DLuders Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 (edited) The National Geographic Channel has a cable TV show called "Megafactories", and they did an episode on LEGO. Here are the links to the five YouTube videos (posted by HatStacks) that comprise the complete episode. I can only display the first two of the 5 videos on this post, but you can click on the hyperlinks at the bottom to see the remaining three videos. Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCPGlM9TJyo Video 2: Video 2 Video 3, Video 4, and Video 5. Edited March 27, 2011 by DLuders Quote
prateek Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 That's awesome! I'll watch it in its entirety when I find time, but so far it's really cool. Quote
Ricecracker Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks for sharing, Dluders. Very interesting, if you have the time to watch. Quote
TypoCorrecto Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 Just watched it...very interesting. I didn't realize the process was as complicated and now I realize why certain things occur such as availability and design. The LEGO Universe segment was funny; if only they had a crystal ball. I felt like I definitely contributed to LEGO's dark years because my dark age was in full affect at the time...Nice program overall... Quote
JopieK Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 The event in the National Geographic film is "Legoworld 2010" from last fall in Zwolle. B.t.w. they use FROG (Free Ranging On Grid) robots in the factory, cool to see that. Quote
-R8- Posted March 27, 2011 Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks a lot for this wonderful find DLuders! It's mind boggling to think how such a complex system was even conceived of and operated 24/7 to manufacture and distribute thousands of sets weekly. The company's abilities to solve problems ranging from averting a plant meltdown to taking risks to get the company back on track is quite remarkable as well. Quote
chris_austin Posted March 28, 2011 Posted March 28, 2011 I thought I had seen this but this is a new one. Thanks for sharing. I need to get one of those crowbars! Quote
legomaniac83 Posted March 28, 2011 Posted March 28, 2011 A lot I didn't know about the company. Thanks for sharing! Quote
danthaman11 Posted March 29, 2011 Posted March 29, 2011 Thanks for sharing DLuders. Just finished watching the show. Very interesting to get a behind the scene look on how the latest police station set went from concept to production to consumer. The distribution center where they ship out all the sets to all the stores is massive. Quote
Brickus Posted March 29, 2011 Posted March 29, 2011 Thanks for that DLuders, the whole thing kept me interested all the way through. How many box collectors cried out, NO, when the kid tore open the box. Quote
AussieJimbo Posted March 29, 2011 Posted March 29, 2011 Great documentary, thanks for sharing. :classic: Quote
Jargo Posted March 29, 2011 Posted March 29, 2011 Very interesting. I was foever telling my late partner how each piece of Lego was a finely engineered marvel to justify my passion for the brick. I wish he'd seen this. It does beg the question of how long does a Lego brick live for. How many years does an individual brick maintain its structural and chemical integrity. Will future generations be walking on man made beaches of ground down used Lego. It seems like an awful lot of plastic being churned out. If every brick ever produced was put in one place how big a pile would it make. how high would it be. what would be the environmental impact of all those bricks. The programme has taken any romantic notions about Lego that I had and killed them. It's quite depressing in a way to see what a monster the factory is, the company is. Although impressive and awesome to see the bricks being made, the sheer scale of the process is sobering. Quote
Solscud007 Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 I just finished watching it all. That was a lot of fun to see the logistics and the production. It is so immense. Quote
Pingles Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 Will future generations be walking on man made beaches of ground down used Lego. It seems like an awful lot of plastic being churned out. If every brick ever produced was put in one place how big a pile would it make. how high would it be. what would be the environmental impact of all those bricks. At the same time there are very few other toys with the longevity of Legos. While most toys may have a lifespan of years Legos are decades+. I have several "public" tubs of Legos in my house that contain pieces from thirty or more years ago. In fact, my brother posted a picture from his 1974 5th birthday where he is assembling a Tractor which might very well have some pieces in one of my bins. Quote
Admiral Croissant Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 Thanks for sharing. I was on Legoworld too. My MOC(ship) can be seen very shortly at 1:54 of part 3 Also nice to take a look behind the scenes of course. Quote
