Industrial robots are used today in many branches of industry to do laborious, cumbersome and time-consuming work that in the past had to be done by hand. These robots work with an ease and lightness that superficially provide few clues about the enormous complexity underlying their movements. The KR 270 R2700 ultra is a highly versatile and flexible industrial robot for use in the automotive sector and in general industry. The robot can move to its target point with an accuracy of ±0.06 mm within seconds for spot welding, assembly and packaging tasks. The design objective in creating this robot was to lend it a lean yet powerful look that particularly reflects its dynamic skills. The result is a flexible industrial robot of almost lithe appearance, whose organically formed, high-tensile-strength components give a visual expression of the performance capability and agility of the machine. Smooth transitions between structural shapes improve the mechanical force transmission and increase the dynamic properties. Its appearance is reduced to the essential and makes no use of superfluous external styling trim – instead, every component has its technical function. All the manufacturing processes for the individual housing components were optimised for this application: ductile cast iron was used for components subject to major forces, and cast aluminium for dynamically stressed lightweight components. A focused effort to minimise the amount of material used helped save resources and decrease both the robot’s material costs and weight.