com.

This was the first workshop we entered. I froze for a couple of minutes and looked at it all with my mouth open. Organization of communications at the highest level. The workshop is completely clean, ventilated and, by the way, not very noisy, given the number of machines. Each machine stamps its own parts, filling containers for them. When the container is full, a plant employee replaces it with an empty one, transferring filled boxes with parts along a conveyor to another workshop.

The entire plant is “entangled” with wires that are laid in special gutters; in each workshop they are marked differently, but at the same time, this numbering has clear standards. Water supply pipes in case of fire are installed so that they completely cover the entire workshop. Ventilation is also done at the highest level. Overall, I was amazed at how smoothly everything worked.

Information Technology Department at the LEGO Group

In order for the entire infrastructure of the corporation to work like clockwork, you need to coordinate the work of design, development, production, logistics, analytics, finance, you need a very strong computer system and, of course, its support and modifications, which are carried out by a large staff of IT specialists. And here the Hungarian computer scientists are very lucky. The Nyíregyháza plant is home to what can be said to be the headquarters of LEGO's IT department. They service information systems around the world and employ more than 60 highly qualified specialists. And plus another team of IT specialists working directly with the systems at the plant in Hungary. You should see how cool their offices are :). This is an open space, inside of which, in addition to tables and computers, there are assembled construction sets everywhere.

The plant employs 2,400 people. Although you can’t say this in a 2-hour excursion. People are almost invisible.

Lego testing

The department or, more correctly, the testing workshop is located in an isolated room. Here employees check the quality of parts. They look through and scroll in their hands and put them in special containers. The guide told us an interesting fact. There is a "Head" test. The load to remove the head from a minifigure should not exceed 50 kg.

Lego packaging

Almost all processes at the plant are automated, except for one, packing bags into cardboard boxes. As they explained to us, it was not possible to automate this process, since the boxes themselves are often changed, so it is easier and cheaper to do it manually. But, I will tell you that 5-6 people who are at the same table, working on an assembly line, completely cope with their tasks without problems and, apparently, do not feel discomfort. One takes the disassembled box, straightens it, passes it on, the second takes the bags that already contain construction elements, puts them in the box, the third also adds bags and, apparently, instructions, the fourth glues them and sends them on. Then the next worker collects 5–10 construction sets into one box and passes them on.

The packaging can be branded for large chain stores; for example, we were packing construction sets for Tesco before Christmas.

Lego Warehouses

All Lego products are stored in two tall warehouses that hold more than 80,000 pallets. The warehouse is simply huge, and soon there will be twice as much storage space for Lego boxes. From these warehouses, the designers are transported throughout Europe by trucks that are parked on the territory of the plant.

Canteen at the Lego factory

War is war, but lunch is on schedule. After an interesting excursion, we were quite hungry, and we were offered to visit the canteen right on the territory of the plant, where employees eat. An ordinary canteen, somewhat similar to our “Puzata Khata”, but a little simpler in terms of assortment. Despite the large number of people in line, we quickly waited for our food. On average, lunch for 1 person costs 2–3 euros. Quite democratic.

From observations we can say that not all plant employees eat in this canteen. Firstly, it is difficult to accommodate more than 2,000 people in this room during lunch, and on the other hand, we were shown rooms separated from the workshop by a glass wall, where employees can have a snack or relax.

At the reception. By the way, in Billund the logo in the lobby consists of Lego minifigures ;)

There are wonderful monuments on the street made from Lego bricks.

Such a man can be found in many cities around the world where Lego is sold. We saw the same one in Poland;)

How do you like this Hutsul?

Completely assembled from Lego.

And, of course, the Hungarian breed of gray cows, which are also bred in Transcarpathia.

It was an unforgettable excursion to the Lego factory that will be remembered for a long time.

The LEGO Group released a cartoon for its 80th anniversary - a story about the company. Watch it with your kids!

This trip was made with the aim of developing the cross-border tourist route of Transcarpathia (Ukraine) and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg region (Hungary), thanks to the assistance of the Consul of the Consulate General of Hungary in Uzhgorod, Mr. Laszlo Vida. Also, special thanks to the portal “Tourinform Transcarpathia” represented by Alexander Koval for organizing the tour.

