How Legos are made – Legos Supply Chain

The detailed process of making LEGOs includes the following steps:

1. Raw materials: The main raw materials used to make LEGOs are Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic granules, pigments for color, and lubricants. These materials are mixed together in a special machine called a “banbury mixer” to create a homogeneous mixture.
2. Extrusion: The mixture is then heated and extruded through a small hole to create small beads called “preforms.” These preforms are cooled and then stored in large silos.
3. Injection molding: The preforms are then heated again and injected into molds in the shape of LEGO bricks using a process called “injection molding.” The molds are made of steel and are very precise, ensuring that each brick is consistent in size and shape.
4. Cooling and ejection: Once the bricks are formed, they are cooled in the molds for a few seconds before being ejected. The bricks are then placed on a conveyor belt and transported to the next step.
5. Cleaning and sorting: The bricks are then cleaned and sorted by color and size. Any bricks that do not meet quality standards are removed.
6. Quality control: The bricks then go through a series of inspections to ensure that they meet LEGO’s high standards for quality and safety.
7. Packaging and shipping: The final step is packaging the bricks into boxes and shipping them to retailers around the world.

The process of making LEGOs is highly automated, with robots and computer-controlled machines performing most of the tasks. This ensures that each brick is consistent in size, shape, and color, and that the final product meets LEGO’s high standards for quality and safety.

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Manufacturing Quotes

• “An hour saved at the non-bottleneck is a mirage.”   ~ Eliyahu M. Goldratt, The Goal
• “Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” ~ W. Edwards Deming
• “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.” ~Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon
• “A relentless barrage of ‘why’s’ is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo. Use it often.” ~ Shigeo Shingo
• “It is impossible to improve any process until it is standardized. If the process is shifting from here to there, then any improvement will just be one more variation that is occasionally used and mostly ignored. One must standardize, and thus stabilize the process, before continuous improvement can be made.” ~Masaaki Imai
• “Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes, and procedures.” ~Tom Peters
• “If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” ~W. Edwards Deming
• “Supply chains are everywhere.  From the biggest company in the world to running your household.  We all have supply chain experience even if we don’t know it.”  ~ EverythingSupplyChain.com