Corporate
Profile

[Company strength]
Japanese users are particular about quality, but the products of overseas (mainly Korean) manufacturers are low in quality. They have hardly entered the Japanese market at all. We have a history of manufacturing hinges that dates back more than 40 years. Our advantage is our capability to supply high-precision hinges with little play. Our technology and production capacity are high enough to satisfy various customer requests.  We can manufacture even single articles according to a request from the field. (Even housing complex doors with the same specifications have holes at slightly different positions depending on conditions like the era when they were made.) We also create in-house inspection machines to evaluate the durability of hinges and can satisfy customer requests for quality and reliability.

[Business description]
Our company processes metals, manufactures machines, and sells products incidental to our businesses. We used to be engaged in press working (iron and brass), but we are now a dedicated manufacturer of hinges. We supply mass-produced hinges, and also hinges for large doors and special uses that are not available from overseas manufacturers. Our company was the first in Japan to manufacture stainless steel hinges. We now focus on manufacturing and selling anti-earthquake hinges.

[Industry]
Metal processing

[Strength of products/technologies]
We can handle hinges for special purposes as a dedicated manufacturer of hinges. Our main products are now anti-earthquake hinges (which absorb the distortion of an entrance door in an earthquake so the people inside are not trapped due to a stuck door). We manufacture, sell, and install the hinges ourselves. We also excel at handling large hinges and can supply hinges for large doors (such as 5 m high, 2.5 m wide iron doors) at equipment delivery entrances.

[Representative's message]
Our main products are anti-earthquake hinges, which are now selling steadily for entrance doors at housing complexes. We will start to work on stimulating demand for the emergency doors of office buildings and factories, and to create new markets. We will also seek tie-up partners to activate exports to Southeast Asia, where there is great construction demand. This has become possible because of the recent depreciation of the yen.



[Company structure for market development/overseas expansion]
We conduct domestic Japanese transactions through Shibutani, Inc., which is a trading firm that handles architectural hardware. Our company is in charge of manufacturing, quality, maintenance, and engineering, including installation. We think it is necessary to reinforce our system if new customers increase in future. We are not considering establishing overseas manufacturing sites because of quality issues, but will consider developing overseas sales channels. Our priority is to reinforce our domestic Japanese system.

[Market share/Ranking]
We have a top-level market share among roughly 10 hinge manufacturing companies in the same line of business in Japan. We have the largest share of the market for anti-earthquake hinges.

[Awards and media coverage]
[Awards]
Osaka Prefectural Department of Commerce, Labor, and Industry, "100 Stories about Monozukuri SMEs." 

[Media]
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun.


[Authorization/Certification]
None.

[Joint research and development]
Anti-Earthquake Hinge (Japanese Patent No. 4028478) and Cleanroom Hinge (patented).

[Main Clients / Business History (domestic)]
Almetax Manufacturing Co., Ltd., BEST Incorporated, Higaki Honsha Co., Ltd., LIXIL Corporation, Maruki Hardware Corporation, Miwa Lock Co., Ltd., Nippon Aluminium Corporation, Noguchi Metal Industry Co., Ltd., Sanwa Shutter Corp., Shibutani, Inc., Sugita Ace Co., Ltd., Tachikawa Corporation, YAMAZAKI Corporation, YKK Corporation (in alphabetical order).

[Main Clients / Business History (overseas)]
Indirect deliveries (Indonesia, New Zealand, etc.).