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Interact cites a well-known LinkedIn commentator recently claimed that humanoid robots will replace 50% of US manufacturing jobs within the next 18 months.
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The stakes are high in the technology race, acrossconsumers, business and military domains.
The vendor demand for booth space led MHI to open a third major hall for the show in McCormick Place, what is called “Lakeside Hall” to augment the usual North and South halls. That growth in space supported some 1300+ vendor booths, also a record, as one would expect with a third, seemingly sold out, expo hall added.
Due to some circumstances, I was not able to deliver my daily ProMat recaps.
And in terms of overall themes and trends at the show, my friends at research form Interact Analysis this week released an outstanding report on the show, and here I am going to summarize highlights from that excellent piece of work.
Don’t know Interact Analysis? You should. The UK-based firm covers several technology sectors, including warehouse automation, where the work has been first-rate. The company seems to be investing strongly in building its market presence in the US, including a growing relationship with MHI.
Interact brought a whopping six research analysts to ProMat 2025, notably including Rueben Scriven, who appears to be heading the Warehouse Automation research practice. That large analyst contingent is an indicator of Interact’s willingness to invest in the warehouse automation space.
Highlights of the Interact ProMat report include the following:
“There was a noticeable sense of uncertainty at the show, driven by tariffs and their impact on both automation demand and the broader economy,” Interact noted, adding that for many fixed automation vendors, this uncertainty led to a degree of pessimism about future growth.
“In contrast, vendors offering manual solutions—such as forklift and steel racking companies—as well as mobile robot vendors, did not share the same outlook and appeared more optimistic about their growth prospects,” the report added.
Interact’s take was that goods-to-person (GTP) systems dominated the show floor, with numerous companies unveiling new solutions in this space. It says that HAI Robotics, Exotec, KNAPP, and even Locus Robotics—with its Locus Array—were among those launching GTP systems.
On the robot software side, Interact said that “Multi-fleet robotic software is evolving beyond basic interoperability, shifting toward more advanced orchestration capabilities.”
However, Interact believes we are likely to see increased white-labeling of ”simple” interoperability solutions from specialist vendors by system integrators and WMS vendors.
Interestingly, Interact also saw at the show that more warehouse automation vendors are recognizing packaging as a key competitive differentiator, leading to strategic partnerships with major packaging companies - with PackSize being the most commonly chosen partner among system integrators.
The report offered some interesting observations on material handling systems integrators.
“Tier 1 OEM System Integrators are at a cross-road,” the report says. “Do they double down on their fixed automation OEM business, or move up the value chain as a system integrator?”
By way of a definition, Interact says tier 1 OEM System Integrator are Incumbent System integrators that also manufacturers its own products, such as Dematic, KNAPP, or Vanderlande.
The question, Interact says, is do these Sis move up the value chain by focusing on orchestration, interoperability, and lifetime services? Or do they double down on becoming fixed automation OEMs, scaling their operations to serve logistics giants like Amazon, UPS, and Walmart?
“This strategic decision largely rests upon the speed at which companies shift towards flexible and scalable automation, leaving behind fixed automation,” Interact says.
Assuming there will remain sufficient demand for fixed automation solutions in the near-term, focusing on their OEM businesses makes sense, given the size and scale of the market, Interact says. However, a faster adoption of flexible automation will shrink the market for fixed automation, forcing system integrators to either innovate or focus on integrating third-party flexible equipment (or develop this in-house).
That is very insightful.
Switching gears, Interact says the new GTP solutions released at the show are part of a trend towards a level of convergence between fixed and mobile automation solutions.
Also interesting: Interact found that “despite the current hype surrounding humanoid robots, there were surprisingly few companies showcasing them at the event.”
 That fact, Interact says, illustrates “the widening gap between the ambitious expectations placed on humanoid robots and the reality of their current technological capabilities.”
Interact cites a well-known LinkedIn commentator recently claimed that humanoid robots will replace 50% of US manufacturing jobs within the next 18 months.
“In reality, the situation is far less dramatic,” Interact says, noting that of the 15 million manufacturing jobs in the US, less than 30% are even theoretically replaceable by humanoid robots, and it estimates that only a tiny fraction of these will be displaced by 2032.”
Switching to the topic of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), the report noted that many Chinese AMR vendors exhibited with bigger booths and with even more presence this year, highlighting their intent to make further gains in the US market.
“Many US vendors we spoke to expressed concerns that these companies posed a real threat. Several also commented on profitability of Chinese vendors and that many were selling at a loss to win market share (which is most likely true in many cases).,” Interact says.
But what will be the impact of the tariff wars on this trend? It won’t be good, in my opinion.
There is much more in the full report, available at the link here or on Interact’s Linkedin page.
Any reaction to Interact’s ProMat 2025 report highlights?? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback section below.
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