Schaeffler's China factory: humanoid robots building parts for humanoid robots
On October 20, 2026, Schaeffler opened what it calls a humanoid lighthouse factory in Taicang, China, a city in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. The factory is approximately 7,500 square meters.
Inside, 6 humanoid robots are assembling the actuators and joint modules that go inside other humanoid robots.
That's pretty meta, and that's exactly the point.
Schaeffler is not just a component supplier to the humanoid robot industry. It is now also a customer of the same industry it supplies, deploying humanoid robots in its own facility to manufacture the parts those robots run on.
What the factory actually makes
Schaeffler's core product for humanoid robots is precision motion hardware: linear actuators, rotary actuators, and integrated joint modules.
A typical humanoid robot contains between 25 and 30 of these units. The Taicang facility is dedicated entirely to that output, with 5 assembly stations running tasks including visual inspection, material picking, component assembly, packaging, container moving, and line-side replenishment.
The 6 humanoid robots inside the factory perform those tasks alongside human workers. Schaeffler has not disclosed which robot models it is using.
Schaeffler's position in the humanoid supply chain
Schaeffler is a German industrial group with roughly 22.5 billion to 24.5 billion euros in annual revenue and approximately 108,900 employees. It makes precision bearings and motion components for automotive and industrial applications, and has been repositioning aggressively toward humanoid robotics over the past two years.
The company has confirmed supply agreements with approximately 45 humanoid robot companies, accumulating roughly 400 million euros in cumulative orders. Named customers include Humanoid AI, NEURA Robotics, Leju Robotics, Agility Robotics, Agibot, Fourier Intelligence, Rainbow Robotics, VINMOTION, and XPeng Robotics.
In addition, Schaeffler's February 2026 investor presentation also references companies such as:
These are not customers, necessarily, but they are companies that Schaeffler is keeping an eye on ... and pitching its components too, most likely.
The agreement with Humanoid Inc. alone covers more than 1 million actuators through 2031.
The user-supplier model and what it generates
Dr. Jochen Schröder, Schaeffler's chief operating officer, described the dual role in terms of a data flywheel.
By operating humanoid robots in the same environment where those robots' components are made, Schaeffler collects real-world performance data under production conditions. That data feeds back into actuator design and manufacturing tolerances.
Dr. Yilin Zhang, Schaeffler's regional CEO for Greater China, says the Taicang facility is a demonstration site as much as a production facility: it will provide evidence for robot OEM customers that Schaeffler's components perform reliably under sustained industrial load.
How this compares to other factory deployments
Tesla has said it operates more than 1,000 Optimus robots inside its own factories, though the tasks and throughput have not been independently verified. Figure's Digit robots have logged more than 30,000 vehicle touchpoints at a BMW plant, accumulating over 1,250 operational hours. Agility Robotics' Digit has completed more than 65,000 hours of commercial operation across 9 enterprise deployments.
Schaeffler's deployment is smaller in scale but more structurally direct.
Tesla is building cars with its robots. Schaeffler is building robot components with its robots. The supply chain is folded back on itself in a way that no other deployment has demonstrated at the factory level.
Sources
- The AI Insider: Humanoids making humanoids — reporting on the October 20 opening and factory details.
- Schaeffler press release — official announcement of the Taicang humanoid lighthouse factory.
- Humanoid Guide: Schaeffler opens Taicang factory — factory specifications and robot deployment details.
- Humanoid Guide: Schaeffler deployment through 2032 — supply agreement scope and customer list.
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I tell stories with data and build startups. I've raised angel and VC funds, led software companies and startups, and chronicled the rise of the mobile economy. Currently I write for Forbes, host several podcasts, and am starting up HumanoidMegaHub. I was TUNE's mobile economist and Singular's VP of Insights, built the research team at VentureBeat, and managed teams creating software for partners like Intel and Disney. In past lives I built websites, e-learning platforms, and mobile apps, and, a long time ago, was named to Folio's top 100 of the media industry's "most innovative entrepreneurs and market shaker-uppers.”