In pictures: Toy story

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Introduction

Millions of toys will be eagerly unwrapped on Christmas morning. But few of those who give or receive will stop to consider how the toy came to be under the tree.

Like other industries, toy manufacturing has gone through a profound transformation as the global economy evolves. Many companies and countries may play a part in the making of a toy. China has a central role.

We follow one toy a racing car - from conception through production to distribution and marketing.

Photos: Alex Hofford and Phil Coomes. Words: Becky Branford

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Research

The story begins in the southern English town of Margate, at the headquarters of Hornby Plc, a medium-sized company with a 2.3% share of the £2.1bn ($3.7bn) UK toy and games market.

Each year the company puts hundreds of new lines on the market. It launched the Audi TT and Porsche Boxster models featured here in 2004.

The process begins two years before launch. Hornby researchers like David Lubliner consult car magazines and attend shows to predict which car models are likely to become popular.

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Design

The company must negotiate and purchase licences from the carmakers whose models it is copying. The licences can run into thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds, especially with our Formula 1 models, says purchasing director Michael Walters.

Often, the auto maker will provide 3D computer images of the car, which Hornby designers (like Darren Nye, pictured) use to determine the exact dimensions of the model before reducing it to 1/32 of its real size.

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Prototype

This data is fed into a machine, which produces a plastic prototype. The company must be sure the car parts fit well together and run smoothly on the track before the model goes into production.

Next, the prototypes are spray-painted. Designers then produce colour transfers as decoration, referring to the full-size car for guidance.

The carmaker will be shown the finished prototypes for approval. The models may then be used to create marketing material for the company.

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Production exported

For most of Hornbys 80-year history, it produced its toys at its own premises. But as boxes in the companys warehouse reveal, the toys are now made in China.

The shift began in 1995, amid predictions of the companys demise. Four hundred local jobs were lost; 120 UK staff remain.

It was very sad, for everybody, says product development manager Martin Ridge. But it was clear that if we didnt change the company might disappear altogether.

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Moulding

The factory contracted to produce the cars and racing track is in Shenzhen, a special area in Chinas southern Guangdong province where the government provides incentives to attract foreign investment.

China now produces 70% of the worlds toys, most within this region.

Both the car shells and track are moulded from plastic resin purchased from petrochemical-rich Saudi Arabia. Resin pellets are inserted in the blue machine visible in this picture and pressed into track- or car-shaped moulds.

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Spray-painted

The cars are spray-painted with a base colour and black windows. Then tiny licence plates and brand logos are added using hotstamping machines visible here on the left.

Wang Fei Shi, right, is a 21-year-old migrant labourer from far-off Henan province. She says her job is so-so but she doesnt like its repetitive nature. She wants to study English but says her job doesnt leave enough time.

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Soldering

Jin Feng Tao, 35, from Hunan province, solders small electric motors onto the base of the racing cars. She does this from 0725 to 1715 each day. At first the soldering iron fumes bothered her, but a ventilation fan has helped.

Ms Jin is unaware that Western factories have been shifting production to China, and says: I dont care I dont have the chance to travel to those countries, anyway. And she says more factories mean more jobs.

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Decoration

Wang Shan Ying, 34, from Sichuan province, decorates the cars using a delicate paint brush. She says it is a bit like putting on make-up.

Chinas industrialisation is a good thing, she says, which can provide a stable income. But Ms Wang complains her previous employer didnt pay me on time, if at all, and she thinks its unfair that Chinese workers get lower wages than their counterparts in the West.

In total there are some 2,000 employees in the factory, increasing to 4,000 in busy periods.

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Worker welfare

Many of the workers are migrants and live on-site in unisex apartment blocks, visible behind this basketball court.

Most we spoke to seemed reasonably content with factory conditions.

However, campaign group China Labor Watch found that excessive work hours, dangerous equipment and chemicals, cramped employee dormitories, abusive managers, crooked hiring practices, and pay below even Chinas minimum wage of 690 yuan ($86; £49) per month were all too common in 11 other toy factories it studied.

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Time off

Employees work five or six days a week from 0800 to 1700, including 90 minutes off for lunch. Many work an extra three hours overtime each day, bringing their monthly salary to about 1,000 yuan ($124; £70).

Workers live 12 to a room, with only a small space to store their belongings. The bed space costs 45 yuan a month.

Deng Feng Shan, 22, from Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, reads a romanctic novel during her lunch break, which the workers take in shifts so production can continue uninterrupted.

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Quality control

Back in the factory after lunch, the racing sets go through quality control before being shrink-wrapped and packed into cardboard boxes for shipping.

He Xian Fang, 23, misses home in Sichuan province but says she likes her job, even though my eyes get tired following the cars speeding round and round the track all day long. Ms He says she would love to be able to go abroad to watch children play with the sets.

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Shipping

The boxes are packed into containers to await shipping from the nearby Yantian port. Container traffic here has quadrupled in the last four years, making it one of the busiest ports in the world.

Some of the product is shipped direct to retailers in the US and other countries. But much of it goes back to the Hornby headquarters in the UK to await distribution in the UK.

The company says it is extremely happy with the detailed workmanship it receives from China. In fact, it says the product is much improved.

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Distribution

Back in Margate, orders for retailers are collated on the old factory floor for distribution.

It used to be very noisy and hot in here, with the metal presses thumping away producing tracks, says manager Martin Ridge. Now there are only a handful of employees working quietly in the space.

The sets are sent to stores around the UK, where they will retail for upwards of £50 ($90) two-thirds of the average monthly wage of the workers who made them. A new toy has come to life.