To create the most popular toy in the world, it was necessary to combine all the best: a fairy-tale atmosphere (and this is in abundance in the homeland of Hans Christian Andersen), high-quality materials, love for the world of childhood and dedication to the idea. Most of this wealth was owned by any Dane, but only Ole Kirk Christiansen could build a company from these fundamental blocks. It was he who invented and created construction set No. 1 - LEGO. And it all started with ladders, stools and ironing boards...

The history of the creation of the LEGO constructor: brick by brick

Today, LEGO construction sets are positioned as a toy from which you can build anything you want: from a livable house to a self-programmable robot. But the path to success for its creator was quite long and difficult.

Ole was born in 1891 in western Denmark into a poor farming family. He was the tenth child in the family, and he had no prerequisites for a carefree childhood. Ole began learning carpentry at the age of 14, and by 1916 the young master managed to work as a carpenter abroad (Germany, Norway) and even accumulate a small amount of money, which was enough to purchase the “Billund carpentry shop and lumber yard.” By the way, there was enough money either for a workshop or for a house, so, having bought the workshop, Ole also used it as a home, first only for himself, and then for his wife and four sons.

In the 30s of the twentieth century, he founded a company that produced wooden everyday items. And at the beginning, things were going very well, but the financial crisis took its toll, and, despite the fact that Ole had an excellent assistant (his son Godfrick began working with him at the age of 12), things were getting worse for the company.

He needed an idea, and he got it from his son, who collected scraps of boards, painted them, and played with the neighbor kids. Then Ole thought that people buy toys even in the most difficult times and decided to focus on making wooden toys.

You know what’s surprising: in 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen was left not only with a barely functioning enterprise, but also with four children in his arms (his wife died), but at the same time he found the strength to continue his business, despite all the circumstances.

The company's name came from combining two Danish words "LEg" and "GOdt", which meant "to play well". And of course, the first products were not the plastic cubes that we are used to seeing, they were wooden cubes, after which there were ducks on wheels, wooden cars and miniature furniture sets.

Things began to improve, but in 1942 the toy factory completely burned down. The family managed to recover and revive production, and the updated version was more reliable and powerful, and the staff of 7 people was expanded to 40.

By the way, “interlocking” plastic cubes were invented not in Denmark, but in the UK. They were manufactured by Kiddicraft in 1947, based on sketches by child psychologist Mr. Hilary Harry Fisher Page. True, the fastening of the first samples was quite weak, and combining the cubes into a stable structure was quite difficult. The owners of LEGO were able to consider the potential of the designer and launched their own line of plastic “bricks”, but with modified fastenings.

For eleven years the company expanded its range, tried to create new elements and introduced plastic cubes, and in 1953 it launched the “LEGO Mursten” production line.

The first sets were subject to unprecedented criticism: that it would be uninteresting, and the plastic was short-lived, and much more, but the Christiansen family did not deviate from its course, and developed its capabilities into an international company with worldwide popularity and recognition.

In addition to automatically connecting parts, the company also developed its own gaming system: a certain set of parts made it possible to create part of a separate plot (a house, a car, a ship). Every year the system became more complex and interesting (new elements, figures, characters, animals were added), which is perhaps why playing with LEGO continues to captivate not only children, but also adults of all ages.

Simplicity + versatility = endless possibilities

Unlike many other examples, the LEGO company is still a family business, and today its head is the grandson of the founder, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who continues to create classics with fashion trends in mind.

Thus, the company has several series of construction sets in its arsenal:

• "LEGO" or "LEGO System". It has subseries: castles, cities, space travel, pirates. There are separate models dedicated to popular characters: the film about Harry Potter, the Star Wars saga and many others.
• "Primo" line for newborns.
• for preschool children "LEGO DUPLO". Bright cubes are comfortable to hold in your hand, play building and explore the world.
• “Znap” is a lesser-known line of construction sets, which differs from the classic version and is optimal for creating bridges and original floors.
• the most modern versions of “Technic” and “Mindstorms”. With their help, you can design and program your own robot.

A distinctive feature of the designers is the use of a special ultra-precise technology, thanks to which parts of different years of manufacture fit together, and anything can be built from them.

