BERLIN—Mercedes-Benz’s oldest factory, which was built in the late 1800s, has deployed some of the most advanced manufacturing technology in the world, including artificial intelligence and humanoid robots. The Marienfelde plant produces power train components, such as EV traction motors.

“Mercedes-Benz Berlin-Marienfelde remains at the cutting edge of automotive production and keeps Germany on the map as a global center for innovation,” says Jörg Burzer, member of the board of management responsible for production, quality and supply chain management at Mercedes-Benz Group AG. “Artificial Intelligence and humanoid robots open up an exciting new frontier which make automotive production more sustainable, efficient and more intelligent.”

According to Burzer, Mercedes-Benz is currently using Apptronik Inc.’s Apollo robot for material handling applications. The humanoid handles “repetitive tasks within intralogistics…to transport components or modules to the production line for [human operators] to assemble, and to carry out initial quality checks of components.

Apollo robots have been collecting data in a production environment to train for specific use cases within MO360 (Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations 360 digital production ecosystem) which contains all the important software applications and data of the automaker’s global production network.

“Mercedes-Benz employees with real-life production know-how have transferred their knowledge to Apollo using teleoperation processes and augmented reality,” explains Burzer. “[We are] now taking the next decisive development step at the Digital Factory Campus Berlin, enabling Apollo robots to perform autonomous operations, a technological milestone on the way to a flexible, intelligent assistance system for production.”

Mercedes-Benz has also invested in Apptronik. “[We are] relentlessly focused on pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in automotive innovation—not only in the cars we design, but in how we build them,” says Burzer. “Our work with Apptronik has given us a front-row seat to the incredible pace of progress in humanoid robotics and AI, and the transformative potential these technologies hold for modern manufacturing.

“We are proud to support Apptronik as they pioneer new ways to bring intelligent, adaptable robots onto the factory floor—helping us set new benchmarks for efficiency, safety and collaboration between people and machines,” adds Burzer.