IN Brief:
- Digit robots are planned for GXO facilities in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee, starting in early 2027.
- The existing Georgia deployment followed a 2023 trial and a 2024 Robots-as-a-Service agreement.
- Digit 5 migration depends on the newer model becoming commercially available; the new sites are not yet operational deployments.
GXO Logistics and Agility Robotics are extending their commercial humanoid robotics agreement to two additional US warehouses, with Digit robots scheduled to begin work at sites in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee, in early 2027. The planned expansion follows the companies’ existing live deployment in Flowery Branch, Georgia, where the robots have handled repetitive tote movements alongside warehouse automation. No installation at the two new facilities has been reported as completed.
The new sites are expected to begin with Digit 4 robots performing repetitive handling in e-commerce fulfilment, before a possible move to Digit 5 once that model is commercially available. Digit 5 was unveiled in September 2026; an unveiling is not evidence of commercial installation. Neither a commissioning date for individual robots nor a timetable for completing the model transition has been published.
GXO and Agility started testing the humanoid platform in late 2023 at Flowery Branch. They signed a multi-year Robots-as-a-Service arrangement in June 2024, allowing GXO to use Digit and Agility Arc, the cloud platform for fleet management and integration with warehouse operations. The existing task involves moving totes and placing them onto conveyors. The robots complement the material flow rather than replacing the warehouse management system or the broader network of fixed equipment.
Tote handling illustrates the narrow workflow in which a humanoid robot can initially be evaluated. A container needs to arrive at a defined position, be handled reliably and be transferred to the next stage without interrupting surrounding equipment. The pace and geometry of the conveyors, the condition of containers and interaction with other equipment shape the task. Reliable integration requires a predictable hand-off, fault recovery procedures and a means of reporting when work has stopped or a tote cannot be transferred.
Under a Robots-as-a-Service model, the customer contracts for access to the robotics capability and associated services rather than treating each machine solely as a one-off capital purchase. Agility Arc is intended to manage robot fleets and integrate them into customer operations. The companies have not disclosed the pricing, service-level terms, robot counts or measured productivity contribution of the two forthcoming sites. Those omissions prevent a direct financial comparison between humanoids and established warehouse handling systems.
Across its commercial operations and customer programmes, Agility reports more than 65,000 hours of Digit operation. This aggregate cannot be assigned exclusively to GXO’s Flowery Branch warehouse or treated as a measure of throughput on the tote-handling task. Operating hours record exposure to real workflows but do not independently establish uptime, labour savings, service cost or the number of units needed at the proposed North Carolina and Tennessee sites.
The Digit 5 model was introduced in September 2026 and is designed to work safely in closer proximity to people while addressing a broader range of industrial activities. The two-site GXO programme is nevertheless due to begin with Digit 4. The timetable for switching models remains dependent on commercial availability and the suitability of the newer system for the tasks involved, not simply on the product having been unveiled.
The proposed extension will also test repeatability across buildings. Warehouse layouts differ in conveyor heights, pedestrian routes, storage positions, floor conditions and order profiles. A robot that performs a defined tote movement at one site must be assessed against each new operating environment before scale-up. Task selection, traffic management, physical safety controls and training need to reflect the actual site, particularly where mobile equipment and people work in shared areas.
Agility has expanded its manufacturing and support infrastructure in preparation for wider commercial demand. RoboFab, its 70,000 sq ft facility in Salem, Oregon, has been designed for potential annual output of up to 10,000 robots. That is a design-capacity figure, not an independently verified current annual production total. The company has also expanded engineering and service capabilities, including work in Pittsburgh, to support deployment and maintenance.
The proposed tasks will be assessed alongside other forms of warehouse automation, including conveyor transfers, fixed robotic arms and autonomous mobile robots. Digit’s humanoid form can operate at interfaces designed around people, but the commercial comparison depends on reliable hand-offs, safe routes and achievable task cycles. GXO and Agility have not disclosed the new sites’ expected throughput, unit counts or service fees, which prevents a quantified comparison with established alternatives.
The existing Georgia operation gives the partners actual experience in a controlled workflow, while the new Statesville and Lebanon projects will expose the equipment to different material flows. The companies describe the expansion as a commercial programme, although neither the number of robots committed to each site nor the expected throughput has been disclosed. Claims about general warehouse productivity cannot be inferred from the agreement alone.
Agility is separately pursuing a proposed business combination with Churchill Capital Corp XI, which the parties expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. That proposed corporate transaction is independent of commissioning at GXO’s two sites. Neither the proposed listing timetable nor RoboFab’s designed production capacity establishes that the additional robots have been manufactured, delivered or accepted into live warehouse operations.
The next operational milestones are installation, site-specific safety validation and commissioning in Statesville and Lebanon, with starts anticipated in early 2027. The companies have not supplied performance targets or a published acceptance programme for the new locations. For now, Flowery Branch remains the documented live GXO deployment, while the agreement extends that model to two future installations.
