LOGISTIK HEUTE: What is Movu Robotics currently up to?
Christophe Coulongeat: The company has been active for only two years and is currently growing with enormous dynamism. For this year we are aiming for Movu revenue of over €200 million as well as an order volume of more than €300 million. In the last two years we have employed around 450 people and are staffed for these challenges in both customer support and in the research and development area. The DNA of the company is, in this respect, quite unique, as we are represented in both the picking and pallet worlds, but also develop our AMRs as well as the software in-house.
You have been Movu's CEO for several months. What plans do you bring to the company?
Coulongeat: We want to grow and capture additional market share. The focus recently has been heavily on pallet applications; we want to continue that, but also develop the other areas to enable customers to automate warehouses end-to-end, as well as monitor their performance. Of our 450 employees today, around a quarter are in the R&D segment. We want to continue our growth in Europe in the future and also build on the legacy of our parent company
Stow Group. At the same time, the USA is also an important growth market for us, where we expect more than 50 percent of our revenue in the medium term.
What role does the US market play for Stow??
Jos De Vuyst: So far we are, in terms of volume, the largest warehouse rack player in Europe, but in the USA we have not been really active yet. However, as we see enormous potential there, we are building a factory in the southwestern United States that is scheduled to begin operations on April 1, 2026. With that, we position ourselves for substantial growth.
What role does Movu play for Stow?
De Vuyst: As the parent company, we planned the spin-off of Movu only about three or four years ago and then experienced the rapid growth from the “baby” to its own mature adult. Even though Movu benefits from new management, the connections within the group remain close. Besides the fact that in recent years we have invested a nine-figure amount in Movu, Movu today is one of our most important customers. The fact that we can combine decades of experience in warehouse rack technology with innovative shuttles makes the group unique as a system supplier.
Movu has adopted “easier automation” as its motto. What are the essential components for that?
Coulongeat: Automation must, above all, be simple, scalable, and accessible. This is reflected in how we design our products. Take flexibility, for example: if a subsystem fails in a warehouse, it quickly leads to failures of rack-handling devices. With the use of pallet shuttles, this is much easier to avoid. By using shuttles, the availability of the entire system increases. Additionally, energy consumption is significantly lower compared with traditional rack-handling systems, higher storage density, and substantial cost optimization. In these volatile times, we give the customer the ability to scale precisely to the needed extent—whether upward or with regard to volume. Because we work with standard modules and a plug-and-play approach, adaptation can always be done quickly. Installations can reach up to 46 meters in height.
What does this approach offer to small and medium-sized enterprises?
De Vuyst: Many of our customers are at the entry level of automation. They typically have a conventional warehouse with some shelves, some forklifts, and many people—and then want to automate some processes. They usually do not do this through large integrators, as they have only a limited budget. Movu also offers systems for
SMEs that can be scaled later when the company grows—whether larger systems or faster ones. Up to 12,000 pallet movements per day are conceivable. All of this becomes possible thanks to shuttle technology. Because the system is so flexible, we can also automate in existing buildings. A non-standardized building layout is no problem for our shuttles. This way we can also serve the growing market for brownfield projects. Getting building permits for new properties can, after all, be a complex undertaking.
In July you presented a cold storage facility at Westhof Bio, the organic vegetable freezer, during a customer event (more on this in LOGISTIK HEUTE 9/2025). Is cold logistics a relevant segment for you?
Coulongeat: Not many shuttle providers can handle pronounced cold. At Westhof Bio storage temperatures go down to minus 25 degrees Celsius, which requires very specific shuttles whose materials and batteries are designed for sustained use in the cold. In the frozen segment we definitely see a sweet spot, especially as contract logistics providers are increasingly active in this or the fresh segment. And that 3PL companies automate their warehouses themselves is definitely a trend of the past years. Here too, growth potential arises for us.
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