
Lego's first dedicated global manufacturing innovation centre opens in Billund, housing 1,800 staff to accelerate production processes and shorten time to market.
Lego Group opened its first dedicated manufacturing innovation campus in Billund, Denmark, the company said. The Kornmarken Campus spans 47,000 square metres and will house about 1,800 engineers and manufacturing staff. Lego said the facility is designed to develop and scale new production processes, with a goal of cutting the time from concept to store shelf.
Centralising work that was previously split across multiple sites, the campus brings together teams from engineering, quality, and production. Lego declined to disclose the total project cost.
The investment reflects a broader push by the privately held toymaker to bring manufacturing R&D in-house. Lego has been adding factories outside Denmark in recent years, including sites in Vietnam and the U.S. The Kornmarken Campus is its first facility focused purely on testing and scaling new technologies, rather than routine production.
Shorter development cycles matter in a toy industry where trends shift quickly and holiday seasons create fixed deadlines. The campus allows Lego to prototype new injection-moulding techniques and material blends without disrupting existing lines. Faster scaling also means the company can respond to sudden demand spikes – like a new movie tie-in – without long lead times.
For a company that describes itself as a family-owned manufacturer, the campus signals a bet that in-house innovation will keep its edge against cheaper competitors. Lego has long relied on proprietary mould tolerances and brick geometry that counterfeiters cannot easily copy. A dedicated innovation hub protects that advantage by testing new methods before they reach regular factories.
The 47,000 sq m site sits next to Lego's existing Billund headquarters, a deliberate move to shorten communication between product designers and process engineers. Lego said the campus will also host external partners and suppliers during pilot runs.
Lego Group did not say how many jobs the campus creates on top of the relocated staff. The company employs roughly 27,000 people worldwide.
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