Kids have loved robots and toys for generations. The Rodon Group has decided that now is the perfect time for a robot named Baxter to help pack toys in the company’s highly automated manufacturing facility.

Baxter is the brainchild of Boston-based Rethink Robotics Inc., which developed the robot to perform simple repetitive tasks—line loading and unloading, and basic packing and unpacking—so human operators can focus on more value-added jobs. Rethink Robotics hopes this shift in duties will help American manufacturers gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace and prevent them from going offshore.