Bosch to build humanoid robots in Bühl from 2027 — at a site losing 1,100 jobs
The machines are developed by London start-up Humanoid, with Bosch as contract manufacturer. Schaeffler is the first customer. The robots are to be leased, not sold.
Illustration · AI-generated (AI IN LIFE)
At a glance
- Production start: August 2027 at the Bosch plant in Bühl, Baden-Württemberg
- Partners: London start-up Humanoid (development), Bosch as contract manufacturer
- Volume for 2027: several hundred units, initially a double-digit number of staff
- First customer and investor: Schaeffler; "Gamma" generation, HMND-01 prototypes tested
- Bühl site: around 2,700 employees today, 1,100 jobs set to go by 2030
Bosch will begin series production of humanoid robots in August 2027 at its plant in Bühl in south-western Germany. It is the first time the group has built machines of this kind. They are developed not by Bosch but by the London start-up Humanoid; Bosch acts as contract manufacturer and is additionally exploring the supply of drives, motors and sensors.
Several hundred units are planned for the first year, initially with a double-digit number of staff. The "Gamma" generation goes into production; prototypes of the HMND-01 series have already completed testing. Among the capabilities verified was whether the robots can move boxes independently in factory logistics — controlled through the KinetIQ AI framework.
The first customer is the Franconian supplier Schaeffler, which is also an investor and intends to deploy the machines in its own production. The business model is notable: Humanoid plans to lease the robots rather than sell them — "Robotics as a Service". For buyers that turns a one-off purchase into a running cost and shifts the risk of hardware obsolescence back to the provider.
The choice of site carries a second story. Bühl employs around 2,700 people today; 1,100 jobs are set to go there by 2030. The same site where employment is being cut is now to become the pilot plant for a new business line. That is not coincidence but standard industrial practice: freed-up floor space, existing manufacturing depth and a trained workforce are the cheapest entry into a new product line.
Whether this becomes a viable business is open. Several hundred units in the first year is pre-series scale, not mass production. The real question is whether humanoid robots can compete economically in factories and logistics with specialised automation solutions proven over decades — a gantry robot that only stacks boxes is almost always cheaper.
The argument for the human-like form is a different one: it fits into environments built for people without those environments having to be rebuilt. How well that promise holds will only show in sustained operation. How fast the hardware is advancing was on display recently at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing — though there under laboratory conditions on a level track.
FAQ
Is Bosch building its own robots?
No. Bosch manufactures under contract; development sits with the start-up Humanoid. Bosch is additionally exploring supplying components such as drives, motors and sensors. That is a manufacturing and supplier role, not a product line of its own.
What does "Robotics as a Service" mean?
The robots are leased rather than bought. The customer pays continuously instead of once, while the provider retains ownership and carries the risk of the hardware becoming technically obsolete. That lowers the barrier to entry for companies but ties them to the provider long term.
Will the robots replace the 1,100 jobs being cut?
That does not appear to be the case. The job cuts in Bühl were decided independently, and the new production line starts with a double-digit number of staff. Numbers on the order of 1,100 positions are not reached.
