Reuse of resources at product, component and material level is a key element of the material and climate transition. In order to bring professionals, researchers and students together for collaboration, a joint research lab/learning factory has been established. This article focuses on the results of the third and fourth generation of a disassembly cell, built as a demonstrator for a real-life disassembly use case. Goals of the project described in this paper is to test feasibility of flexible, collaborative human–cobot disassembly of authentic, relatively heavy industrial goods, i.e. a gearbox and a valve. The overarching research goal is to understand and predict disassembly patterns for a wider variety of products and to unlock cobotized disassembly to a wider range of products and companies. Lessons-learned from the ‘learning factory’ point of view are that the increased weight asked for more attention to safety issues, but also for a reconsideration of work distribution between human and cobot. Flexibility was further enhanced by improving the tool exchange mechanism, better fixtures and the more modular approach towards cobot coding.