Precor AMT(R) Honored in Red Dot Design Competition
Precor’s breakthrough Adaptive Motion Trainer® has been selected as one of the world’s best-designed products in the prestigious Red Dot product design competition.

Hosted by Germany’s Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen since 1955, the competition annually convenes an international jury of design experts to examine and test products, assessing entries for innovation, functionality, ergonomics, durability, ecological compatibility and clarity of function. More than 3,000 entries from 51 countries were submitted for Red Dot consideration this year.

“The Red Dot is among the world’s top design awards, and is well-deserved recognition of our design and engineering groups,” said Paul Byrne, president of Precor. “Both in terms of performance and design, the AMT® is one of the most significant products in Precor’s 27-year history. We’ve seen great affirmation for the AMT in the marketplace, and it’s great to earn recognition from a global leader such as Red Dot.”

The AMT is the first form of cardio fitness equipment that allows users to instantly choose and change their stride motion and speed, without pushing control buttons on the display, or waiting for the machine to respond.

Precor’s industrial design group created the design in collaboration with Precor’s engineering team, resulting in a modern, streamlined appearance along with a smooth, natural motion. AMT Biomechanics were validated by Western Washington University’s Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation.

Red Dot honors mark Precor’s second international design competition win in two years. Last year, a design integrating entertainment into Precor’s Experience® series cardio equipment displays earned honors in the IDEA competition, sponsored by the Industrial Designer’s Society of America and Business Week magazine. Nearly 1,700 entries from 29 countries were judged in the IDEA competition.

The AMT also earned “Product of the Year” recognition in the international fitness industry’s 2007 NOVA7 awards, and, most recently, was noted as “best product innovation” at Fit2PRO, Belgium’s national fitness-industry trade show.

The AMT is the most recent in a series of product and service successes for Precor, which, with sales of $411 million globally in 2007, recorded its sixth consecutive year of record-setting revenues.

Precor 'Best in Cardio and Entertainment' in Global Fitness Poll
Industry Tabs Precor for Back-to-Back Honors in Two Top Categories

Aug 4, 2008

WOODINVILLE, Wash., Aug 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Precor again earns top honors in the Nova 7 "people's choice" awards, named Best Cardio Equipment Supplier for the second consecutive year, along with a fifth consecutive Best in Entertainment award for Precor's Cardio Theater system.

The annual awards are bestowed by Fitness Management magazine, based on voting by fitness facility professionals worldwide.

Precor president Paul J. Byrne said the Nova7 honors reflect industry recognition of cardio innovations such as the Adaptive Motion Trainer(R), or AMT(R), and integrated entertainment services delivered through Cardio Theater hardware.

"The market is calling for fitness facilities to elevate and customize their member experience, and globally, cardio and entertainment are the areas of greatest demand and opportunity, so we're particularly pleased with the Nova7 honors," said Byrne. "We're moving beyond established bounds of fitness equipment to help facility customers add value, and create new revenue and business opportunities. The response worldwide has been very encouraging."

Precor's leadership in cardio fitness was reinvigorated with global distribution of the AMT, last year's Nova7 Product of the Year. A breakthrough new form of equipment that lets users adjust their stride length and motion without pushing buttons or changing settings, the AMT offers the immediacy, variety and feel of running outdoors without the pounding impact.

On the entertainment front, through integrated ClubCom and ChannelCast systems proven to work well with Precor cardio equipment and Cardio Theater hardware, fitness facilities have an unprecedented ability to customize their member experience.

A fitness equipment leader for more than 27 years, Precor offers a full range premium cardio and strength equipment for homes, and commercial equipment designed to serve varied needs of facilities ranging from health clubs to multifamily housing.

Precor Inc. plans new headquarters in Woodinville and to build consumer brand
In five years, Precor Inc. has more than doubled its sales of fitness equipment -- to $411 million -- largely by developing a full range of products to offer to consolidating club operators in the health club industry.

Precor is now one of the top five companies in its industry, said Paul Craig, editor of Fitness Business News, published in Yarmouth, Maine.

Precor grew 17 percent in revenue for 2007, substantially besting the industry's less-than-1 percent growth in the number of clubs, according to figures from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association in Boston. Precor has been owned since 2002 by Amer Sports Corp., of Helsinki, Finland.

The company's directors are working to manage the company's growth, and this month plan to sign a contract to build a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters building in Woodinville, to be ready for occupancy in 2009, said John Byrne, Precor president.