In October, reports emerged of Western business leaders returning from China deeply unsettled. The spooked execs bore testimony of advanced automation, including humanoid robots, in Chinese factories—prompting concern among leaders at companies like Ford and Fortescue. China’s manufacturing sector is making rapid progress in automation, driven largely by worries over a declining workforce. A prime example is Geely’s Zeekr 5G smart factory in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, where a new wave of robotic workers are transforming production. Inside the plant, bots perform a range of tasks from handling material sorting, cargo transport, and precise component installation.
The facility at Ningbo is one example for the buzz around bots—but it’s a purpose built smart factory. Embedding humanoid robots into existing operations is likely a much larger market. Manufacturers don’t like slowing production, let alone closing factories, for refits—it’s difficult to explain to customers that they’ll have to wait for the latest Labubu delivery while facilities are upgraded. And new factories are capital-intensive and time consuming to get up to speed.
Recent examples can help price the conundrum. A cyber-attack of Jaguar Land Rover’s UK factories left them offline for over six weeks. Analysts estimate the downtime will cost the UK economy almost £2bn.
To avoid costly downtime, and capital intensive purpose-built smart factories, many manufacturers are turning to robotics—including humanoids—to gradually modernise operations without stopping production. Indeed, many bot manufacturers position their products as an easier pathway towards automating some tasks, often those conducted by a human, rather than completely rewiring a process.
That said, according to our Tech tracker, robotics experienced significant volatility, landing in the “hype trap” in October, which reflects a gap between public excitement and expert assessments. This may be because humanoid robots still seem unreal to many people. However, if the reactions of unnerved executives are any indication, it won’t be long before robots step out of the “hype trap” and into mainstream acceptance.
