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On New Year’s Eve 2026, a group of unusual “performers” took center stage. Robots from Unitree Robotics demonstrated “cyber kung fu,” sprinting at high speed and performing continuous backflips. Embodied AI robots powered by Galaxy General interacted live with comedians Shen Teng and Ma Li, folding clothes and grilling sausages. Meanwhile, Songyan Dynamics’ “Little Bumi” played the role of a grandson in an emotional comedy sketch. When the French newspaper Le Monde commented on the show with the phrase “This time, it’s the East’s turn,” the industry reached an even clearer consensus: humanoid robots have entered a new era, evolving from mere “mechanical execution” to true “embodied intelligence.”

Moments of brilliance on stage often reflect the undercurrents reshaping factory floors. The nationwide attention sparked by the Spring Festival Gala was not only a victory for artificial intelligence technology, but also a signal of profound transformation in the upstream manufacturing industry. As the humanoid robotics sector moves from annual production volumes in the “ten-thousand-unit” range to the “hundred-thousand-unit” scale in 2026, the machine tool industry stands at a pivotal moment of demand restructuring and industrial upgrading.

I. Demand for Machine Tools in Processing Robot “Skeletons” and “Joints”

Humanoid robots are not merely products of algorithms; they are masterpieces of precision manufacturing. In a high-performance humanoid robot, actuator joints — including rotary and linear joints — account for more than 50% of total hardware costs, while dexterous hands contribute roughly 10%–17%. These critical components impose extremely high requirements on machining precision and production consistency.

First, there is an urgent demand for high-end CNC machine tools in joint manufacturing. Whether it is harmonic reducers and crossed roller bearings in rotary joints, or planetary roller screws in linear joints, these are all highly precise mechanical components. Precision screws used extensively in humanoid robots require advanced thread grinders and whirling machines capable of micron-level tolerances. In the past, such high-end equipment largely depended on imports. However, with the continuous development of China’s machine tool industry, domestic equipment is increasingly replacing imported alternatives. At the same time, Chinese robot manufacturers such as Unitree Robotics and AgiBot reportedly shipped approximately 5,000 units each in 2025. Driven by advances and rapid iteration across the entire industrial chain, the outlook for upstream equipment improvement and localization substitution is highly promising.

According to a research report by Everbright Securities, the mass production and cost reduction of precision screws will be one of the key breakthroughs for the humanoid robot industry in 2026. This will directly translate into rigid demand for high-precision thread machining equipment.

Second, dexterous hands bring new challenges in miniaturization and complexity. A robotic hand capable of grasping, rubbing, and even performing flips integrates miniature actuators, worm gears, and various sensors into an extremely compact structure. Manufacturing these miniature components requires five-axis machining centers capable of micro-cutting, ultra-precision grinders for harmonic drive cams — the “heart” of harmonic reducers — and intelligent control systems supporting non-circular contour grinding.

As robotics companies pursue greater hand-brain coordination and dexterity, the market for advanced multi-tasking machine tools capable of completing multi-surface machining in a single clamping operation is rapidly expanding. Evidence from the CIMT 2025 clearly demonstrated the strong momentum of domestic multifunctional and five-axis machine tools. Companies such as Kede Numerical Control and Beijing Jingdiao have already achieved batch applications of domestic five-axis machining centers and composite machine tools in the production of robot joints, precision gears, and other critical components, with technical strategies now deeply aligned with the robotics industry.

Third, there are the demands for efficiency and consistency in large-scale production. Some industry data indicate that global humanoid robot shipments reached approximately 18,600 units in 2025, while forecasts suggest that 2026 could mark the “critical leap” into hundred-thousand-unit production. This transition from ten thousand to one hundred thousand units represents not merely quantitative growth, but a transformation in manufacturing paradigms.

Small-scale process validation can rely on skilled technicians and manual tuning, but mass production at the hundred-thousand-unit level requires highly rigid, automated, and stable flexible manufacturing systems. Machine tools must evolve from simply being “capable of machining” into intelligent production systems capable of maintaining stable production cycles.

