AGCO Signs Agility Deal to Bring Humanoid Robots to Its Kansas Factory

AGCO has signed a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics to bring Digit humanoids into its agricultural-equipment manufacturing operations. A pilot at the company’s Hesston, Kansas facility is expected to begin in 2027.

Key Takeaways

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• Digit will initially sort and stack parts and position totes for storage at AGCO’s Hesston plant.
• The agreement covers a planned pilot, with work expected to begin in 2027.
• The companies have not disclosed the number of robots, contract value or pilot duration.

According to the October 20 announcement, the robots will support assembly and production operations. AGCO’s brands include Fendt, Massey Ferguson, PTx and Valtra: the proposed work is inside the factory that makes agricultural equipment, rather than out in the field.

The companies frame the pilot around reducing repetitive and physically demanding work, improving ergonomics and supporting production efficiency. Those are objectives for the deployment, rather than results demonstrated at Hesston.

Thomas Enghof, AGCO’s director of manufacturing technology, described humanoid robotics and AI as manufacturing “teammates,” emphasizing human capabilities, safety governance and measurable business value. The announcement also highlights Agility Arc, the company’s cloud platform for robot deployment and fleet management.

Another manufacturing customer for Digit

The agreement follows Agility’s commercial deal with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, announced in February. That agreement followed a successful pilot and used a Robotics-as-a-Service model. AGCO’s announcement describes an earlier stage: a signed agreement ahead of a pilot that has yet to start.

It also gives another practical example of the customer requirements shaping Agility’s robots. As co-founder Jonathan Hurst recently explained in his account of Digit 5’s redesign, making a robot useful in commercial operations can require compromises in weight, mechanics and performance.

For AGCO, the next milestone will be getting Digit into the plant and assessing its contribution to those specific workflows. The announcement does not establish a timetable for a wider rollout.