The history of Matrix Fitness & JHT

Matrix Fitness is one of the world’s fastest growing fitness brands. Parent company Johnson Health Tech (JHT) launched it’s UK subsidiary 20 years ago, 4 years before the first range of Matrix products arrived in 2001. However the company’s history and ethos, that have laid the platform for its success, can be traced back much further.

Product Director for Matrix Fitness UK, Rob Knox explains:

An overview… How did it start?

Peter Lo, his wife Cindy Lo and their business partner, Jean Hung, started the company in 1975 in Taichung, Taiwan. They started with a simple foundry, at a time when American companies were looking overseas for manufacturing support.

He called his company Johnson Metals, after the famous Xueshan Mountain in Taiwan (formally pronounced ‘Chasen’) which is similar to the European and North American name, Johnson. Mr Lo earned his first client, Ivanko, by sending hundreds of handwritten letters to companies in America, offering his manufacturing services.

Our modest beginning quickly gave way to two decades of aggressive investment and growth.During this time, JHT emerged as a premier manufacturer for industry-leading fitness equipment companies.

How do you differentiate yourselves from the other major fitness equipment suppliers?

Our people, our products and our company values differentiate us from our competition. At the heart of everything we do are our people -the ideation, creation, production and execution of a superior customer experience begins with our people.

Our employees are our family; they’re passionate about our industry and our company and we continually invest and look to improve continuously creating a more engaged culture.

We manufacture over 500 products within the Matrix portfolio, meeting the every need of our customers. Our vast product offering enables our customer to differentiate their business.

JHT is a Total Solutions Provider, offering much more than just fitness equipment. We can provide education, training, marketing, finance and construction solutions for our customers too. Webinars, content marketing and training videos are examples of what’s offered on our Matrix Learning Centre as a free educational resource for our customers.

Community and family is also a big part of the Johnson culture.

Where is Matrix Fitness today?

Today, we continue to drive the evolution of fitness and wellness with our award-winning products.

We are focused on product technology and enhancements that improve the user experience. We are redefining fitness with our original group training products and signature original programming designed to preserve and enhance health through all stages of life.

Yet even as we strive to become the largest fitness and wellness company in the world, we never forget the vision and values that gave us our start and made us great.

Highlights:

• JHT employs over 5600 people
• In 2016 it generated over €625 million
• Matrix commercial line generated €420 million alone
• The Matrix portfolio consists of over 500 product lines