Agility Robotics’ new factory, RoboFab, is located 30 miles from its engineering center in Oregon. (Image courtesy Agility Robotics)
The manufacturing facility in Oregon will produce a human-centric, multi-purpose robot at scale.
CORVALLIS, Ore.—–Agility Robotics reported that it is opening a robot manufacturing facility in Salem, where it will produce a human-centric, multi-purpose robot designed for logistics work. The 70,000-square-foot robot factory, dubbed RoboFab™, is set to open in late 2023, the company said in a release on its website.
Agility anticipates capacity to produce hundreds of its humanoid Digit robots in the first year of production, with the capability to scale to more than 10,000 robots per year. The Digit robot will work in the new factory in a capacity similar to how it will work at customer sites—moving, loading, and unloading totes. At full capacity, RoboFab is expected to employ more than 500 workers in Salem.
In the release, Agility described Digit as being designed from the ground up to go where people go and do useful work—safely—in spaces designed for people. Because so many tasks are designed around human workflows, Digit’s human-centric design is said to enable multi-purpose utility. Its initial applications are reported to include bulk material handling within warehouses and distribution centers.
“The opening of our factory marks a pivotal moment in the history of robotics: the beginning of the mass production of commercial humanoid robots,” said Damion Shelton, Agility Robotics’ co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “We built Digit to solve difficult problems in today’s workforce, like injuries, burnout, high turnover, and unfillable labor gaps, with the ultimate vision of enabling humans to be more human. When you’re building new technology to make society better, the most important milestone is when you’re able to mass produce that technology at a scale where it can have a real, widespread impact.”
Agility Robotics COO Aindrea Campbell is leading the scaling of Agility’s manufacturing and corporate operations—including the launch of the new factory—to meet the high commercial demand for Digit. With more than 20 years as a senior operations leader at companies including Ford and Apple, Aindrea co-led the transition from steel to aluminum on the Ford F150. She also rapidly scaled capacity as head of Apple’s iPad operations during the pandemic.
“Not only are we building the world’s first factory for humanoid robots, but we’re doing so in the United States—about 30 miles from our engineering center, which is fantastic for setting us up to scale quickly,” said Campbell in the release. “By establishing RoboFab as a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub in Salem, Oregon, we are not only accelerating the development and deployment of advanced robotic systems, but also cultivating innovation and creating high-skilled job opportunities. With the capability to produce Digit at scale, we are poised to change the future of work for the better.”
With the opening of the new manufacturing facility, customers that are participating in the Agility Partner Program (APP) can expect delivery of the first Digits in 2024, with general market availability in 2025, the company said.