BMW: Boosting Factory Logistics Using AI Humanoid Robots

German carmaker BMW has demonstrated the Figure 03 humanoid robot at its manufacturing site in Spartanburg, South Carolina, US, which is its 10-million-square-foot production facility. 

The company employs more than 11,000 people at this plant, where it assembles the BMW X3, X5, X6, X7 and XM Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes.

The use of humanoid robots forms part of a broader strategy by BMW to expand its automation portfolio with physical AI. 

Projections for the global humanoid robotics market by 2030 range from under 1m annual units to more than six million units, according to data from the Boston Consulting Group.

Working on the production line

The Figure 03 robot, which was developed by technology company Figure AI, can switch between precise picking, the placement of thin-walled, individual parts and forceful manipulation.

This requires extensive whole-body coordination, including the ability to pull a large metal cart down the production line.

Figure AI’s pixels-to-actions vision-language-action model, Helix 02, coordinates the hands, arms, torso and feet of Figure 03. This software allows the robot to manipulate parts while stepping and repositioning its body to pull a heavy cart on caster wheels.

The Spartanburg facility is the initial testing ground for these day-to-day operational activities within the manufacturing processes of the vehicle manufacturer. 

Ulrich Wieland, Vice President of Production Control and Logistics at BMW Manufacturing, says: “Plant Spartanburg is the birthplace of humanoid robotics in BMW Manufacturing’s operational day-to-day activities. 

“Having already successfully completed a pilot with Figure 02 in our body shop, we are now looking forward to deploying Figure 03 for a sequencing use case in logistics.”

Building on earlier BMW deployment

BMW is building on a deployment of the Figure 02 robot at the South Carolina plant, which supported the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles over ten months.

Operating in the body shop, the Figure 02 robot inserted sheet-metal parts for the welding process, which is a physically demanding task requiring high speed and accuracy.

The further-developed successor, Figure 03, will now start working on complex sequencing applications in logistics at the Spartanburg site. 

Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure AI, says: “Our 11-month deployment of Figure 02 proved that humanoids are no longer lab experiments - they can be a valuable asset in establishing a flexible, reliable manufacturing workforce. 

“We are excited to continue our work in Spartanburg as Figure tackles the complexity of the assembly and logistics hall.”

Industrial automation trends in manufacturing

Humanoid robots are slated to revolutionise the way the manufacturing industry works while global investments in automation technology continue to accelerate. 

Venture capital funding for robotics surged more than threefold between 2023 and 2025, when it reached US$40.7bn annually, according to data from McKinsey.

As global deployments ramp up, McKinsey argues that the strategic question is no longer whether humanoid robots will work but whether they can scale economically and at what cost, speed and reliability. 

Compared to all other countries, China is currently ahead on robotics installations, recording a world record of more than two million (2,027,000) industrial robots working in factories.

Data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) shows that the annual installations in China hit 295,000 units in 2024. 

A total of 45% of the global installations of robots in the automotive industry took place in China in 2024, according to the data from the IFR.