The history of the creation of the LEGO constructor was a long and thorny path that the company overcame with success. Today the company is one of the TOP 10 most popular toy manufacturers. Its production facilities are concentrated in several countries, but the largest production is located in the same place, in Billund (Denmark), where it all began. Today alone, this LEGO factory uses more than 60 tons of plastic per day to produce 21 billion quality parts every year.

The love for the LEGO constructor is so great that every year festivals of LEGO lovers are organized in different parts of the world. Outstanding structures are built there from simple blocks. The tallest tower made of Lego bricks is considered to be a 36-meter structure in Tel Aviv (Israel). In addition to the designer itself, 4 Legoland parks have been built in the world (in Denmark, Great Britain, the USA and Germany), which are visited by millions of people every year.

Today we will go to the city of Billund in Denmark to visit the factory that produces the world famous LEGO designer. Let's look at the production process from the inside, and follow the progress of processing and packaging of the famous designer.

These bricks lie in front of the Lego Group headquarters in Billund.

The company was born in 1932. Its founder was the Dane Ole Kirk Christiansen, who was the foreman of a team of carpenters and joiners. In 1947, the company expanded production and began producing plastic toys. Since its introduction in 1949, LEGO elements in all their versions have remained compatible with each other. So, for example, elements created in 1958 are still paired with elements released in 2010, despite radical changes in the design and shape of the elements over the years.

All parts of LEGO construction sets are manufactured to a specific standard with a high degree of precision, which allows them to be connected without significant effort. In addition, after connection, the parts must be securely attached to each other. To ensure these conditions, the design elements are manufactured with an accuracy of 2 micrometers.

Since 1991, with the beginning of the era of computer video games, the Lego company suffered losses for 11 years, correcting this situation only with the release of new robotic sets.

The process of creating Lego bricks is actually not that complicated. The production of designer elements consists of pouring liquid plastic into a mold and placing it under a press. The form cools, opens, and you have a ready-made Lego brick in your hands. Then comes the second, more complex part of the process - processing, adding artistic details such as suits, ties, etc.

This is the reception area at Lego headquarters. Pay attention to the ceiling and chairs - they seem to be made from construction bricks.

All Lego sets are made from the same plastic based on acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene. It comes to Lego directly from suppliers and is then stored in giant silos. It is usually either red or clear, and piece-specific dye is added to the molding machines. This is a container filled with liquid plastic based on acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene, with the addition of individual dyes.

This is a molding machine. First, very hot plastic is poured into the molds on the right side. It then spreads through small channels and enters the pressing area through very small incisions. When cold water is poured into the molding machine, it causes the plastic to cool and the mold opens, allowing the bricks to fall freely onto the conveyor belt.

Currently, there are about 7 thousand active forms that are used in the production of Lego. However, in general, the company has more than 9 thousand of these forms at its disposal, many of which are waiting in the wings on the shelves, like this one, for example. The average form costs about 72 thousand dollars, the cost of the most complex and expensive is 360 thousand dollars.

Here you can see how plastic is poured into the pressing area of ​​the molding machine.

In this photo we see two ellipsoidal parts that have just been in the mold. After a few seconds they will fall onto the conveyor belt.

This photo shows a mold for making ellipsoidal parts from the top photo.

The produced bricks and other elements can later be used in different ways. These blue pieces can be used both as heads for tiny figures and as decoration for other elements.

Thousands of purple Lego bricks that were under pressure just a few minutes ago.

This is one of twelve molding modules located in Billund. Each module, or dedicated production room, houses up to 64 working molding machines, divided into two blocks of 32 machines each.

A robotic arm removing waste from the melting process and making parts from a molding machine. The plastic will be sent back for melting and will be used very soon.

Basket for production waste.

Production at the Lego factory is virtually waste-free, as plastic is put to good use. However, some of the waste generated during the production process is still sent to the trash bin.

Pipes through which plastic granules enter molding machines. The noise this creates is reminiscent of the noise that would be caused by billions of grains of rice moving through plastic pipes.

The molding machines are used for four weeks before being taken out and thoroughly cleaned. In the photo we see a company employee performing this procedure.

At this stage of production of the figures, arms, legs, heads and other additional parts and elements will be attached to them.

