Shanghai YKK Zipper Co., Ltd has a history of 11 years in Shanghai, and thanks to the supports and instructions of various departments of Shanghai Government among which Shanghai Foreign Investment Bureau can be a representative, has got the present achievements of a successful foreign-funded enterprise in Shanghai.

   YKK Group has 132 subsidiaries and hundreds of sales spots within 60 countries worldwide. The total sales volume of 2003 reached 544.1 billion Japanese Yen (converting to 5.334 billion US dollars), and the employment enrollment is 36,200. There are three departments: Fastening product (zipper, button etc.) department, construction and materials department and working mechanics department supplying production machines for the previous two departments. The operation range includes two series: zipper, construction materials. Zipper section is divided to three different parts of zippers, buttons and metal buttons, as well as inkle and resin product. The article will make a statement and summary from three aspects of “market expansion”, “brand strengthening” and “advanced technology”.

Market Expansion

From 1990s of last century, China has seen a rapid development of its sewing industry topped by apparel and case & bag industry from domestic market to the international stage, with a substantial increase of the export. At the moment, many zippers used for incoming material processing are supplied from the outside. However, with the sharp growth of apparel and case & bag export, demand for imported zippers is on the sharp rise as well. But there are a series of inconveniences in transportation and customs declaration during the importing process. Facing such great demand of the market, YKK Group made the decision to invest and establish zipper manufacturer here in China to help domestic enterprises in exporting by using the local manufactured YKK zippers, so as to make their products enter the international market better and faster.

Shanghai YKK Zipper Co., Ltd was founded by YKK Group under such circumstances in March 1992 on Luchun Road, Minghang District. The operation range includes production and sales of YKK nylon, metal and resin zippers. And the zippers will provide the exporting enterprises to reduce the cost and avoid various inconveniences. The primary construction was soon completed and the opening ceremony to start business was held in 1994 in Minghang Corporation.

Since then YKK Shanghai has carried out surveys in market exploration by visiting different clients and confirming the orders, which received welcome from the clients and resulted in soaring up of the sales volume. YKK Shanghai was soon awarded “Product Exporting Enterprise”, and by spreading among the clients the reputation of the company reached the neighboring cities and provinces. Under such good circumstances YKK Shanghai lost no time in setting up administrative agencies in Nanjing and Hangzhou etc. to cooperate in a much wider range with more exporting enterprises outside Shanghai to further expand the market.

The sales volume has increased again in recent years and stepped into a new phase. To face different needs of different client groups, YKK Shanghai has developed series of new product for Chinese market, and received warm welcome in return.

Meanwhile, the company has calmly dealt with various questions and needs of clients to better serve them, and constructed a series of training from production to sales to the new recruits, which ultimately help gain the clients at its maximum.

Brand Strengthening

YKK Shanghai has carried out a series of defence activities from brand registration, production, and sales to advertisement and anti-counterfeit campaign to protect the YKK brand. First is to register the trademark, the head office has registered YKK brand names in the State Business Administration before the establishment of YKK Shanghai, which set a legal foundation for the brand protection. In processes of production and sales, the quality of the products is in the focus from beginning to end. The source of raw materials for zippers is rigidly under control to solidly set the groundwork of YKK zipper brand. And the following examination is even stricter that each zipper has to be rigidly checked by specific apparatus before sales. And then is the disposal of the production wastes, YKK Shanghai has a system of efficient management of wasted zippers not allowing one unqualified zipper to be out of factory for sales, which effectively protect the genuine brand zipper. For the sales, the company will send special staff to address the problems whenever there is inconformity between products and clients’ needs, so as to protect the genuineness of the brand at any cost. In addition the advertisement has always been on full swing from telephone yellow pages, exhibition, bus posters, subway posters, TV commercials to sports (sumo) sponsorship etc.

YKK Shanghai has declared and successfully gained the “Shanghai Famous Brand” granted by Shanghai Technology Administration in 2003. The company report promptly to the local business administrations about the counterfeit of YKK products, and collaborate with each other in the anti-counterfeit campaign, sending staff to all over the country to investigate, and report to the business administration to clamp down the counterfeit and thus defend its own brand of YKK.

Advanced Technology

YKK Shanghai is devoted to updating and improving the technologies by adopting various techniques and especially the “Needle Checking Methods” to make the checking procedures much simpler and to gain wide popularity among clients. The YKK zippers of apparel exporting to Japan are always demanded by the clients to use the “anti-needle checking method”. What’s more, the company has put in material resources and energy to get the authentication of OEKO-TEXSTANDARD100 and carried out the production according to the technology of the standard, which is another good effort to win the clients by advanced technology. For years of hard work, YKK Shanghai has got certain achievements in technology and was appraised as “Shanghai Technologically Advanced Foreign-Investment Enterprise” in 2003.

In short, the success of YKK can be summarized as follows: to strengthen the influence of the brand and constantly update the technologies to expand the market by brand and technological advantages. At present, having gone through decade of growth, Shanghai YKK Zipper Co., Ltd is advancing toward a higher and further goal.

Appendix: Important issues of the company

1.  Acquisition of ISO 9002 certification on 6^th, May 1998.

Acquisition of ISO 14001 certification on 29^th, April 1999.

Acquisition of OHSAS18001 certification on 31^st, Dec. 2000.

Awards of Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau from 1994 to 1998( as follows):

The top 10 enterprises of good drainage and disposal equipment in regional protection of the upper flow of Huangpu River, Shanghai

The 6^th in 1994, the 2^nd in 1996, the 1^st in 1998

(a once-in-two-year award, which stopped in 1998)

 “2003 Awarded the title of “Credit Administration Enterprise in Environment Protection” in March 2001 by Environment Protection Administration, Minghang District, Shanghai.

Awarded several titles of “Credit Administration Enterprise” by Shanghai Customs House from 1997 to 1999, “A level Enterprise” from 2000 to 2001.

6. Awarded the title of “A Level Enterprise” by Foreign Exchange Administration in 1999 and 2000

7. Awarded the title of “Trust Enterprise” exempt from inspection by Shanghai Business Administration in 2002.

8. Awarded the title of “Shanghai Famous Brand” awarded by Shanghai Technology Administration in 2003

9. Awarded the title of “Enterprise of Advanced Technology” by Shanghai Foreign Investment Committee in 2003

10. “Double excellent enterprise in Exporting and Creating foreign exchanges” for successive years by Shanghai Foreign Investment Committee.