YKK, a zipper manufacturing company, was founded in Japan, 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.

YKK evaluate and publish genuine YKK product certificates. If you have any doubt about YKK zippers used in garments etc, please contact your local offices directly. Unfortunately we cannot disclose the procedure due to the risk of having this info being disclosed to counterfeit producers.

Aside from zippers, YKK also makes other fastening products-like snaps & buttons, textiles and plastics, hook & loop self-closing tape fastening systems, webbings, and metal and plastic notions and buckles. YKK also produces aluminium building products-like window and entrance systems for low, medium, and high rise applications.

The term “Fastener” or “Slide Fastener” is generally used in the UK. “Fastener” can mean anything which has a fixing function. The term “Zipper” or “Zip Fastener” first appeared in USA but is now commonly used all over the world. The word “Zip” is the imitative sound (often regarded as a quick sound) a fastener makes when it is being opened or closed.

YKK operates globally EMEA covering Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, East Asia, ASAO (covering ASEAN, South Asia, and Oceania), North/Central America, South America, and Japan. YKK Corporation employs over 45,000 people, operating in more than 72 countries worldwide.

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.

Please contact the local YKK Company in which you would like to work.

If you cannot find the answer to your question in this section, please contact your local YKK office or functional@ykkeurope.com