General Information About YKK

A1. YKK was founded in Japan as a zipper manufacturing company in 1934 by Tadao (pronounced in English as Tah-dah-o) Yoshida. In the early years, Mr. Yoshida's company carried his name; it was called Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha--or "YKK" for short. (That long Japanese name translates roughly into English as "Yoshida Company Limited.") Over the years, the letters "YKK" were stamped onto the zippers' pull tabs, and thus YKK became known as the Company's trademark.

A2. Aside from zippers, YKK also makes other fastening products--like hook & loop self-closing tape fastening systems, webbings, and metal and plastic notions and buckles. YKK also produces aluminum building products -- like window and entrance systems for low, medium and high rise applications, as well as vinyl windows and doors for homes.

A3. Mr. Yoshida called his philosophy the Cycle of Goodness. It means that "No one prospers unless he renders benefit to others." According to his philosophy, Mr. Yoshida believed he must manufacture only useful, high quality zippers that would benefit, or enhance, the end-use goods in which they were installed. Since his product was a component in his customers' products, and the critical moving part, he believed it would have to perform perfectly over a long period of time so that those end-use goods would last longer and perform better than others on the market. When they did, all involved would benefit. Because of this guiding principle, YKK became involved in vertical manufacturing. This means that YKK not only produces the zippers, but also the machines that make the zippers--and even many of the raw materials that go into the zippers--like the polyester and brass that make up the tape, teeth and sliders.

Information About Zippers and Sliders