Star Wars’ gain is Lego’s strain

Lego has profited considerably as a result of the company's links with various blockbuster movies and Star Wars is no exception.

The hype around the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie has seemingly encouraged an increase in demand of Lego's product, with a reported 18% rise in sales earlier this year.

An increase in sales has put pressure on the manufacturers, with Lego representatives hinting at incoming supply issues.

Roar Trangbaek, Lego Group press officer, said: "We will not be able to deliver all of the orders coming from customers in the remainder of the year. We are running our factories at maximum capacity and will do everything we can to meet demand."

Lego has announced that current orders will be met but the company is unsure that they'll be able to file new orders in the coming months. Details as to which countries will be affected by these supply issues remains to be seen.

Many could argue that this is a trend of the toy-making industry, allegedly having trouble meeting orders, however many experts claim that Lego's current predicament is quite genuine.

The publisher of Toy World magazine, John Baulch said: "I can be sceptical of stories circulating in the run-up to Christmas talking about product shortages but I think this is absolutely genuine.

"Lego has had a hugely successful couple of years. Demand for products globally has really taken off and the simple fact is that it can put huge pressure on the production process.

"It's very difficult for Lego to predict demand because it has such a wide range of products."

The brand's popularity has risen over the last few months, especially with the release of the Lego movie, and now Star Wars might well tip the scales.

It is understood that Lego are looking for solutions to supply and demand issues and are set to open a brand new production factory in China come 2017. This new build will presumably cover the Asia region in terms of manufacturing and should offer a helping hand if these supply issues were to reoccur in the future.

[SKY]