Moovency

MSD hazard identification reinvented!

We revealed our solution KIMEA in a preview at CFIA and EstiValorial last year. The start-up Moovency, created in 2018 and specialised in workstation ergonomics in industry, recently joined the Valorial community, and is set to be back this year at the Village FoodTech (Usine Agro du Futur) at CFIA. We talked to François Morin, CEO. 

How did Moovency come about, what is your core business and what are your target markets?

MOOVENCY was created following a PhD thesis by Pierre Plantard with Faurencia. During his PhD, Pierre worked on developing an innovative technology to rapidly obtain a scientific risk appraisal of musculoskeletal disorders among operators at stationary workstations from data collected using a video camera. Building on this innovation, MOOVENCY was created with support from Ouest Valorisation, based on the premise that the tool could benefit all French industries by analysing operators’ movements, reducing the costs related to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) for employers and improving occupational health.

Our business thus consists in assessing MSD risks in industrial firms. Today our primary targets are companies in the agri-food, metalworks and plastics industries, but we are open to other markets given that our innovation can be tailored to different industrial environments.

What is your latest news?

We officially launched our solution KIMEA during CES 2019, together with our connected gloves which offer a fuller analysis of wrist movements, joints on which considerable stresses are placed in the agri-food industry. In the coming months, with the recruitment of 2 ergonomists, our priorities will be the marketing of the solution and further R&D to continue to fine-tune the tool’s performance, in particular for recording back movements. We also have a few major trade shows coming up (CFIA, Preventica) which represent key opportunities to boost our visibility.

What made you decide to join the Valorial community? 

Joining Valorial was a natural step for us. First, because we are firm believers in the power of networks and of building a business ecosystem. Discussing ideas, meeting people, comparing points of view with other Valorial members, in particular industrial players and purchasers, is fundamental to us. Field culture is clearly part of our DNA. We capitalise on these discussions to guarantee a solution tailored to the real needs of our future clients. Additionally, Valorial also offers us opportunities in terms of R&D to potentially contribute to collaborative projects with time on issues that concern us such as occupational wellbeing, risk assessment and Musculoskeletal Disorders. We must continue to innovate to keep apace with industry’s expectations.

What is your vision of innovation? 

Innovation lies at the very heart of our strategy. Innovation is the very essence of our purpose, our raison d’être. However for us, innovation must serve a field-based reality. It’s important for us that the innovative technologies we develop be rooted in the industrial environment and serve the needs of businesses and occupational wellbeing. Our CTO Pierre Plantard is constantly on the lookout for the latest inventions, in particular in relation to the Kinect technology we use, and we invest in R&D to preserve the ground-breaking nature of our solution. Yet we make sure our feet remain firmly rooted to the ground and focus above all on what is happening in production lines and in the field.

Vidéo