Executive Summary
Humanoid robots are crossing the deployment threshold. No longer limited to R&D labs, they’re beginning to roll out in factories, warehouses, and even public environments. But the next wave isn’t being led by a single humanoid winner, it’s being built on the industrial stack behind them: sensors, chassis materials, calibration software, and integrated motion infrastructure.
The Rollout Crew is our follow-up to The Skeleton Crew, focused not on the upstream chips and actuation systems, but the downstream enablers that make deployment real. These five companies are quietly powering the physical adoption layer: integrating robots into production lines, supplying precision materials, and calibrating robotic vision and movement.
Why Now?
Labor tightness is squeezing manufacturing and logistics. Infrastructure bottlenecks, not core AI modeling, are what block scale today. Robots are ready, but factories, warehouses, and calibration pipelines must adapt. Q1 2025 earnings confirmed that these companies are actively supporting humanoid-scale integration today, through volume shipment, backlogged automation installs, and surging precision metrology demand.
We allocate 5% total model weight across:
MBG GR (Mercedes-Benz) – 2.0%
HSAI US (Hesai) – 1.0%
AUTO NO (AutoStore) – 1.0%
FARO US (FARO Technologies) – 0.5%
APAM NA (Aperam) – 0.5%
Key Holdings Breakdown
Mercedes-Benz (MBG GR) – 2.0%
Strategic Role: Mercedes isn’t building robots, it’s deploying them. In Q1, it announced a pilot integration of Apptronik’s humanoid Apollo on production floors. Beyond that, its EV platforms (MMA and VAN.EA) are increasingly modular and software-defined, built with robotic integration in mind. MBG will serve as a lead customer and validator for humanoid robotics entering live industrial workflows.
Moat: Brand and global scale, €33B in net industrial liquidity, and a strong EV transition roadmap, 25+ new electric vehicle launches planned by 2027. Despite trade headwinds, the company reaffirmed 6–8% auto EBIT margin guidance and maintained dividend and buyback plans.
Why It Wins: Mercedes has the capital and operational leverage to adopt humanoids before they’re commoditized. It doesn’t need to wait on a winner, it’s already rolling them out.
Hesai Group (HSAI) – 1.0%
Strategic Role: LiDAR supplier to the deployment layer. Hesai’s sensors are essential for real-time vision, environmental mapping, and obstacle avoidance in robots and AVs.
Moat: Hesai shipped over 500,000 LiDAR units in 2024, doubling annually for four straight years. It became the first LiDAR firm to reach full-year profitability (non-GAAP) and maintains gross margins above 40%. Key customers include leading Chinese EVs (Li Auto, Xiaomi) and an unnamed "top European automaker".
Why It Wins: Hesai is no longer a venture story, it's profitable, scaling, and deeply embedded in robot sensor stacks. ASP declines are being offset by higher-tier models (e.g. AT512 for L3+ autonomy).
AutoStore (AUTO NO) – 1.0%
Strategic Role: Enabling humanoid deployment in logistics. Its cube-based ASRS (automated storage and retrieval system) makes it possible for humanoids to plug into highly-structured warehouse environments with minimal retrofit.
Moat: 1,700 installed systems, 78,500 robots deployed globally across 58 countries, and 70%+ gross margins. Q1 order intake was $141M, with 70% from existing customers. Its new subscription model (AutoStore-as-a-Service) reduces upfront cost and creates recurring revenue.
Why It Wins: AutoStore has already built the infrastructure robots will work within. As humanoids enter logistics, AutoStore's grid becomes the ground layer they operate on.
FARO Technologies (FARO US) – 0.5%
Strategic Role: FARO provides metrology and spatial mapping, essential tools for robot calibration, quality assurance, and spatial navigation.
Moat: A complete stack of portable CMMs, scanners, and cloud software. Q1 2025 saw gross margins rise to 57.7% (highest since 2018) and a swing to $12.5M adjusted EBITDA (15% margin) from a prior-year loss. Launched Quantum Max arm, Blink scanner, and Orbis, each best-in-class in accuracy, SLAM, or range.
Why It Wins: Robots need millimeter precision to operate in the human world. FARO enables that, and is seeing orders reaccelerate as new product lines launch and adoption spreads.
Aperam (APAM NA) – 0.5%
Strategic Role: Specialty steel for robot frames and actuators. Electrical steel for motors and efficient power delivery. Core input for robot skeletons.
Moat: Vertically integrated from raw material to final alloys. Dual-region production (Europe + Brazil) and protected markets. Management expects H1 2025 stainless production in Brazil to exceed all of 2024. Specialty steel is increasingly needed for humanoid joint design and motor enclosures.
Why It Wins: Robotics demand high-strength, light-weight, corrosion-resistant materials. Aperam supplies the alloy backbone for scaled humanoid manufacturing.
Conclusion
The Skeleton Crew captured upstream robotics, compute, AI, and motion control. The Rollout Crew owns the deployment trench: sensor fusion, chassis metallurgy, warehouse systems, and calibration tools.
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My understanding is that South Korea is leading in the robotic automation implementation. Any opportunities there?
Car makers are well positioned for this as a lot of car body work (welding, painting) has been fully automated since the 1980s.
Wholly separate thought---Li Auto and other Chinese automakers? They make cars that are better than those in the rest of the world, it seems, and the volumes are huge---any opportunities there?