Britain-based robotics company 'Humanoid' has signed a major agreement with Schaeffler, a German automotive parts supply company, to deploy thousands of its wheeled humanoid robots across factories worldwide.
Under this plan, the first batch of humanoid robots will be deployed to two Schaeffler factories in Germany in the latter half of 2026, with full factory-wide deployment to follow in 2027 and subsequent years.
According to their long-term strategy, by 2032 they aim to increase the number of humanoid robots to four digits, making this the largest humanoid robot deployment announcement to date.
Some of these humanoid robots will directly carry out box-moving operations in the production areas of the Herzogenaurach factory, while the Schweinfurt factory will first conduct testing and trials before wider implementation in industrial work environments.
This collaboration operates under a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, with Humanoid company taking full responsibility for the operation, software updates, maintenance, and 24-hour technical support of the humanoid robots.
Additionally, the two companies have agreed on a 5-year partnership agreement, and Schaeffler will supply Actuators—the critical motion components required for Humanoid's humanoid robots.
The widespread adoption of humanoid robots in industrial manufacturing settings represents a distinctive step in preparing to technologically accelerate and transform global factory operations.
Ref: Technology Innovation