For example, Zhejiang Headman Machine Tool recently disclosed a private placement plan aimed at expanding CNC lathe and automated production line capacity, while specifically developing dedicated robotic manufacturing equipment. This clearly demonstrates how leading machine tool companies are acutely responding to downstream market demand shifts.

II. How the Machine Tool Industry Is Responding: Toward Specialization and High-End Development

Faced with the structural opportunities created by the humanoid robotics industry, the machine tool sector will not simply wait for orders to arrive. Instead, it is proactively adjusting its strategies to meet the emerging industry’s demanding requirements for precision, efficiency, and low cost.

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1. Technological Upgrading: From Selling Machines to Delivering Process Solutions

Manufacturing robotic components such as planetary roller screws and harmonic reducers often involves special materials — including high-strength steel and lightweight PEEK composites — alongside highly specialized machining processes. Machine hardware alone can no longer satisfy these needs.

Machine tool companies must deeply understand robotic component manufacturing processes and provide integrated solutions combining machine tools, cutting tools, fixtures, and software. This requires close collaborative R&D with robotics companies to develop specialized processing equipment tailored to specific components.

For instance, integrated robotic joints may require composite machining centers capable of turning, milling, and grinding within a single system, minimizing process transfers while improving geometric tolerance precision. This rapid “demand-design-production” matching capability will become critical for establishing customer loyalty in future competition.

2. Intelligent Integration: Making the “Mother Machine” Understand Robots Better

Today’s robots emphasize embodied intelligence, and machine tools — the “mother machines” of manufacturing — must embrace intelligence as well.

Robot component manufacturing is characterized by diverse product types, large production volumes, and frequent model changes. Traditional machining methods dependent on human experience for parameter adjustment can no longer meet ultra-precision surface roughness requirements below Ra0.4.

Machine tool companies are therefore introducing AI-driven cutting parameter optimization, digital twin systems, and adaptive control technologies. By integrating sensors that monitor tool wear and cutting vibration in real time and automatically adjusting spindle speed and feed rates, manufacturers can significantly improve yield rates while enabling predictive maintenance.

When machine tools themselves acquire a closed-loop “perception-decision-execution” capability, they will be able to truly support the high-efficiency and high-reliability manufacturing demands brought by the humanoid robotics boom.

3. Strategic Positioning in the Supply Chain: Focusing on Localization of Core Components

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Guiding Opinions on the Innovative Development of Humanoid Robots,” which clearly states the goal of achieving an 80% localization rate for core components by 2026.

For the machine tool industry, which has long sought breakthroughs in high-end CNC systems, precision functional components, and advanced bearings, this represents a major strategic opportunity. However, achieving breakthroughs in high-end precision components is also one of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks.

The machine tool sector should leverage this wave of robotics industry growth to promote coordinated technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading across the entire supply chain, including functional component manufacturers. Only by achieving independent control over upstream processing equipment and foundational components can downstream robotic manufacturing escape “chokepoint” risks and truly support the massive production scales required by future robotics and other emerging industries.

III. Conclusion

On the 2026 Spring Festival Gala stage, robots performing continuous one-legged backflips earned thunderous applause. Yet beyond the spotlight, a silent competition in precision intelligent manufacturing had already begun.

For humanoid robots to evolve from merely “performing” to truly “working,” and from laboratory demonstrations to factory-floor labor, the industry must overcome the manufacturing barriers of large-scale production, low cost, and high precision.

Machine tools — the “mother machines” of manufacturing equipment — now face unprecedented industrial opportunities. They are no longer just cold industrial tools, but the foundational pillars supporting the robotics industry’s dream of mass production.

For China’s machine tool industry, this means not only adapting to the needs of future industries, but also undergoing a forced evolution across the entire sector. Only by transforming itself toward high-end, intelligent, and precision manufacturing can it support future industries such as embodied robotics, the low-altitude economy, and brain-computer interfaces in leading global innovation.

Just like the H2 robot on stage holding a child’s hand, the integration of humans and machines represents the future vision. And the co-evolution of machine tools and robots is the indispensable path toward that future.

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From Stage to Workshop ：Machine Tools Enable Humanid Robot Mass Production

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