The robot attaches hands to the figurine.

Here you can see how the machine stamps faces and shirts onto the figures.

This display shows the weight of a small bag of Lego pieces, known as a pre-tare. The weight should be between 94.9 and 95.7 grams. This pre-pack weighs 94.94 grams, so it passes inspection. However, as the display shows, five bags were too light and one was too heavy.

Pre-packed Lego pieces on a conveyor belt, at the end of which they are weighed.

This is the packaging department, most of the parts are in bags that go into the container automatically. But some bags are too big and you have to shake them by hand to evenly distribute the parts and make the bags flatter and thinner.

Hundreds of cardboard blanks that will be used to make boxes for Star Wars-themed Lego sets.

This machine controls the height of the boxes so that they can close tightly and pieces do not fall out during transportation.

Boxes of Star Wars-themed Lego sets on an assembly line.

This machine automatically closes the boxes and seals them.

Boxes of Star Wars themed Lego sets are fully packed and ready to ship.

This machine takes two ready-made boxes of Star Wars sets and places them in boxes of six.

A worker picks up two boxes that accidentally fell from the conveyor.

Each of these boxes contains six boxes of Star Wars themed Lego sets.

Now these boxes will go to the Czech Republic, where they will go to the official Lego distribution center, to the warehouse of the plant in the city of Kladno, which, by the way, produces 35-40% (over a million parts) of all the company’s products. There is a giant robotic warehouse, one of the largest in Europe, where orders are processed and products are sent to retail outlets around the world.

If you have a production or service that you want to tell our readers about, write to Aslan ( [email protected] ) and we will make the best report that will be seen not only by readers of the community, but also of the site

The Lego Group was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen (7 April 1891 – 11 March 1958). He was born into a poor farming family in Jutland, Denmark. After learning to be a carpenter, he founded a company in 1932 producing everyday items such as ironing boards and ladders. The company did not bring much profit, and then, together with his son, Gottfried Kirk Christiansen, he began producing wooden cubes. It must be said that this idea not only helped them stay afloat, but also completely changed their lives. Christiansen named the new toy companylego, combining two Danish words -leg And godt (play And Fine).

Lego expanded into producing plastic toys in 1947. The bricks became plastic with identical pins, allowing them to be connected to each other. It must be said that the idea of ​​such bricks was no longer new and was popular among British children. After studying the samples of the British foundry, Ole changed the design of the brick and began stamping completely new samples. They were not as strong as wooden ones, but they connected effortlessly and fit tightly to each other.

This is how the first LEGO constructors were born. After the death of Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1958, the company was headed by his son Gottfried, who with great zeal continued his father's work and brought the company to an international level. But in order to interest buyers on the foreign market, Gottfried decides to create an entire toy system. But the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their gripping ability was limited, and they weren't very versatile. In 1958 the brick design was established, but it took another five years to find the right material for it. The final version of the Lego brick was patented at 1:58 pm on January 28, 1958. The bricks from that year are still compatible with today's bricks.

The Lego Group's motto is "det bedste er ikke for godt", which means "the best, never too good." This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage employees. The most important thing for the company is the quality of its products, which they have never skimped on. The motto is still used within the company today, allowing employees to take pride in their work. The quality of plastic for toy production is under strict control and is appreciated by buyers all over the world.

Since its founding, the Lego Group has released thousands of sets with a variety of themes, including such famous ones as , . New items are often released with new sets. There are also Lego sets designed specifically for girls, such as the new series. They are made up of small interconnected parts that are designed to encourage creativity and application skills.

At the same time, there are sets with a military theme such as: German and Russian soldiers in the series, green soldiers from and knightly tournaments from the series, but in no line there are sets directly on a military theme. Ole Kirk never wanted to see violence and war in toys.

Over the years, Lego's range has expanded. Additional engines, mechanisms, lights, sensors and cameras began to be used, which are widely represented in the and series.

Separately, it is necessary to mention the series and. These kits are for ages 7-16. The parts of the heroes had characteristic hinges that helped them perform all the movements characteristic of humans and animals.

One of the largest Lego sets ever put on sale is from the Large Scale Models series. The number of parts in the set exceeds 5900, and the dimensions of the structure itself are 51x41 cm. In second place in terms of the number of parts is . It contains 4287 bricks and is 102 cm long.

