ABOUT THE YKK BRAND

A Legacy of Quality & Global Leadership

YKK is a Japanese company and the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, known for producing high-quality, durable zippers in metal, plastic (VISLON®), and coil (nylon/polyester) types, used in everything from jeans and jackets to architectural products and industrial machinery.

It was founded in Japan, in 1934, by Tadao 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.

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 customer’s 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.

As demonstrated by the tagline “Little Parts. Big Difference.”, YKK’s products are small parts but provide great value for each customer. That is the wish of the YKK Fastening Products Group. Therefore, YKK aims for “WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCE” in terms of design, function, quality, and consideration for the environment in the fastening products we provide.