Jargo Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 At the same time there are very few other toys with the longevity of Legos. While most toys may have a lifespan of years Legos are decades+. I have several "public" tubs of Legos in my house that contain pieces from thirty or more years ago. In fact, my brother posted a picture from his 1974 5th birthday where he is assembling a Tractor which might very well have some pieces in one of my bins. Oh heck, don't get me wrong, I've still got pieces from the late sixties. I think it's brilliant that Lego stands the test of time and is such a strong product. I was just musing on the possible eco impact. Quote
Big Cam Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Oh fantastic Dluders! I'm saving them to my phone now. Quote
Haltiamieli Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Will future generations be walking on man made beaches of ground down used Lego. It seems like an awful lot of plastic being churned out. It is an awful lot of plastic, but the world is also an awfully big place. If I remember correctly, every second seven Lego sets are sold somewhere in the world, but still there is "only" 63 Lego bricks per capita if divided evenly to everybody. We produce so much plastic, and it is used for so many things (globally, even simple things like toothbrushes make a staggering amount of waste every year), that in the bigger scheme of things Lego bricks are, if not a drop in the ocean, then still only one of the thousands of rivers flowing into it. The plastic waste beaches of the future generations will be made mostly of other things. Not to say that collecting Lego would be exactly an eco-friendly hobby, but it's not the worst either. And yes, the documentary was quite interesting. Quote
fred67 Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 It was interesting... I have a pretty short attention span, I admit, and didn't think I'd watch all five parts, but I did... back to back. Some of it was very interesting, and answered a lot of questions people on these boards have been guessing about... like how much do molds cost (and even "what will the dog from the new police set look like?"). It was also notable - the largest investment TLG has made into any single product... LEGO Universe. As far as waste goes, the overuse of plastic bothers me, but not so much when it's permanent (or semi permanent). In other words, we bring canvas bags for shopping, and certain packaging really bothers me, but things like computers, electronics, cars, and LEGO seem like a much more worthwhile use for plastic. Quote
Blondie-Wan Posted March 31, 2011 Posted March 31, 2011 Very interesting. I was foever telling my late partner how each piece of Lego was a finely engineered marvel to justify my passion for the brick. I wish he'd seen this. It does beg the question of how long does a Lego brick live for. How many years does an individual brick maintain its structural and chemical integrity. Will future generations be walking on man made beaches of ground down used Lego. It seems like an awful lot of plastic being churned out. If every brick ever produced was put in one place how big a pile would it make. how high would it be. what would be the environmental impact of all those bricks. The programme has taken any romantic notions about Lego that I had and killed them. It's quite depressing in a way to see what a monster the factory is, the company is. Although impressive and awesome to see the bricks being made, the sheer scale of the process is sobering. It's interesting to me that you had this response; I haven't finished watching it all yet, but so far I've had exactly the opposite reaction - the company seems a little smaller, more intimate and more human to me than I had previously conceptualized it as being. I was already aware of the immensity of the production system (and that TLG is a huge international company with revenue in the billions of dollars each year), but understanding a little more about it helped me visualize how different elements would find their way to market and so on, and though the whole operation is huge it's still finite. Moreover, seeing people in the company whose family had worked there before them made the whole thing seem a bit more intimate and special. Also seeing how things like a major set release (such as the police station) are still designed by relatively small teams of enthusiastic employees, and how a new element such as the latest dog figure comes about, personalized the process a lot for me. The environmental impact, though, is something that's been on my mind since well before this segment showed up, and I do wonder sometimes about the consequences of my love for this toy. Quote
Nikola Bathory Posted April 2, 2011 Posted April 2, 2011 That's awesome! I'll watch it in its entirety when I find time, but so far it's really cool. Same here. Thanks for sharing, I will watch it carefully these days!! Quote
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