Freudenberg Opens Co-Creation Center in Shanghai, Targets 4 Billion RMB Humanoid Robot Revenue by 2035
Freudenberg opened its Co-Creation Center on September 17 at Zhangjiang Robot Valley in Shanghai. The center is a result of strategic cooperation between the global technology group Freudenberg and Zhangjiang Group.
The 177-year-old technology group says the move deepens its presence in the humanoid robot industry. Freudenberg CEO Claus Möhlenkamp said the center's opening is a key pillar of the group's global strategy, marking its further expansion of collaboration and innovation in the robotics ecosystem.
This year is seen by the industry as the first year of mass production for humanoid robots, but mass production hinges on the reliability of physical systems. While software and AI iterate rapidly, the question of whether a robot's physical systems—joints, dexterous hands, and mobile bases—can remain reliable, efficient, and safe over the long term in real industrial settings has become a critical bottleneck for commercialization.
The performance and lifespan of basic components such as seals, lubrication, and vibration control directly determine a robot's long-term reliability and performance ceiling. Freudenberg's Co-Creation Center is addressing three core challenges: the performance reliability bottleneck of high-dynamic, high-load joints; the lack of testing standards when translating lab results to industrial scenarios; and poor collaborative innovation mechanisms across the supply chain.
In terms of space and function, the center integrates an exhibition hall and customer experience area, a testing center, and an industrial application exploration area. Its goal is to build testing, validation, and data-generation capabilities, providing the industry with quantifiable, reusable performance metrics and testing standards.
At the opening ceremony, Freudenberg signed strategic cooperation memoranda with TiHu Robotics and Beijing University of Technology (BJUT). On the industry side, Freudenberg will deepen cooperation with TiHu Robotics, leveraging Freudenberg's technical advantages in sealing, lubrication, damping, and material solutions, as well as TiHu's expertise in complete robots and core components. Together they will advance the development, validation, and scaled application of related solutions in robot reducers, joints, actuators, and complete systems.
On the academic and talent side, Freudenberg and BJUT will collaborate on talent cultivation, joint technology research, and ecosystem building. They will jointly establish a master's and doctoral experimental practice platform, conduct joint testing of core components and equipment development, and work with industry associations and standards committees to promote the formulation of industry and national standards for humanoid robot sealing and lubrication.
Freudenberg's enablement of robotics has moved from concept to reality. In key areas such as motion and drive, sensing and touch, structure and damping, and battery and thermal management, Freudenberg's business groups already possess technology reserves that can be transferred to robotics applications. Dr. Matthias Sckuhr, CTO of Freudenberg Group, said the next stage of humanoid robot development is not just an AI problem, but an engineering problem. He revealed that Freudenberg has set a long-term goal for its humanoid robot business: to achieve 4 billion RMB in revenue by 2035.
Zhangjiang Robot Valley hosts about 150 embodied intelligence companies and reaches about 800 supply chain companies. Freudenberg is using Zhangjiang as its first co-creation center and plans to build a global robotics innovation network, advancing the center in phases: in the near term, creating an open collaboration platform; in the medium and long term, building it into a gateway connecting Freudenberg with China's innovation ecosystem. A century-old industrial company specializing in sealing, lubrication, and damping has set a long-term revenue target of 4 billion RMB for its robotics business. This figure reflects the judgment that demand for reliable physical systems in robots will continue to grow with mass production, and the performance of these basic components determines how far complete robots can go.