Lego breaks floor on first US manufacturing facility
Dive Temporary:
- The Lego Group broke floor on its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Chester, Virginia on April 13.
- The $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot web site will home 13 buildings and draw its energy from rooftop and floor photo voltaic panels, in addition to an on-site photo voltaic plant when accomplished in 2025, in line with a press launch.
- Utilizing the identical manufacturing unit blueprint as its different Lego factories, the total plant is slated to open within the second half of 2025.
Dive Perception:
The carbon-neutral facility is a part of Lego’s goal to cut back carbon dioxide emissions by 37% by 2032.
“We’re working exhausting to cut back emissions on the Lego Group and are actually enthusiastic about our plans to construct this photo voltaic plant as we push in the direction of a greater world for our youngsters to inherit,” COO Carsten Rasmussen mentioned in a press release.
The location will make use of greater than 1,700 individuals in molding, processing and packing equipment as soon as accomplished. Nevertheless, Lego is at the moment recruiting as much as 500 individuals for a short lived packing facility it plans to open within the first half of 2024.
The Virginia facility shall be Lego’s second plant in North America. In August, Lego invested $500 million to increase its first facility in Monterrey, Mexico.
The websites add to Lego’s manufacturing vegetation in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and China. It’s additionally planning to open its first carbon-neutral web site in Vietnam.
The Virginia location will carry the toy producer nearer to main markets, shorten its provide chain and reply rapidly to shopper calls for, in line with the discharge.
“Our new manufacturing unit within the U.S. and expanded capability at our current web site in Mexico means we can finest help long-term development within the Americas,” Rasmussen mentioned in a press release in June. “We’re lucky to discover a location the place we are able to start building rapidly and create short-term capability in underneath two years.”
In January, Lego said it was moving its Americas workplace from Enfield, Connecticut to Boston, Massachusetts by 2026. The transfer would help the corporate’s targets to carry Lego to extra children within the U.S. and the Americas area, Skip Kodak, president of the LEGO Group within the Americas, mentioned in a press release.
“Boston is ranked among the finest cities on the earth to draw and retain expertise. This, together with its world-class educational establishments, expert workforce and nice high quality of life makes it a really perfect location for our US head workplace,” Kodak mentioned. “Now we have thrilling plans for the following part of development.”