Insider Brief
- UK robotics startup Humanoid signed a deployment and supply agreement with Schaeffler targeting deployment of a four-digit number of humanoid robots across Schaeffler facilities by 2032.
- According to Humanoid, the phased rollout will begin at two facilities in Germany in late 2026, initially focusing on box handling and logistics tasks before expanding into broader manufacturing workflows such as assembly and packaging.
- The agreement also includes a five-year supply arrangement making Schaeffler Humanoid’s preferred actuator supplier through 2031, with the company expected to provide more than half of Humanoid’s actuator demand for its wheeled robotic platforms.
UK robotics startup Humanoid has announced a deployment and supply agreement with Schaeffler to bring humanoid robots into live manufacturing operations.
According to Humanoid, the agreement calls for phased deployment of Humanoid’s wheeled humanoid robots across Schaeffler facilities, with the first systems expected to begin operating at plants in Germany before the end of 2026. The companies said the broader plan targets deployment of a four-digit number of robots across Schaeffler’s global operations by 2032.
Humanoid said the arrangement is structured as a Robot-as-a-Service model and includes a five-year supply agreement naming Schaeffler as Humanoid’s preferred actuator supplier through 2031. Under the agreement, Schaeffler is expected to supply more than half of Humanoid’s joint actuator demand for its wheeled robotic systems, potentially amounting to millions of components.
For Humanoid the deal represents one of the largest publicly disclosed deployment agreements in the humanoid robotics sector and gives the young company a major industrial customer and real-world proving ground, according to the company. Rather than operating in controlled demonstrations or pilot environments, the robots are expected to work inside active factory settings.
“Together with Schaeffler, one of our key industrial partners, we are taking an important step toward making humanoid robotics part of global manufacturing operations,” Humanoid’s founder and CEO Artem Sokolov pointed out in the announcement. “We have already seen strong results from our proof of concept together, and now we are taking the next step to staged deployment. Moving into real-world operations is where the true value of humanoid robots is proven.”
The first deployment phase will run from late 2026 through mid-2027 across two Schaeffler facilities in Germany. Initial work will focus on box handling and logistics tasks before expanding toward broader manufacturing tasks. Humanoid indicated that future deployments could include more complex work such as assembly and packaging tasks.
The agreement follows earlier proof-of-concept testing and a strategic partnership announced earlier this year. According to Humanoid, the rollout will focus on integrating robots into Schaeffler’s existing production systems while meeting that company’s requirements tied to safety, IT infrastructure and factory operations.
“The partnership with Humanoid underscores Schaeffler’s position as a trusted technology partner in advanced robotics,” said Schaeffler AG COO Dr. Jochen Schroeder. “By supporting the phased deployment of humanoid systems in real manufacturing environments and serving as a preferred supplier of actuators, we are contributing to the industrial scaling of this technology while further strengthening our role in future-oriented motion solutions.”
In April, Humanoid announced a humanoid robot had been tested in live operations at a Siemens electronics factory in Erlangen, Germany, where it performed autonomous logistics tasks including picking, transporting and placing containers. The company said the HMND 01 achieved about 60 tote moves per hour with pick-and-place success rates above 90%, while the deployment builds on partnerships involving Siemens and Nvidia as Humanoid advances broader industrial robotics deployments.
Image credit: Humanoid
