- UBTECH has opened a new factory in Guangxi, marking the start of large-scale humanoid robot manufacturing.
- The new factory is designed to produce one robot every 10 minutes, with annual output exceeding 10,000 units.
- The factory employs a flexible mixed production line design, reducing the need for hardware changes.
- UBTECH has partnered with Siemens to develop a digital manufacturing system, improving production efficiency.
China has taken a significant step toward commercializing humanoid robot production, with UBTECH inaugurating its new humanoid robot factory in Liuzhou, Guangxi, on September 12. The facility is designed to produce more than 10,000 humanoid robots per year, marking a shift from prototype development and limited production to large-scale manufacturing. Following the production launch, UBTECH's share price rose more than 3% in early trading on September 14.
Design and Capabilities of the New Factory
The factory is designed to accelerate output. UBTECH's ultra-intelligent factory covers an area of 14,000 square meters (about 150,700 square feet) and stands 13.8 meters (about 45 feet) tall. It will primarily produce the company's Walker S series and Cruzr series intelligent industrial humanoid robots. The production line is designed to complete one robot every 10 minutes, with a planned annual capacity of more than 10,000 units, establishing a manufacturing base for UBTECH built on sustained industrial output.
The factory employs a flexible mixed production line design that allows different humanoid models to be produced on the same manufacturing system, reducing the need for major hardware changes when production requirements shift. Automation extends throughout the manufacturing process, with humanoid robots handling tasks such as depalletizing, palletizing, and material loading. Collaborative robotic arms work in conjunction with 360-degree rotating workstations to tighten screws during assembly. Each completed robot requires more than 2,000 screws of varying specifications.
Automated guided vehicles and unmanned forklifts transport materials within the facility, while completed robots enter an automated three-dimensional warehouse. Each robot is assigned a unique SN code, allowing its component sources, assembly parameters, and inspection records to be traced throughout the manufacturing process, creating detailed records for maintenance and troubleshooting.
Development of the Digital Manufacturing System
UBTECH partnered with Siemens Digital Industries Software to develop the facility as part of a broader digital manufacturing initiative. The collaboration involves factory planning, product lifecycle management, digital twin simulation, production scheduling, intelligent systems, and quality control. Siemens' Plant Simulation platform created a 1:1 digital model of the factory, including corridors, workstations, storage areas, and automated guided vehicle routes. Engineers can simulate material flow from warehouse storage to production and final shipping before making physical changes.
The two companies also used Siemens' Intelligence Center X enterprise intelligent agent platform to develop the Yanshee MOM manufacturing operations management system, which serves as the factory's digital "intelligent brain," handling production scheduling and operations management. Humanoid robot manufacturing poses significant challenges because each robot contains many components and requires precise assembly. Rapid product updates also make traditional production lines difficult to adapt. UBTECH's new facility addresses these issues through digital simulation, flexible production, and traceable quality systems—an approach that could reduce debugging costs and allow the company to expand capacity and bring out updated models more quickly.
As competition in humanoid robots intensifies, UBTECH's annual production capacity of 10,000 units provides a significant short-term manufacturing base, though future performance will depend on shipment volumes, industrial customer demand, and manufacturing economics.
Item Specification Factory area 14,000 square meters Building height 13.8 meters Annual production capacity More than 10,000 units
How UBTECH Is Addressing Challenges in the Humanoid Robot Market
As competition in the humanoid robot market intensifies, UBTECH is leveraging the flexible production lines and digital management systems at its new factory to improve production efficiency and respond to changing market demand. These measures can not only reduce debugging costs during production but also accelerate the rollout of new models, helping the company maintain competitiveness in a rapidly evolving market. In addition, the factory's traceability system helps improve product quality, further strengthening customer trust.