I've lived and breathed fitness my whole life.
I've always exercised, I've always worked out.
It's a passion of mine, and it's a passion of most of the people that work in this company.
It's about serving a greater good, right?
And so we're trying to produce these products to contribute to health and well being;
a better quality of life.
So what we have to focus on is how do we get people exercising?
Obviously it's been a challenge for a number of years.
So it's our focus to create products that are not intimidating,
that are comfortable and fun to use.
So that's our focus.
We can't change what lifting weights is like.
We can't change what walking or running on a treadmill is like,
but what we can do is change all the peripheral experiences.
What I want people to do when they come in and see our product, is to not be intimidated.
And we want to make sure it's a beautiful design, an approachable design,
and then, when they get on the product, to have a great user experience.
Something that's engaging, something that's motivational.
So if we can help meet their goals, whether it be losing weight,
or recovering from a medical condition,
and adults can play with their children for a longer period of time,
people can have that greater quality of life.
We can take them out of their bedroom, or their study, or their basement, or their garage
into a different world, and hopefully an inspiring world,
an engaging world that they can enjoy exercising.
Johnson's company philosophy is:
Health.
Health. Value.
Health. Value. Sharing.
The story of how we got started is fascinating.
Mr. Peter Lo, who's a native of Taiwan, wanted to get into business.
That's probably 35 years ago.
In that time, my father, in order to make a living for his family,
he needed to work very hard, so that's why he decided to create his own business.
So he, and an assistant, Jean Hung,
wrote 2,000 letters to different companies all over the United States.
And finally, one reached back to him, and he said he could do it.
And he was going to be manufacturing barbells.
But Peter didn't know what a barbell was, and Peter didn't know what a weight plate was.
So he sketched out the drawing on a napkin, put it in the mail, sent it to Peter Lo,
And he looked at the drawings, and after he hung up the phone with Ivanko
he looked at the person next to him and said "what is this?" and "we have to make it".
And that was our first order for Ivanko barbells back in 1975.
This is our first foundry.
The industry was really at its birth point.
Nobody had any idea that this industry would get as large as it's become today.
It's incredible that Peter started off from very humble beginnings
to actually getting to where he is now,
with over 2 million square feet of manufacturing plants.
We are a global company. We're a company of the 21st century.
It's wonderful, actually, working for a family that's very much involved in the business.
There's an absolute passion, which inspires every individual to go with them.
One of the things that we're doing that relates to design,
that we're doing better than our competitors, is just listening.
That sounds like a simple thing, but one of the key functions in a designer's head
is to listen to people, understand the problem.
And so, I think innovation is all around understanding a market problem,
and we develop these problem statements so we can create solutions.
We have a mixture of people that we will bring in
to help us with our product development and design,
everything from end users, people that use and exercise on a daily basis,
through to people that have never gone into a health club before.
We'll get ten people in, a small person, a large person,
and we'll say "hey, how does this feel to you?"
If there was any complaint, it's that I can't get my hands
all the way around it.
Too big.
It's too big and really hard to grip.
This is understanding the needs of the customer in real time.
So we don't just design a product and then let it go,
we like to learn, and we like to evolve, and just make that product better.
When we're talking to owners, for example, they're telling us
"well, I want more machines in my club."
So that tells us maybe they need to be a little more compact.
So one machine is designed to fit next to another one.
They get more machines in, they get more customers, they make more money.
We want trainer feedback, as well, to make sure that we can provide the right tools
for them to allow their clients to be successful, whatever their goals or objectives are.
In terms of what's important to them, how easy it is to use, how intuitive it is.
We focus on that service technician and making their jobs easier.
We're supplying some very large health club chains around the world
where they can get up to 500 people coming through within an hour,
and maybe they're not going to be too gentle on the equipment.
So when we talk about manageable, we're saying,
"well, a guy's got to take a machine apart, completely, inside and out.
How can he do it quickly and effectively?"
So we design the machine to be broken down and cleaned fast.
We're just constantly trying to evolve, and just trying to improve,
and we're not set on our laurels, and saying "here it is and goodbye."
It's working with that partner right the way through.
It's a humble organization in that we don't believe we have all the answers,
we value that input and we build it into our process.
One of our key advantages is that we are vertically integrated.
We control the process from the beginning to the end.
When we make a roller in Taiwan or Shanghai, we control what bearing goes in that.
This is really what differentiates Johnson Health Tech to our competitors
because we have this total control over our production and manufacturing.
We don't source a lot of our components. We're able to control the quality,
control the costs, and provide a better value for our customers.
From the point of choosing the materials,
through to the individuals who are assembling the machine,
right through to the quality of the level of customer service that we're able to deliver.
Customer care is important because we are the face of the company.
So it's important that we answer the calls quickly,
we listen to our customers and we take care of their needs as quickly as we can.
You have to be able to get down and get dirty with the equipment,
take the parts out, put them in, so that you really know
what you're talking about when you have the customer on the phone.
There's no excuses when you deal with our company.
We own quality the whole way through.
If you look back to 1970, the products were crude,
they were just ugly bare metal in some cases,
and we fundamentally changed the fitness image from those times.
We really revolutionized the industry.
We're able to make equipment that solves one of the hardest problems
in the industry which is "how am I going to stay with this exercise program?"
So when you walk in the door everyday, you're thinking,
"I'm doing some good here for people in terms of a better quality of life
and I've got some really cool products, and some great passionate people behind it."
One of the things you often wonder in design circles is you put out a new look,
you put out a new product, and you don't know if it's really hitting home.
What we have here is a situation where people come to our building and they say
"you know, I tried out your new Ascent Trainer. I tried out your new G7 design.
I loved it."
And, when you hear those stories, it drives that passion, and that inspiration
to want to continue to develop great products that lead to a healthy and active lifestyle,
and just a greater quality of life.