Have you ever imagined a life without the invention of a zipper? No zipper on those jeans, not on your bag, nor on the back of your dress; although people doesn't seem to pay great attention to their zipper, life would be so different without one in it. Now imagine, you have a trouser. The main ingredient of the trouser is of course the cloth wrapping your legs, not the small zipper fastening it to your belly. But what if, that small zipper got stuck? The rest of the trouser wouldn't be useful just because that stuck zipper. That's an example how a small thing such as a zipper, if not manufactured properly, could be troublesome sometimes.
Now, have you ever looked really closely to your zipper? Probably not. But if you do, there's probably a 50% chance that yours has a "YKK" written on it, meaning that it was manufactured by YKK as a zipper manufacturing company dominating about half of the global zipper industry.
Japan Academia Club (JAC) Indonesia, was given an opportunity to visit the factory of PT. YKK Zipper Indonesia, which is located in Cimanggis, Depok, West Java, Indonesia on the Thursday, 9th of August 2018. Founded in Japan, 1934, by Tadao Yoshida, YKK (Yoshida Kougyo Kabushiki) Corporation now operates in 71 countries and regions. In Indonesia itself the YKK Fastening Indonesia Group was established in 1972 and has been operating for more than 30 years ever since.
PT. YKK Zipper Indonesia has its headquarter in Jakarta and two factories in Depok, which we visited, and Bekasi. The factory we visited in Depok is focusing on the production of zipper and buttons - other than various products they manufactured there, while in Bekasi they focus on the materials for which is made to manufacture products in Depok factory.
We were welcomed warmly by the staffs and lead into a session called Fastening Experience where we could experience the world of fastening and zippers. We learned the kinds of zippers and how a good zipper could be a key factor to producing various things; a fire-resistant zipper is important to manufacturing firefighters' suits and an airtight zipper can send a man to the moon.
Neil Armstrong, the one who took "one giant leap for mankind" had his suit zipped with the airtight zipper manufactured by YKK back in 1969. This proves how important the quality of a zipper can be - without a good quality airtight zipper, it would be difficult to reach the space, moreover landing on the moon.
We witnessed the production of YKK's famous zippers inside the factory. Broadly speaking, the products undergoes four phases of production before finishing; die-casting (metal casting process), assembly, plating, and dyeing. This process lasts for about two weeks, operating 24 hours to maintain the quality before finishing, and producing as much as one billion zippers every time. Throughout the whole production every product is supervised carefully in a controlled environment and temperature non-stop to maintain high-quality products.
As mentioned earlier, YKK has been spreading to 71 countries and regions all around the globe. This is what Mr Rong Ji, Supervisor Accounting of PT YKK Zipper Indonesia Factory Depok, explained as "A Global Company". This is also the result of the vast continuing process called globalization. Not only that YKK became a global company, YKK also takes part on contributing to the global society. It connects people from various countries by allowing them to contribute as a part of the company. Mr. Rong Ji himself started his carrier in a YKK branch in China, but as a global company, YKK allowed Mr. Rong Ji to also contribute in Japan, and now in Indonesia. This means YKK opens an equal opportunity to the people around the world to join them and improve oneself as a citizen of the global society.
“No one prospers unless he renders benefits to others”
Above is the business philosophy, the basic principle, of YKK companies around the world. In other words, the existence of someone, or something, needs to be beneficial for the surrounding. YKK as an enterprise is also functioning as an important member of society, it coexists with the society, and its value is recognized based on the benefits its shares with society. No matter how small it is, as small as a zipper, or how massive it is, it only prospers if it brings benefits to others. Now that's a lesson learned from a zipper.
