The Italian Nerio Alessandri has transformed Technogymthe manufacturer of fitness equipment, into a digital company.
His business card actually says: Wellness Designer. Nerio Alessandri is currently in Orlando, Florida, at the leading international trade fair IHRSA, the most important meeting place for the fitness industry. The Italian is the only European at the forefront of an industry dominated by the Americans. Until Thursday, he will be presenting his product Skillmill at the show, the first all-round training device on which athletes can increase their strength, speed, fitness and flexibility. He is meeting a growing demand for machines that are inspired by the needs of athletes.
Alessandri, 54, still has a business card to hand. It identifies him as the head of Technogym. "It's for the banks," says the former garage entrepreneur from the hinterland of Rimini. Before Technogym's planned IPO, it will be used more frequently. Preparations for the share offering in Milan are underway. The founder wants to sell 40 percent of his company by June. The offer is intended to enable the financial investor Arle to exit the expanding export company with an annual turnover of 512 million euros after seven years.
Is this a self-made man crowning a career that began 33 years ago in his father's garage as a very American story? No way, Alessandri waves it off. He is sitting on a gray designer sofa in the open lounge of the executive floor of his glass company headquarters. Four years ago, the bricklayer's son moved into Technogym Valley at the Cesena highway exit. Long, undulating metal roofs now nestle into the hilly landscape of Romagna on former strawberry fields. Milan's star architect Antonio Citterio gave the factory, research laboratories, offices, university and wellness center an elegant dune profile made of steel and glass. The design equipment created here is used by 35 million people worldwide to get into shape.
Alessandri says he is not interested in looking back. "The IPO is the trampoline for Technogym 4.0," he says. The Internet of Things has also reached sports studios. The manufacturers' slogan is: networking. The clubs are upgrading to smart studios. The equipment is integrated into the digital world. Apps enable users to personalize their wellness experience with their own training programs in the cloud.
Technogym has been driving digital technology forward for ten years. In 2007, the Italians equipped their machines with the internet. They have been connected to the cloud since 2012. In Orlando, Alessandri is presenting Artis, the world's first complete range of Android-based, cloud-connected fitness equipment. Training 4.0 will have its Olympic premiere in Rio de Janeiro in four months' time. Technogym is taking part in the Games for the sixth time as the exclusive supplier with its high-tech machines. For the first time, the millennial generation will be competing in Brazil. Alessandri will set up an account in the cloud for the 12,000 athletes for their training. "London 2012 was a different world," he says.
The self-taught athlete has been in the business since 1983. You don't feel like you're in Silicon Valley among the hills of the Adriatic. Here in Romagna, the heart beats for engines and machines. Alessandri tinkered in the garage and built his first fitness machine for the local gym at the age of 20. "The garage was Technogym 1.0," he says. In the 1990s, he developed his concept of wellness: he deliberately contrasted the Italian philosophy of well-being with the American-influenced fitness craze. Mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body - the 2000-year-old Juvenil wisdom became the entrepreneurial leitmotif of Technogym 2.0.
At the same time, the manufacturer brought electronics into the gym. Today, 150 engineers, software specialists, electronics engineers, doctors and designers are working on the development of new models. The company reached evolutionary stage 3.0 in 2010 with online services. The Mywellness app makes it possible to measure, control and personalize training.
Technogym has been organizing international test runs with the "Let's move for a better world" programs since 2015. In March, 120,000 people in 513 sports clubs took part in a campaign to combat obesity and lack of exercise. Users log in, collect the "Move" exercise units and donate them to a project paid for by Alessandri's company. Technogym is thus also positioning itself as a digital company ahead of its IPO. The manufacturer of treadmills and home trainers wants to be perceived as a service provider that keeps an eye on its customers' data and the Internet of Things.
Alessandri defines Technogym as a luxury brand. "In the future, true luxury will not be a red or yellow bag, but health and wellness". In 2012, Bank of America Merrill Lynch proclaimed the fight against pounds as a megatrend of the future that would trigger high levels of investment.
At the age of 13, Alessandri wanted to become an entrepreneur. Now the "extroverted dreamer", as he describes himself, has a different dream: "I want to get the world moving again". People are designed to run 25 kilometers a day. The daily grind of modern civilization promotes the regression of the species. Alessandri crosses her arms and slumps against the back of the sofa: "That's how we die, from too much rest".
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Source and image source: Süddeutsche Zeitung | Technogym
Published on: 31 March 2016