Founded in 1924, Montel is a company specializing in mobile storage systems. At first, its systems consisted of mechanically assisted shelving operated by a hand crank.
Today, Montel products can be found in more than 70 countries, in libraries, museums, healthcare facilities, sports centres, indoor vertical farming installations, and homes. They are part of prestigious projects such as the storage system at Beale Air Force Base in California, Airbus’s high density storage solution, and Honda’s four post hybrid shelving system.
In the early 1980s, in order to maintain its market share, Montel decided to offer an electrically assisted product. To do so, the company chose to combine Novika’s expertise in electronics and software development with its own expertise in mechanical engineering. The first version of its powered mobile shelving system was born.
From that point on, still in partnership with Novika, the company continued a series of technology developments that contributed to its strategic positioning and growth.
Since then, Novika has worked continuously on Montel’s projects, including the development of five generations of controllers, the industrial version of the shelving system, and the LED Guard safety system. In this last project, Novika’s expertise in electro physics made it possible to integrate machine vision into an embedded system to secure an entire floor area. As a result, the safety system prevents aisles from closing whenever the presence of objects or people is detected.
Novika’s team also integrated the Internet of Things into ePulse ePulseTM, Montel’s remote diagnostic software. It is no longer always necessary to send a technician to another country to repair a system, since some interventions can now be carried out virtually, more quickly and at lower cost.
