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LEGO factories hit brick wall as Christmas worries build
Date October 20, 2015.
‘We will not be able to deliver all customers’ orders in the remainder of the
year,’ says toy company spokesman, after ‘extraordinary’ surge in demand
Some children may not see their Christmas wishes fulfilled this year, as LEGO’s
factories, although running at full speed, may not be able to make enough
plastic bricks to keep up with the demand from Europe’s toy stores.
The Danish company has become the world’s largest toymaker by sales, overtaking
Mattel, the US manufacturer whose toys include Barbie dolls.
LEGO’s success is thanks partly to toys linked to movies, including The LEGO
Movie. But difficulties in forecasting demand accurately means some orders may
not be filled on time.
“We will not be able to deliver all of the orders coming from customers in the
remainder of the year,” said spokesman for LEGO, Roar Trangbaek. He did not
specify which lines of toys or which countries would be affected.
Trangbaek said the company would be able to deliver the orders it had already
received but may have trouble filling new orders later this year.
“It is really extraordinary and it has exceeded both ours and our customers’
forecasts,” Trangbaek said when asked why the company had not foreseen the surge
in demand.
The Danish company’s sales grew by 18% in the first half of this year to 14bn
Danish crowns (£1.36bn), putting it ahead of Mattel and Monopoly-board maker
Hasbro, whose revenues came in at $1.9bn (£1.23bn) and $1.5bn respectively.
“We are running our factories at maximum capacity and will do everything we can
to meet demand,” Trangbaek said.
The unlisted company, owned by the family of founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen,
invested more than 3bn crowns in plants and equipment last year to manufacture
more toys. Before Christmas last year, there were some shortages in some
countries including Denmark and Canada.
The company is building a factory in Jiaxing, China, 100km from Shanghai, which
is expected to be up and running in 2017 and should go on to produce most of the
Lego toys for Asia. LEGO already has factories in Denmark, Hungary, Czech
Republic and Mexico.
TheGuardian.com
-end of report-
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In lugnet.mediawatch, “Abner” amf70@aol.com wrote:
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DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and William Demant Celebrate the Inauguration of
BorkumRiffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Germany
NORDDEICH, Germany, October 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
With great excitement, the three partners: DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and
William Demant, celebrate the inauguration of the offshore wind farm
BorkumRiffgrund 1 which can provide clean electricity for 320,000 households.
The joint announcement by top management from DONG Energy, market leader in
planning, constructing and operating offshore wind farms, the LEGO Group
(KIRKBI A/S), makers of the iconic LEGO® brick, and William Demant,
specialists in personal hearing aid products, is made in the presence of His
Royal Highness, Prince Joachim of Denmark, who officially opens the wind
farm.
Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DONG Energy,
welcomes the guests in Norden-Norddeich, located in the Northwest of Germany,
from where the wind farm will be operated:
“BorkumRiffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany and I’m very
satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment
we have put into this project. I’m also very pleased with the confidence that
our joint venture partners have shown us by investing in this project.
Our journey in Germany is far from over: We are currently building another
two offshore wind projects and have a number of other projects in our
pipeline that will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have
gained and will allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German
offshore wind market.”
Renewable energy for 320,000 German households
With a nominal power per turbine of 4.0 MW, the 78 wind turbines will produce
enough environmentally friendly electricity to supply 320,000 German
households each year. The planning of the offshore wind farm BorkumRiffgrund
1 began with the final investment decision in 2011. In August 2013, the
construction of the wind farm started with the installation of the offshore
substation, which is the heart of the wind farm.
The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and
54 kilometres from the German coast. The 78 wind turbines have a total
nominal power of 312 MW. Thus, BorkumRiffgrund 1 contributes considerably to
the aim of the German government to install a total of 6.5 GW of offshore
wind energy until the year 2020. Almost 3 GW have been installed in the
German North and Baltic Sea so far.
Source: DONG Energy Deutschland
Prnewswire.com
-end of report-
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From The LEGO Group and DONG Energy. Video link:
The LEGO Group
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DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and William Demant Celebrate the Inauguration of
BorkumRiffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Germany
NORDDEICH, Germany, October 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
With great excitement, the three partners: DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and
William Demant, celebrate the inauguration of the offshore wind farm
BorkumRiffgrund 1 which can provide clean electricity for 320,000 households.
The joint announcement by top management from DONG Energy, market leader in
planning, constructing and operating offshore wind farms, the LEGO Group (KIRKBI
A/S), makers of the iconic LEGO® brick, and William Demant, specialists in
personal hearing aid products, is made in the presence of His Royal Highness,
Prince Joachim of Denmark, who officially opens the wind farm.
Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DONG Energy,
welcomes the guests in Norden-Norddeich, located in the Northwest of Germany,
from where the wind farm will be operated:
“BorkumRiffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany and I’m very
satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment we
have put into this project. I’m also very pleased with the confidence that our
joint venture partners have shown us by investing in this project.
Our journey in Germany is far from over: We are currently building another two
offshore wind projects and have a number of other projects in our pipeline that
will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have gained and will
allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German offshore wind
market.”
Renewable energy for 320,000 German households
With a nominal power per turbine of 4.0 MW, the 78 wind turbines will produce
enough environmentally friendly electricity to supply 320,000 German households
each year. The planning of the offshore wind farm BorkumRiffgrund 1 began with
the final investment decision in 2011. In August 2013, the construction of the
wind farm started with the installation of the offshore substation, which is the
heart of the wind farm.
