Less than 100 companies through 2028 will progress humanoid robot proofs of concept beyond experimentation, with fewer than 20 companies going live in production for supply chain and manufacturing use cases, according to Gartner, Inc. Most production deployments of humanoid robots during this time will remain limited to tightly controlled environments, rather than in dynamic and high-throughput supply chain operations.
“The promise of humanoid robots is compelling, but the reality is that the technology remains immature and far from meeting expectations for versatility and cost-effectiveness,” says Abdil Tunca, senior principal analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “CSCOs must carefully evaluate readiness and avoid overcommitting resources to solutions that cannot yet deliver on their potential.”
Key takeaways:
· Despite their potential, humanoid robots face significant barriers to supply chain, logistics and manufacturing adoption such as technological limitations; integration complexity; high costs; and energy constraints.
“Companies with a high-risk appetite and focus on innovation are the best candidates for pursuing humanoid robots at present, given the unproven capabilities of these solutions, and related lack of clarity for return on investment,” says Caleb Thomson, senior director analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “For the majority of companies that will need to prioritize robots that maximize throughput-per-dollar invested, we expect polyfunctional robots to be the superior solution.”
