LEGO officially announces the construction of a factory in China, and more precisely in Jiaxing, a city of 5 million inhabitants located about one hundred kilometers from Shanhai and whose axes of development in terms of living environment and environment are close to the values usually defended by the toy manufacturer.
Construction of this factory will begin in 2014, with a gradual ramp-up to reach a surface area of 120.000 m2 in 2017. 2000 employees should eventually work in this LEGO factory which will meet 70/80% of demand in Asia. All the products manufactured in this factory will be intended for the Asian market, specifies Michel McNulty, Vice-President at LEGO.
LEGO also specifies that the construction of this factory is part of the policy of bringing together production and marketing sites, and of reducing the impact on the environment by limiting the needs for transporting products between Europe and the United States. 'Asia.
Until now, LEGO had already subcontracted parts of its production to China, but this factory is the first establishment of the LEGO Group in this country.
Even if LEGO does not mention it, the cost of labor on site is necessarily one of the criteria for choosing China to set up a new factory there. We will see if LEGO gradually succumbs to the sirens of absolute productivity in defiance of product quality, labor rights and respect for employees or if the manufacturer will be able to put into practice the values it usually defends in this country where it is setting up for the first time.
The press release (in English): LEGO Group to build factory in China.
