Subject:
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Re: How does Lego sort Lego?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Sun, 2 Jan 2000 02:21:26 GMT
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Viewed:
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1144 times
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In lugnet.dear-lego, Brian Lanning writes:
> When the bricks are first made, they're dropped into large buckets. Then a
> miracle occurs. Then pieces are very acuratly sorted into polybags. How are
> the bricks sorted? It would almost have to be automated. If that's the case,
> could that process be used for bulk ordering? It would be nice if this • sorting
> and packaging machine could be fed automatically from robots in a warehouse • (or
> something) so that we could place an order on the website which would be sent
> to the warehouse for packaging. We would receive the pieces we requested in
> neat little bags just like from the store. Then, Lego could place • instructions
> from all of their previous sets (as well as some of the larger displays or • sets
> that were suggested but never released for whatever reason ) on their website.
> We could browse these sets, then with a click of a button, place an order for
> all the bricks needed to make that set. It would arrive in a dacta-type plain
> box complete with color instructions. I think this is a tall order, but
> internet shopping is where the future is. And the beauty of internet shopping
> is that it allows you to get arround the limitations of retail. Amazon.com • for
> instance has a selection five or ten times that of a walk-in book store. That
> would be impossible in a retail store. This setup would allow lego to
> esentially offer any set they've ever made in addition to other things without
> having to worry about fitting all the options on a shelf. You don't even
> have to spend the money on designing and making an attractive box. You could
> set up a terminal in the imagination centers. Enter a theme and price range,
> see the matching sets on a monitor, add the selections to the virtual shopping
> cart, and swipe a credit card. If you could do this and still be able to
> select individual pieces, I think this would be everyone's dream. You could
> offer bulk (or individual piece) ordering and older sets all through the same
> mechanism.
>
> brian
I used to work in the distribution center for a major childrens book publisher.
the way orders were done there would adapt itself well to bulk ordering for
Lego.
An order comes in from Joe Smith. A person enters this order into the computer
and a sheet with the parts and a barcode sticker gets printed. These sheets in
turn are handed to a "picking line" where people pull the parts from bins on
the shelf and put them into a box on an assembly line. The order is very
detailed, down to the size of the box needed to put the parts in. This is
possible because each and every part is weighed and measured accurately in the
system. Quality control takes place by weight because each box rolls over a
very sensitive scale on its way to the end of the line. The barcode contains
order info down to where it is getting shipped and how to ship it. Different
lines take the package to different shipping departments according to the
barcode.
Now, according to Suzanne D. Rich:
"2,172 is the total of different moulded elements in 1999. There are
97 LEGO PRIMO elements,
399 LEGO DUPLO elements,
157 LEGO SCALA elements,
903 LEGO SYSTEM elements,
357 LEGO TECHNIC elements and
137 LEGO DACTA elements
– and that’s not counting the many colour variations."
I am assuming that there would not be a major demand for Duplo And Primo or
even Scala elements, so 1,397 elements (System, Technic and Dacta) (if my math
is right) would be the major sellers. Of course, there are several colors of
each element, but for now lets assume only blue, yellow, red, black, white,
green and lt. grey. (I know there are more colors than that, but technic axles
usually only come in black so that cuts down some of the choices, right?)
Thats seven colors for 1,397 elements (possible, some do not come in all
colors). That's 9779 individual bins to pick from!!
Now, I know we used to do it with books, and books are larger than bricks. The
wharehouse was huge, and it took 2-3 shifts to do it, but if that is what it
takes, I think it would work for Lego as well.
It can be done,
Patrick
p.s. Brad, if you wnat more info on the company and who to contact, e-mail and
I will be glad to help.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | How does Lego sort Lego?
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| When the bricks are first made, they're dropped into large buckets. Then a miracle occurs. Then pieces are very acuratly sorted into polybags. How are the bricks sorted? It would almost have to be automated. If that's the case, could that process be (...) (25 years ago, 30-Dec-99, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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