Robot Works 8-Hour Shifts at Siemens Germany Factory

A two-armed robot named HMND 01 Alpha just proved it can handle real factory work, completing a successful two-week deployment at Siemens' electronics facility in Erlangen, Germany.

The wheeled robot tackled one of manufacturing's most repetitive tasks: moving storage totes from stacks to conveyor belts where human workers could access them. Hour after hour, it picked up containers, transported them across the floor, and placed them exactly where they needed to go.

The numbers tell an impressive story. The robot moved 60 totes per hour, ran autonomously for more than 30 minutes at a time, and maintained uptime exceeding eight hours. Its success rate for picking and placing containers topped 90 percent, meeting every target Siemens set.

What makes this deployment special is that it happened in a real production environment, not a controlled lab. Humanoid, the robotics company behind HMND 01, built what they call a "physical twin" to test and refine the system before sending it to Germany. That preparation paid off during the actual deployment.

Siemens views its Erlangen factory as "Customer 0," a testing ground for new technologies before rolling them out across its global network. Stephan Schlauss, who leads manufacturing motion control at Siemens, said the company is eager to advance this technology across more facilities.

The Ripple Effect

This partnership signals a shift in how robots enter the workforce. Instead of replacing human workers, HMND 01 takes on the repetitive heavy lifting that can cause injury and fatigue. Human operators stay focused on tasks that require judgment and skill.

Humanoid founder Artem Sokolov emphasized that his company focuses on creating robots that deliver measurable value in real settings. Working with industrial partners helps them understand which tasks actually matter outside the laboratory.

The momentum is building. Humanoid just announced another partnership with Schaeffler Technologies, agreeing to deploy hundreds of robots across Schaeffler's production facilities over the next five years. What started as a two-week proof of concept in one German factory could soon become standard practice across multiple industries.

Real robots doing real work alongside real people is no longer science fiction.