“MVTec’s software portfolio provides companies with a flexible and future-proof foundation for automation,” said Rob DeMellier. “I look forward to working with customers across North America to identify practical opportunities where machine vision and AI-driven technologies from MVTec can deliver measurable business value.”

Great experience in the automation and machine vision industry

DeMellier has extensive experience in the robotics industry, as well as in machine vision - complimented by an early career in manufacturing as a process engineer. This perspective affords DeMellier a unique understanding of both the engineering and business challenges facing manufacturers, as well as the opportunities provided by the latest automation technologies.

DeMellier will work closely with manufacturers, system integrators, and technology partners to help them leverage machine vision for improved quality, productivity, and operational performance. By applying MVTec’s powerful software products HALCON, MERLIC, and the Deep Learning Tool, organizations can unlock new levels of efficiency in inspection, measurement, identification, and robotics applications.

Flexible MVTec software for robust detection rates and application scalability

MVTec is known for its hardware-independent software solutions, encompassing capable of seamless integration with a wide range of cameras, sensors, and applications. The company’s products combine high performance with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, allowing users to implement both rule-based image processing and deep learning methods within a single development environment. This approach helps customers build robust, scalable vision systems tailored to their specific production requirements.

With decades of experience in machine vision software, MVTec supports companies worldwide in advancing digitalization and automation strategies. The expansion of the North American business development team underlines the company’s commitment to being close to customers and driving innovation in key growth markets.

From April 20 to 24, 2026, MVTec will showcase itself and its software products in hall 27, booth F38. The objective of the trade fair presence is to demonstrate the performance and added value of MVTec’s modern image processing software to a broad industrial audience.

With HALCON, MERLIC, and the Deep Learning Tool, MVTec offers one of the most technologically advanced vision software portfolios worldwide – for both rule‑based and deep‑learning‑based methods. MVTec’s software is used in a wide variety of industrial applications and enables high‑precision quality inspections, the reading of barcodes or characters, the collaboration with robots, and many more.

A key benefit that machine vision provides across all industries and applications is a higher degree of automation. This allows companies to increase their efficiency and transparency and thereby enhance their competitiveness. MVTec experts on-site are happy to explain how companies can benefit from the advantages of machine vision to address their specific challenges.

In addition, MVTec is involved in various other activities at HANNOVER MESSE. For example, Ulf Schulmeyer, Product Manager MERLIC, will be present at the Siemens booth on the first two days of the trade fair. There, he will provide information about MVTec MERLIC’s participation in the Siemens Industrial Edge ecosystem and the resulting opportunities for users. Furthermore, MVTec will once again take part in the Technology Tour. There, visitor groups can look forward to interesting insights by MVTec experts on the topic of “AI in Manufacturing.”

“In recent years, we have increasingly invested in PLC interfaces and features designed to improve process stability as part of MERLIC’s ongoing development. This has enabled us to position MERLIC as a machine vision framework that is more than just a pure machine vision software. We are continuing along this path with the new version. One example is the Frontend Observability feature, with which we support users in creating audit trails,” explains Ulf Schulmeyer, Product Manager MERLIC at MVTec. Specifically, the feature helps ensure traceability of changes within the machine vision system and enables their documentation.

In addition to further technological innovations and improvements, such as code reading based on deep learning, the new version also introduces a change to the MERLIC versioning system. This will be aligned with MVTec’s standard nomenclature. The new version number is therefore MERLIC 26.03. Furthermore, the licensing and pricing model has been simplified. Going forward, there will be two packages: “MERLIC” and “MERLIC Professional.” MERLIC Professional includes all functions of MERLIC, including deep learning tools and the integration of custom MERLIC tools.

A benefit for users of both packages is the removal of the previous camera limitation. Starting with MERLIC 26.03, any number of cameras can be connected to your systems within the limits of what is technically feasible. This increases the flexibility and scalability of MERLIC systems.

Opticum d.o.o., founded in 2017, brings together a young and highly skilled team of engineers committed to delivering exceptional solutions for their clients. The company develops communication protocols for sub-devices such as printers, readers, and scales, as well as control systems, ensuring data integrity and optimal user experience. While the pharmaceutical industry accounts for the majority of its business, the company also provides tailored solutions for automotive, food, and other sectors.

Our Certified Integration Partners collaborate closely with us to deliver top-tier vision solutions to end-customers. Through this collaboration, they can efficiently and seamlessly incorporate our robust software products into machine vision systems. Each engineering company included in the MVTec Certified Integration Partner Program undergoes a rigorous selection process. We are confident that you will discover the ideal system integrator for your specific application among our partners.

In addition to MVTec's algorithm solutions, VST Taiwan also offers optical system design and mechanical structure planning. The company furthermore has extensive experience in consulting and selling key components, such as lenses, cameras, and lighting systems for machine vision. VST Taiwan provides comprehensive one-stop solutions that combine software and hardware design capabilities, establishing the company as a full-service technology provider.

Our Certified Integration Partners collaborate closely with us to deliver top-tier vision solutions to end-customers. Through this collaboration, they can efficiently and seamlessly incorporate our robust software products into machine vision systems. Each engineering company included in the MVTec Certified Integration Partner Program undergoes a rigorous selection process. We are confident that you will discover the ideal system integrator for your specific application among our partners.

This access particularly benefits users of smart cameras, allowing Deep Learning applications to run on embedded devices with considerably higher speed and efficiency. As an initial step, MVTec is developing an interface between MVTec HALCON software and the Qualcomm Dragonwing RB3 Gen 2, leveraging Qualcomm Technologies’ upstream Linux and AI framework.

