YKK is a Japanese zipper company that was established in 1934 in Tokyo.
YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, which translates to Yoshida Manufacturing Corporation.
Yoshida is the surname of the company’s founder – Tadao Yoshida.
The company manufactures almost half of all the zippers (7 billion+ out of around 15 billion) produced in the world.
It is believed to be one of the most self-reliant companies in the world.
This is because it not only handles all zipper-manufacturing-related processes in-house but also manufactures the zip-making machines and the boxes in which it ships the zippers.
Because of such self-reliance, the outside variables are minimized, and the company consistently delivers on quality and speed of production.
YKK is said to have run its operations smoothly even in the most challenging times.
For example, during the 2011 earthquake of 9.1 Richter scale, when most of the other businesses in Japan were affected, YKK rolled out its orders on schedule.
This gives great confidence to the clothing companies and designers that they can’t go wrong with YKK.
Since faulty zippers can leave the whole garment unwearable, fashion brands stick to YKK for reliability and reputation.
YKK, however, didn’t invent zippers – they were invented by an American Whitcomb L. Judson, in the 1890s.
YKK, despite its dominance, is also known to price its zippers reasonably.
They believe in the management principle of “The cycle of goodness”, which basically means producing ever-higher quality with ever-lower costs.
