Collaboration = Innovation @ LEGO + Volvo CE

When a global auto company and a famous toy maker put their heads together the future of innovation becomes clear.

Advances in technology have opened up communication around our world, and better communication should lead to more collaboration, but competitive boundaries between industries, commercial sectors and institutions are still major blockers to cooperation. However, the seemingly unlikely partnership between auto giant Volvo and toy maker Lego demonstrates how collaboration can boost innovation with takeaways from joint development projects that bring change across industries in unexpected and wonderful ways.

For the last few years Lego Technic and Volvo CE (Construction Equipment) have worked together to create Technic sets of Volvo’s actual vehicles, set 42053 the EW160E and set 42030 the L350F Wheel Loader. These sets have been a huge success with both fans of Lego Technic and builders of heavy vehicle models and were reasonably faithful reproductions of existing vehicles, but the newly released Lego set 42081, Concept Wheel Loader ZEUX takes the working relationship between Volvo CE and Lego to another level.

“We wanted to cooperate with…