Humanoid robot deployments are moving past laboratory demonstrations and entering active commercial logistics networks, as Agility Robotics, GXO, and competing manufacturers scale up operations ahead of 2027. According to techrepublic.com, GXO and Agility Robotics announced plans on October 26, 2026, to expand their humanoid robot deployments to two additional U.S. facilities in early 2027.
Statesville and Lebanon Facilities Prepare for Digit 4 and Digit 5 Deployment
The upcoming expansion will introduce Agility’s Digit robots to GXO facilities located in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee. Both centers handle e-commerce fulfillment operations, where the humanoid machines are scheduled to execute repetitive material-handling tasks.
GXO announces an expanded partnership with Agility. Digit is headed to @GXOLogistics sites in Statesville, NC, and Lebanon, TN, with deployments expected to begin in early 2027 — building on more than 100,000 totes moved at Flowery Branch, GA.https://t.co/YpVoWsNLXl#Agility… pic.twitter.com/h2wlsNFZNt
Deployments are slated to kick off in early 2027 utilizing the Digit 4 platform. Operations will subsequently transition to the Digit 5 model once that hardware becomes commercially available. This new agreement expands upon an ongoing partnership that originated with a proof-of-concept project in late 2023 before transitioning into a multiyear commercial agreement in June 2024.
At the Flowery Branch, Georgia, warehouse facility, Digit robots have already moved more than 100,000 totes. Operating alongside conventional automation equipment, the robots perform tasks such as picking and placing containers onto conveyors.
Cumulative Operating Hours and Enterprise Customer Pipelines
Agility reports that its Digit fleet has accumulated more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation across diverse commercial deployments and customer programs. This metric represents cumulative experience across multiple units and sites rather than the runtime of a single machine or the newly released Digit 5.
Beyond the GXO relationship, Agility engages three enterprise manufacturing customers in paid application-specific programs. These participants include a major global automaker, an automotive technology and components supplier, and a consumer products manufacturer, though their identities remain undisclosed.
Additional customer milestones include a commercial agreement with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada following a completed pilot.
Industrial Milestones Across the Humanoid Robotics Sector
Industry competitors have reached varying stages of commercial validation, though their operating metrics are not directly comparable. Figure AI completed a production pilot at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant using the Figure 02 robot. Across roughly ten months, the Figure 02 fleet handled over 90,000 sheet-metal components, accumulated approximately 1,250 operating hours, and supported the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles during ten-hour shifts.
BMW and Figure AI are currently exploring a more complex logistics sequencing application using Figure 03 at the Spartanburg facility.
Apptronik deployed its Apollo robots for data collection at Mercedes-Benz’s Digital Factory Campus in Berlin, utilizing teleoperation and augmented reality for training before introducing Apollo 2. Tesla has reported an early production ramp of production-quality humanoid robots at its Fremont facility, targeting external business deployments by late 2027. UBTech Robotics reported significant commercial volume, recording 921 unit sales in the first half of 2026 across its full-size humanoid robot products and services.
