Industry Brief, August 7, 2026: Forklift fleets age, Mitsubishi humanoids, cobot deburring

By MillBrief Editorial · August 7, 2026 · Retrospective edition, published September 23, 2026

This is a retrospective edition. The brief did not run on August 7, 2026; we wrote it on September 23, 2026 using only reporting that was published on or shortly before August 7, 2026, and it makes no forecasts.

This is a retrospective edition covering August 7, 2026, using only reporting published on or up to two days before that date. Today: a survey showing lift truck owners keeping trucks longer and planning to spend less, an automaker’s plan to build humanoid robots in a former engine plant, and a vendor’s cobot deburring package aimed at machine shops that cannot afford to rework their CNC equipment. Our own words, links to the original outlet, vendor numbers labelled as vendor numbers.

Lift truck survey: trucks kept longer, budgets smaller, autonomy interest creeping up

Modern Materials Handling published its 2026 lift truck study, run by Peerless Research Group and based on 117 subscribers who help evaluate and buy lift trucks. Manufacturing is the largest group by industry (69% of respondents), and the average respondent company has 247 employees and $465 million in annual revenue.

The average fleet is 21 trucks, about 10 years old, with the oldest truck averaging 17 years. Replacement cycles are stretching: 8.3 years on average, against 7.9 in 2025 and 7.2 in 2024, and 35% now replace only after 10 years or more (27% last year). Fewer respondents plan to buy or lease in the next 12 to 24 months (58%, down from 64%), and average expected spending fell to $182,290 from $214,110. MMH suggests the longer replacement timelines may reflect caution over budgets, higher equipment costs and tariffs.

On technology, 24% say they use or plan to use autonomous or semi-autonomous forklift technology, up from 18% in 2025. Fleet management software is used by 49%, mostly to track maintenance history and costs. Purchasing still runs through dealers (82% buy from them), 68% buy outright rather than lease, and dealers handle maintenance for 43%. Asked what matters when choosing a truck, 72% named quality, 70% purchase price, and 55% each named safety and lifetime running cost.

Why it matters: An aging fleet is the usual trigger to ask whether some pallet moves should be automated rather than replaced like for like. The survey says most peers are not there yet, since roughly three in four report no autonomous plans, but interest is rising. If you are pricing a replacement cycle anyway, get a quote for the automated option alongside, and compare them on lifetime cost rather than sticker price; our payback guide shows how. Your dealer relationship, which respondents rate highly, is also where to start asking about retrofit kits and service coverage.

Mitsubishi Motors plans to build up to 1,000 humanoid robots a month

Mitsubishi Motors and Highlanders, a startup from the University of Tokyo, plan to produce up to 1,000 humanoid robots a month at a former Mitsubishi engine plant in Kyoto, Electrek reports. The two signed a memorandum of understanding last month, and if the plan holds, mass production could start as early as next year.

The robots would be put to work first in Mitsubishi’s own factories, and Mitsubishi would also support production of Highlanders’ products. Takao Kato, chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, described the tie-up as an effort to build an industrial base where people and robots work together, and as a chance for the automaker to learn the humanoid business. Highlanders’ HL Human platform has a 19-degree-of-freedom body with high-output electric actuators, which the company says allows human-like movement, and is designed for manufacturing, logistics, construction and disaster response work.

Why it matters: A monthly capacity figure is a production plan, not an order book, and the first announced customer is the manufacturer itself. That is a sensible way to prove a humanoid on real tasks, and the data worth watching for is which jobs the robots end up doing in Mitsubishi’s plants and at what rate. For a small manufacturer choosing equipment today, nothing here changes the shortlist; proven fixed robots and cobots remain the benchmark, and our cobot vs industrial robot comparison is the place to start.

Productive Robotics pitches a cobot deburring kit that leaves the CNC untouched

Productive Robotics announced a deburring package for its OB7 collaborative robot, published by Robotics Tomorrow as a company release. The package is meant to work alongside new or older CNC mills and lathes without changing the machine’s internal programming, finishing one part while the machine cuts the next. Target tasks include deburring, chamfering and descaling on gears, threaded cylindrical parts, complex profiles and prepared blanks.

The company’s claims: the seven-axis arm can reach into tight spaces and work from the back or side of the machine so the operator door stays clear; operators teach it by moving the arm by hand; constant force control compensates for wheel wear; and it can handle part swaps, pneumatics, and even open doors or press start buttons. A portable stand lets a shop roll it between machines, and the company says communication with the CNC supports unattended running across three shifts. The release gives no price or cycle-time figures.

Why it matters: Deburring next to a CNC is a classic first cobot job, because the task is repetitive, the parts are known, and the machine already sets the rhythm. The claims above are the vendor’s, so ask for a trial on your own parts, the cycle time against your spindle time, how grinding dust and abrasives are handled, and what the risk assessment looks like with a person working nearby. Our cobot cost guide and what to automate first help size the decision.