Making Deep Learning Even More Usable

“As a pure software manufacturer for machine vision, our goal is to ensure that customers can develop the best possible machine vision solution using our products. However, this is only possible when combined with the most powerful hardware available. That’s why we place great emphasis on technology collaborations. With its powerful AI accelerator, Qualcomm Technologies is an ideal partner to meet the requirements of machine vision. We are therefore very pleased to welcome this technology to our Technology Partner Program,” explains Roman Moie, Product Owner at MVTec. Eric Mazzoleni, Vice President, Industrial and Embedded IoT Sales - Europeat Qualcomm Germany, GmbH. adds: “Industrial image processing is evolving rapidly with advancements in AI. By deploying MVTec's software directly on the dedicated NPU, the Dragonwing processor unlocks new levels of performancefor demanding machine vision workloads. Together, we’re helping manufacturers meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 for Europe’s industrial transformation.” MVTec is a globally leading manufacturer of software for machine vision. The company offers the powerful standard software HALCON, the low-code software MERLIC, and the Deep Learning Tool for labeling image data. MVTec’s software products are used in nearly all industrial sectors and across a wide range of applications. The Dragonwing RB3 Gen 2 is a powerful platform powered by the Dragonwing QCS6490 processor. With the Qualcomm^® Hexagon™ fused AI-accelerator, it delivers up to 12 dense TOPs and enables faster and more power-efficient AI inferencing for industrial machine vision applications.

Higher Speeds for Deep Learning Applications on Smart Cameras

With Embedded Vision, MVTec offers software solutions specifically tailored to the requirements of embedded vision devices. The key objective is that MVTec software products achieve optimal performance across all platforms – this also applies to Deep Learning technologies. “Deep Learning in machine vision promises enormous efficiency gains. On the one hand, existing applications can be improved, and on the other, entirely new applications can be automated. The collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is a step toward providing customers with higher performance for their applications, thus securing competitive advantages through machine vision,” explains Roman Moie. The promotion of interoperability and compatibility among components of industrial image processing is the declared goal of the MVTec Technology Partner Program. The program is a collaborative initiative to foster strategic collaborations with innovative technology providers of various components.

Production processes are in constant change

"When certain parameters in production change, deep learning–based machine vision applications must be retrained to maintain robust recognition rates. So far, this process has been complex and time-consuming. With Continual Learning in HALCON 25.11, we now offer a feature that significantly reduces the effort required to retrain classification models," explains Jan Gaertner, Product Manager for HALCON at MVTec.

The reasons for changes in production processes vary. Lighting conditions often shift when new illumination is installed, or a production line is expanded or relocated. Supplied parts and preassembled components also tend to show variations over time, for example, in color, material, or surface texture. Such differences are especially common when switching suppliers. These altered conditions can strongly affect quality inspection processes: even minor variations can greatly impact defect detection. This is particularly relevant when new product classes are added or entirely new types of anomalies appear.

Continual Learning addresses these challenges by allowing existing classification models to be retrained quickly and easily, enabling flexible adaptation to new requirements in industrial environments. Typically, only five to ten images are needed, minimizing both effort and cost. Another key advantage: Continual Learning is resistant to the so-called “catastrophic forgetting.” This means that during retraining, the neural network continues to correctly recognize the classes and features it originally learned.

In addition, Continual Learning requires only a standard CPU instead of an expensive GPU, making it ideal for embedded and edge devices such as smart cameras and sensors. Existing classes can be updated, and new ones added, without the need for complete retraining. Finally, retraining with Continual Learning is so straightforward that it can be performed even by users without in-depth machine vision expertise.

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On February 25, 2026, the company will once again rely on its proven combination of practice-oriented presentations and ample space for networking at the Veranstaltungsforum Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich. Attendees will receive first-hand insights from the manufacturer into current trends, the latest technologies and product features, and will have the opportunity to exchange expertise with like-minded professionals.

MVTec Innovation Day has firmly established itself as a valued industry meeting and networking marketplace within the German-speaking machine-vision community. Participants benefit from well-founded content with particular technical depth, free of marketing. As in previous years, Innovation Day is conceived as a hybrid event: participants who cannot attend in person may join via live stream.

“The Innovation Day has become a fixture in the machine vision industry. The steadily increasing number of visitors shows that participants recognize the significant value of the event. On the one hand, it provides insights into new technologies and areas of application. On the other hand, an integral part of Innovation Day is the opportunity to exchange ideas directly with MVTec and other image processing experts, which provides valuable inspiration for their own machine vision projects," explains Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Managing Director of MVTec Software GmbH.

Live demos and expert presentations by MVTec specialists provide particular added value for participants. They present current developments and useful insights related to machine-vision applications. High-performance technologies play an important role here, such as Shape Matching, which offers further improved functions in version 25.11 of the HALCON machine vision standard software. In a live demo, MVTec experts will showcase how strong and weak model areas can be visualized during Shape Matching processes and how targeted optimizations can be made. The latter also includes continual learning. This makes it possible to add new classes to already trained deep learning models very quickly and with minimal effort. Another presentation shows how the no-code software MVTec MERLIC goes beyond rule-based image processing and integrates functions for communication, human-machine-interfaces, and compliance.
Another expert talk provides insights into the work of MVTec’s research department and illustrates how the close integration of research and industrial application drives innovation in machine vision. Using the example of the newly developed MVTec AD 2 dataset, the presentation explains the requirements of modern anomaly detection and how MVTec bridges the gap between academic research and industrial practice.

All information about Innovation Day 2026 and registration for on-site- or live-stream participation can be found at: https://www.mvtec.com/de/unternehmen/events/detail/mvtec-innovation-day-2026

Legal Notice
All rights reserved, Copyright ©MVTec Software GmbH. All image and text material may be used solely for press coverage for free. Any kind of commercial usage of the material beside press coverage is prohibited.

We would be pleased to receive a voucher copy.