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Lego is building a brand new factory in Vietnam. If the project goes as planned, the company will spend a total of $1 billion on the new structure, which will be located in the Southern industrial town of Dongguan, People’s Daily, a state-run Chinese news agency, reported. The new plant is expected to be completed in 2022, when the Lego community around the world will be celebrating 75 years of the product’s existence. The company says it will more than double its current capacity for bricks.
“The new production line will be crucial for us,” said Lego Executive Chairman Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, in an interview. “It’s time for us to move ahead to a modern manufacturing plant.”
At the moment, Lego’s factories operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with only occasional breaks for breaks. Construction of the new plant is planned to keep hours at a normal 24-hour pace. The new structure is expected to boost the company’s per-worker output by 30 percent. Construction on the new facility, an “innovation plant,” has already begun.
Lego has come a long way since its humble beginnings, first launched in Denmark in 1932. To celebrate this milestone, the company said it would give away 5.3 million brick kits, worth $145 each, across the world to 500,000 people.
According to the company, 15 percent of all kids in the world learn to play with Lego in the United States, making it the biggest market for Lego globally.
“Our growth target means that one billion and more children will have some experience with Lego within their lives,” Knudstorp said.