2026 is being hailed as the inaugural year for mass production of embodied intelligence. The number of humanoid robots rolling off production lines continues to climb, yet more than 60% of them end up in laboratories, exhibitions, and similar settings, with fewer than 20% truly making their way into industrial scenarios. Industry evaluation standards are shifting from parametric performance metrics to actual effective operational capability. Zhiyuan has introduced a measurement unit called Worken (Chinese name: Zhiyuan) to quantify the effective intelligent work hours of robots. Currently, Zhiyuan has partnered with 3C contract manufacturer Longcheer Technology to implement the world's first complete 3C production line covered by embodied intelligence, achieving a takt time on par with human workers. Related robots have also been deployed in scenarios such as semiconductor packaging and testing, Zhuhai Chimelong Paradise, and the Guangzhou Metro. Zhiyuan enhances human efficiency by accumulating scenario data and building a platform-based toolchain, progressively reducing the human-to-machine O&M ratio and advancing low-burden, normalized robot operations. At the same time, the company addresses data closed-loop challenges across different scenarios through multi-robot networking and on-site localized deployment training platforms, and is exploring a business model of billing by effective intelligent work hours. The industry as a whole is now transitioning comprehensively from the robot development phase to the deployment phase—real-world scenario implementation and monetization.