The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and 54
kilometres from the German coast. The 78 wind turbines have a total nominal
power of 312 MW. Thus, BorkumRiffgrund 1 contributes considerably to the aim of
the German government to install a total of 6.5 GW of offshore wind energy until
the year 2020. Almost 3 GW have been installed in the German North and Baltic
Sea so far.
Source: DONG Energy Deutschland
Prnewswire.com
-end of report-
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LEGO Creator Modular Brick Bank set 10251
10251 Brick Bank
Ages 16+. 2,380 pieces.
Price: US $169.99 – CA $219.99 – DE 149.99€ – UK £119.99 – DK 1399.00 DKK
• Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional
pricing.
Make a safe deposit at the Brick Bank!
Make a secure deposit at the highly respected Brick Bank, featuring an array of
intricate details and hidden surprises. Easy-to-remove building sections provide
access to the detailed interior, comprising a bank with an atrium foyer, tiled
floor, arched windows, ornate chandelier, lockable vault and a transaction
counter with security glass; a laundromat with printed window, tiled floor and 4
laundry machines; plus 2 second-floor offices with an array of detailed
furniture, fixtures and accessories. The exterior of the building features a
detailed sidewalk and an elaborate façade with carving and statue décor,
decorative roofline, large arched windows, central balcony, clock and an
accessible roof terrace featuring a large skylight.
• Includes 5 minifigures: a bank manager, secretary, teller, and a mom and
child.
• The Brick Bank features a bank, secretary’s office, bank manager’s office,
laundromat and a detailed façade and sidewalk.
• Bank features an atrium foyer with wide, arched entrance, triangular-patterned
floor tiling, ornate chandelier, oxidized-copper colored skylight, transaction
counter with hidden alarm buttons and security glass, and a bank vault with safe
deposit boxes and a large round door.
• Laundromat features a printed window, tiled floor and 4 laundry machines.
• Secretary’s office features a wall clock, desk, typewriter, cabinet with
opening drawers, fireplace and an espresso machine.
• Bank manager’s office features a large desk with banker’s lamp and approval
stamp, leather-look chair, printed portrait, statue and a cabinet.
• Accessory elements include a mug, document, camera, candy, blank white paper,
chrome-golden coins, 1 chrome- golden bar and banknotes.
• Remove the building sections to access the detailed interior.
• Unlock the bank vault to access the safe deposit boxes.
• Visit the laundromat for a spot of laundering.
• Stack coins with the coin counting machine.
• Special elements include a printed prize check, printed ground-floor windows,
a special printed portrait in the bank manager’s office, plus rare, sand-blue
and dark-green bricks, and sand-green window frames.
• Collect and build an entire town with the LEGO® Creator Expert Modular
Building series 10243 Parisian Restaurant and 10246 Detective’s Office.
• Brick Bank measures over 10” (26cm) high, 10” (25cm) wide and 10” (25cm) deep.
Available January 2016 released.
Source: The LEGO Group
-end report-
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June 16, 2015. From the European Union (EU) and BBC.com.
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and
therefore cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld LEGO’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented LEGO from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
Press release from the General Court of the European Union
Curia.Europa.EU
-end of report-
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June 16, 2015. From European Union (EU) court.
LEGO registered the trademark in 2000 but it has been challenged by it
competitors
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and therefore
cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld LEGO’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented Lego from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
Press release from the General Court of the European
Union.Curia.Europa.eu
-end of report-
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June, 16, 2015 from BBC.com and European Union (EU) Court.
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and
therefore cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld Lego’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented LEGO from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
-end of report-
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LEGO to launch Angry Birds building sets
Rovio has announced a partnership with The LEGO Group to develop a line of
Angry Birds construction toys.
The toys will be available in spring 2016 to coincide with the release of The
Angry Birds Movie.
Pekka Rantala, chief executive officer of Rovio, commented: “The LEGO brand has
an unparalleled ability to connect with people through products that spark
creativity and imagination. We’re really excited to build experiences together
with this amazing best-in-class partner.”
Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment, The LEGO Group,
added: “We are excited to bring Angry Birds to life in LEGO form, given the
popularity of the game and its characters with fans of all ages. We seek
partnership with globally relevant properties that offer a unique and rewarding
play experience to our fans, and our designers are having fun developing
building sets that leverage the engaging play and deconstruction found in the
Angry Birds game.”
Further details about the collection, available in spring 2016, are yet to be
unveiled.
Source: ToyWorldMag.co.uk
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I stopped when you were beginning to ask questions about panic and such
things. I really don't understand what those questions have to do with idea
generation co-creation. It almost looks like a way to collect email adresses
for some sedative commercials...
Sorry, I can understand why you have problems getting answers...
Jairo wrote:
> Hi everyone!
>
>
> My name is Jairo Timmermans and I am a Business Administration
> student from the Netherlands.
>
> i am new to this forum and I would like to ask the staff permission
> to use this forum as I am currently working on my master thesis,
> which focuses on you guys!
>
> I would like to know what it is that drives or could drive community
> members to engage idea generation co-creation: why do you engage in
> solving problems and generating ideas et cetera. In doing so, I could
> really use your help!
>
> It is really hard to get participants, therefore I will raffle 3x 50?
> Lego gift card among the participants !
>
> Please go to the following site to fill out my survey:
> https://qtrial2015az1.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eWNPn1azETaCvw9
>
> Doing so will take no more than 10 minutes of your time, is
> completely anonymous and would help me graduate!
>
> I am happy to share the results with anyone interested, it could help
> to improve the platform facilities!
>
> Many thanks!
>
>
>
> Jairo
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ps: If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at
> Jairotimmermans@gmail.com
--
Anders Isaksson
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