By Zoe Ling
When I first started at MOVUS, I was a second-year electrical engineering student. Most of my time was spent building circuits, soldering components onto PCBs, and solving maths equations that I didn’t fully understand the purpose behind, but could solve well enough to get by. Fast forward eight years, and my day-to-day work life has almost nothing to do with my degree. Maybe an odd meeting here and there, but fundamentally, I’m in a totally different field.
With MOVUS celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, I thought it was a good time to reflect, not just on the company’s journey, but on mine too, and how much I’ve learned along the way.
Where It All Started
MOVUS was founded in 2015 by Brad Parsons, Michel Lamarre and John Gardener, with a simple but ambitious goal: to reduce the amount of waste caused by equipment failure. The idea was to make condition monitoring more efficient, accessible, and scalable.
The very first prototype of what would become FitMachine was a bit rough around the edges – held together with Blu-Tac and some lead washers masquerading as internal electronics. But it was enough to spark investor interest. Backed by early believers, the team pushed forward. Our first customer? The University of Queensland.
Since then, FitMachine has come a long way:
- Version 2.0 was launched with Wi-Fi capabilities
- 2.1 introduced Bluetooth for improved flexibility and ease of onboarding
- 3.0 spawned a variant that was built to withstand hazardous areas
- Later versions evolved with extended battery life, IR sensors, and external antenna options based on direct customer needs.
Each stage of development has reflected not just technological improvement, but real feedback from the field.
From Quality Control to Customer Conversations
My first role at MOVUS was in the operations and refurbishment team. I was excited to join the team and be part of something real, finally applying what I’d been learning at university. I helped with assembly, testing and quality control. My proudest moment? Spotting a mismatch between two QR codes that were supposed to match. It was a small win, but it made me realise how important process and attention to detail are.
At the time, I thought that mattered mainly because I wanted to do my job well. But later, I came to understand why it mattered for the people relying on what we built.
I moved into a role titled “Fleet Management Engineer,” which is really just a fancy way of saying “the person who makes sure everything is running smoothly.” It was during this time that I began working with customers, and our team focus began to shift. Honestly, I was terrified. I’d gone from being a university student who barely spoke outside her cohort, to calling up people I’d only exchanged emails with to discuss their sensors.
But those conversations were a turning point. They weren’t just about sensor functionality. I started hearing about everything else our customers were facing: what was taking too long, what wasn’t working, what they wanted to improve but didn’t know how. And I also got to know them as people – what they did on weekends, their families, their hobbies. I probably overshared too, but I think that’s what built real relationships.
Evolving with our customers
Those early customer conversations shaped so much more than I expected. They helped us understand that our value wasn’t just in delivering data, but in helping people make sense of it, apply it, and do more with less.
Some of that feedback directly influenced the development of new products like FitPower, created to meet the need for a simple, effective energy monitoring tool. Traditional energy monitoring systems were complex, hard to install, and didn’t give plants what they actually needed. FitPower was designed to be the opposite: easy to deploy, easy to understand, and built to help teams conserve resources.
Today, we’re working on FitMachine 4.0. It won’t just look radically different – it represents a major leap forward, built on everything we’ve learned over the past decade. It includes improved Wi-Fi performance, run speed tracking, and high-quality data.
We didn’t just build these things because we could. We built them because customers told us what they needed, and we listened.
Putting People First
Eventually, I transitioned into Customer Success – first as a Customer Success Manager, then an Account Manager, and now in a role where my every day is talking with people, understanding their challenges, and working out how we can help. It is also what I expect from my team.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my past eight years at MOVUS, it’s that the world runs on people. Our job isn’t just about technology, it’s about helping the people behind the machines succeed. That’s what makes MOVUS different. And that’s what I’m most proud of.
So, as we celebrate 10 years of MOVUS, I want to say thank you. To the customers who’ve shared their feedback and frustrations with us, to the team that’s grown and evolved alongside me, and to everyone who played a part in helping us become who we are today.
And if there’s anything we can do to help you, whether you’re a long-time customer or just discovering MOVUS, please feel free to reach out.
We’re here for the long haul.
Want to learn more about MOVUS? Visit our About Us page today!