"Human-like robots for industrial use will be mass-produced as early as 2025," predicts Tobias Bock, Senior Project Manager at Horváth. According to the management consultancy, technological advances will mean that humanoid robots will be so advanced by 2030 that they will surpass human capabilities in terms of speed of movement, flexibility and fine motor skills.

Use in production and logistics

To date, the industry has mainly used articulated robots for welding, painting and assembly. Cobots are used for quality inspection, among other things. Both types resemble a human arm. Humanoid robots, on the other hand, resemble humans in their overall stature and are just as tall and heavy. This makes them particularly suitable for working in environments designed for humans. The first pilot projects in the automotive industry are already underway: Mercedes, for example, is testing the use of a model from US manufacturer Apptronik: Apollo is around 1.73 m tall, weighs 73 kg and can lift 25 kg. It is to be used in production, for example when delivering assembly kits to workers. "There are many possible applications along the value chain in a factory. Humanoid robots can take on particularly labor-intensive, physically demanding and repetitive tasks in production and logistics," explains Tobias Bock.

Acquisition costs fall drastically

Currently, the acquisition costs for human-like robots are still higher than for other industrial robots. Horváth expects an average price of 80,000 euros at market launch. Added to this are maintenance and servicing costs of around 4,000 euros per year. However, series production is expected to reduce the average purchase price to 48,000 euros by 2030.

The experts assume that the return on investment per robot will initially be less than 1.36 years, depending on the purchase price, and will decrease drastically in the coming years due to technical developments. Study leader Tobias Bock predicts: "Humanoid robots available in the medium term have the potential to take over more than 50 percent of manual tasks in the production environment. The human-like robots can fill gaps in personnel for repetitive, physically heavy work and help to relieve highly qualified personnel on the assembly line. Industrial companies should already consider the transformation potential in their strategy and identify possible fields of application."

Horváth is an international, independent management consultancy with 1,400 employees at locations in Europe, the USA and other global markets.