Humanoids shifting to factory floors

Humanoid robots are starting paid work in factories and warehouses, not just staged demos at trade shows. (figure.ai) Figure said its Figure 02 robot ran 10-hour shifts, Monday through Friday, at BMW’s Spartanburg plant in South Carolina and helped load more than 90,000 parts. The company said that deployment logged more than 1,250 hours and contributed to production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles before Figure retired that model in favor of Figure 03. (figure.ai) Agility Robotics and GXO Logistics said in June 2024 that they signed a multi-year agreement to deploy Digit in GXO operations after a 2023 pilot at a SPANX facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia. Agility said in late 2025 that Digit had moved more than 100,000 totes in that commercial deployment. (agilityrobotics.com 1) (agilityrobotics.com 2) A humanoid robot is a machine with two arms, two legs and a body shape built to use spaces and tools designed for people. That matters in factories and warehouses because companies can try to automate existing jobs without rebuilding every shelf, cart, workstation or conveyor around a wheeled robot. (bmwgroup.com) (agilityrobotics.com) The work now being assigned is narrow and repetitive: moving totes, sequencing parts and handling boxes or components between fixed stations. BMW said its 2024 test with Figure focused on inserting sheet-metal parts into fixtures, and Hyundai Motor Group said in January 2026 that Boston Dynamics’ Atlas will be deployed at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America for sequencing tasks by 2028. (press.bmwgroup.com) (hyundai.com) Hyundai tied that plan to a broader United States investment running from 2025 to 2028, with robotics included alongside vehicles and steel. Boston Dynamics said in January 2026 that Hyundai Mobis would supply actuators for Atlas as part of Hyundai Motor Group’s plan to build and deploy tens of thousands of robots. (hyundainews.com) (bostondynamics.com) China is also moving from prototypes to production tooling. Shenzhen’s Longhua district said this week that a pilot humanoid robot line run by Leju Robot had begun operation to test manufacturing processes, stabilize quality and cut costs before larger-scale output. (szlhq.gov.cn) State-linked and local reports said the Longhua line launched on April 12 and can assemble one Roban 2 unit in two hours, with annual capacity of 500 to 1,000 robots. China Daily said Guangdong and Shenzhen have issued policies supporting humanoid robot pilot platforms and smart-factory construction. (info.newsgd.com) (chinadailyhk.com) The pitch from robot makers is not that humanoids can do every factory job today. The pitch is that a general-purpose robot can start with a few human-designed tasks, work full shifts, and spread site by site if the uptime, safety and labor economics hold up. (figure.ai) (agilityrobotics.com) The next test is scale: whether these machines stay in a handful of pilot cells or become standard equipment on plant floors by 2028. The answer will come from boring numbers — hours run, parts moved, injuries avoided and cost per task — more than from robot videos. (hyundai.com) (figure.ai)