In May 2011, the Space Shuttle Endeavoro delivered 13 Lego sets aboard the International Space Station so that astronauts could build models and study how they react in the microgravity of space. The results of the experiments were shared with schools as part of an educational project.

Today Bugaga invites you to Denmark, to the city of Billund, where the factory for the production of the world famous LEGO constructor is located:

This is the head office of the LEGO Group (located there), the entrance to which is decorated with the world famous “bricks”.

It is noteworthy that the elements of the construction set in all their variants always remain compatible with each other: for example, the “bricks” that were created in 1958 and 2010 are completely compatible with each other, even though their shape and design are completely different. This is due to the fact that LEGO parts are manufactured with high precision (2 micrometers) according to a certain standard.

This is the reception area of ​​the head office of the LEGO Group, the interior of which is stylized to resemble the famous “bricks”.

All parts of the designer are made from the same plastic (based on butadiene, acrylonitrile and styrene), supplied to the plant directly from suppliers. Stored in huge bins, it is usually either red or clear. Individual dyes for specific elements are added directly to the molding machines.

In front of you is a molding machine. Hot, liquid plastic is poured into the molds located on the right side. Then, spreading through small channels, it enters the pressing part through small cuts. And when cold water is poured into the molding machine, the plastic cools, the mold opens and the “bricks” freely fall onto the conveyor belt.

Currently, about 7,000 active molds are used in the production of LEGO elements. However, the company has a total of 9 thousand, it’s just that many of these forms are still waiting in the wings. On average, one such form costs about 72,000 US dollars. The most complex and expensive one can cost the company $360,000.

This photo shows plastic being poured into the pressing area.

And in this photo you can see two ellipsoidal elements that have just been removed from the mold. After just a couple of seconds they will find themselves on the conveyor belt.

Here you see the mold itself for the production of ellipsoidal elements (such as in the photo above).

The manufactured elements can subsequently be used in different ways. For example, these blue elements will either become the “heads” of tiny figures, or they will decorate other parts.

Just a few minutes ago, these purple LEGO bricks were under pressure.

The plant has twelve molding modules (special production rooms), each of which is divided into 2 blocks and accommodates 32 working molding machines.

Thanks to this robotic arm, waste generated during the melting and production process is removed from the molding machine. The plastic is again sent for melting and very soon it will find a use.

Production waste is dumped into this basket.

Despite the fact that there is almost always a use for the plastic left over from the production process, some of the waste still has to be thrown into such trash bins (much like balls of thread, right?).

These pipes carry plastic granules into the molding machines.

Every four weeks, the molding machines are removed and thoroughly cleaned. In this photo, a factory worker is in the middle of cleaning.

At this stage of making the figures, arms, legs, heads, as well as additional elements and details are attached to them.

In this automated section, handles are attached to the figure.

And here faces and shirts are stamped on the figures.

The display shows the weight of the bag containing the LEGO pieces (this bag is called a “pre-pack”). Its weight should vary between 94.9-95.7 g. As we can see, it passed the test.

Along this conveyor, preliminary containers with LEGO fragments are sent for weighing.

In the packaging department, most of the parts are in bags that fall into the container automatically. However, some bags are too large, so you need to shake them by hand: the parts are evenly distributed throughout the bag, and it becomes flatter and thinner.

These are cardboard blanks from which boxes with Star Wars-themed LEGO sets will later be made.

This machine is used to control the height of boxes: so that they close tightly and parts do not fall out during transportation.

On the conveyor belt are boxes of Star Wars-themed LEGO sets.

In this automated area, the boxes are closed and sealed.

These fully packed boxes are ready to ship.

In this area, finished boxes with LEGO sets are placed in boxes of 6 pieces.

And the boxes themselves are sent along a conveyor belt for loading.

They are sent to the Czech Republic (where the company’s official distribution center is located), to the warehouse of the plant located in the city of Kladno. By the way, this plant produces about 35-40% of all LEGO products, which is more than 1,000,000 parts. In a giant robotic warehouse, one of the largest in Europe, orders are processed and products are sent to stores all over the world.