Meet YuMi – An internet sensation. When YuMi isn’t busy entertaining the wolrd on YouTube, YuMi is out on the factory floor! You heard that right!

This little guy is small but mighty, he’s being tested out on an auto industry factory floor. At Gentex Corp., engineers are testing a YuMi to help make mirrors. The robot will load plastic parts into a plasma oven to remove impurities from the molding process, according to company spokesman Craig Piersma.

“YuMi, designed by ABB Robotics, represents a new wave of robotics hitting the industry. The new machines are collaborative robots — designed to work in close proximity to humans without a protective metal cage or plastic shield.

That new flexibility in how and where they can work in a manufacturing setting — coupled with lower costs and easier programming — is setting the stage for parts suppliers to embrace the technology. And such an industry shift could have long-term implications for the U.S. auto manufacturing sector’s ability to generate job growth as it has in the past.”

What does this mean for the Platics Industry? Is there a place for these robots in our production cycles? Something to think about.

See more of YuMi by watching the video below.