(Yicai) July 14 -- Chinese humanoid robotics startup AgiBot is making headway by bringing its A2-W industrial robot to the factory floor, with initial indications suggesting that each unit could substitute for up to two human workers, and that large-scale adoption is expected to reduce deployment costs.

At Fulin Precision's plant in the Chinese city of Mianyang, four A2-W robots have been installed to identify and sort deliveries, handling over 800 boxes in just three hours, Yicai learned during a recent factory visit. The facility produces parts for electric vehicles and other robots.

When an Yicai reporter approached one of the robots, it immediately stopped all activity. "This is for safety reasons," said Deng Yang, head of Fulin Precision's engineering department, citing the busy factory environment with workers and forklifts moving around.

Deploying robots involves more than just hardware costs, noted Fulin Precision's Chief Engineer Xiang Minglang. “Operation and maintenance roles require higher technical expertise, which adds to overall expenses,” he said.

Xiang estimated that one A2-W performs at 0.7 of a human worker's capacity under normal operations, rising to as much as 1.4 to 2 workers when running 24/7. Ideally, a single staff member would eventually manage multiple robots remotely.

Given Mianyang's average labor cost of CNY80,000 (USD11,156) per worker annually, a robot reliably replacing two workers could make return on investment more feasible, Xiang added. 

An industry insider said that the price range for similar humanoid robots goes from CNY400,000 to CNY800,000 (USD55,783 to USD111,567), and A2-W's price should be within that range. The larger the application scale, the cheaper the price per unit, the person added.

Wang Chuang, president of AgiBot's general business line, said that one of the main business targets of AgiBot is to find more usage scenarios for the robot so as to cut costs for more clients.

Wang disclosed that the mass production of the A2-W and its bipedal counterpart, the A2, has reached a relatively stable level.

AgiBot is building a comprehensive deployment ecosystem, working closely with clients to refine applications across diverse factory environments.

Wang told Yicai that the firm's robot training relies on 95 percent simulated data and 5 percent real-world data. While simulation accelerates deployment, real-world variability still challenges safety and reliability. It is necessary to continuously optimize the algorithms by incorporating real-world data to enable the A2-W to handle unexpected situations, Wang explained.

To manage this complexity, deployment specialists are emerging. At Fulin Precision's Mianyang facility, newly founded Anu Intelligent handles robot integration. Leveraging AgiBot's large language models and its experience in debugging robots across factories, Anu significantly accelerates new deployments.

Anu Chairman Wen Hongjie said that initial deployments take three to four months, but subsequent introductions can be completed in as little as three weeks or even hours. "If 80 percent of the environment overlaps with a previous site, we only need to collect data for the remaining 20 percent,” he said.

AgiBot, Fulin Precision, and Chairman Wen are all shareholders in Anu, underscoring their joint commitment to advancing smart manufacturing.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine