Events

Yamazen 75th Anniversary (Part 1) - Company History:

January 27, 2022

In this year 2022, Yamazen Corporation Japan celebrates its 75th anniversary. We will take this opportunity within the coming months to present you more about the history of Yamazen corporation; its beginnings, progress and present state, as well as the evolution of its business and philosophy.

Post-war beginnings:

In the year 1943, Takeo Yamamoto, a young man from Fukui province, starts an industrial tooling business in the city of Osaka after spending 8 years as an apprentice, at the young age of 22. However, the following year he was called up to serve in World War II on the Okinawa front. At the end of the war he spent time as a prisoner until he returned home in late 1946.

In 1947, Yamamoto starts "Yamazen Tool Manufacturing and Sales Co." -山善工具製販株式会社-, in the city of Fukui, although he later moved to Osaka, and although the sale of tools and cutting machines was mentioned in the company name, reality was that shovels and hammers were more necessary for Osaka and Japa's general reconstruction, therefore the marketing of these products was the initial part of the business. This is how the Yamazen we know today began.

Name change and listing on the Osaka Stock Exchange:

In April 1955, the name of the company was changed to ““Yamazen Machinery and Equipment Corporation” -山善機械器具株式会社- and the machinery division was established. The company tries to expand the range of its products from cutting tools through industrial equipment and construction equipment, starting the path that will lead it to become a wholesale distributor, and a reflection of its new identity.

Upon the company's 10th anniversary, Yamazen has become one of the 5 largest machine tool distribution companies. In addition to this, Yamazen has expanded its reach with new offices, a new organizational structure, and a broader product line. For its 15th anniversary, in 1962, Yamazen was listed on the Osaka Stock Exchange, and the following year, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Operation and overseas market expansion:

In 1965 Yamazen fully enters the domestic market with the sale of equipment such as heaters, air conditioners and kitchen sinks through a new division "Domestic Housing Equipment", which would become the "Construction Materials Division". In addition, Yamazen began to observe the potential of the market in the United States and Canada, so it decided to open an office in Chicago in April 1963, which became a subsidiary in 1967, an then becoming the basis for Yamazen's expansion to foreign countries. It is also within this decade that the division of Overseas Department is established.

Listing on the first list of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and change of name:

As a result of the aggressive corporate expansion from the 1960s, by 1970 Yamazen was listed on the first section of the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges, and the decision was made to change the name to “Yamazen Corporation” to better reflect the diversification. of products and businesses offered, especially within the domestic department with new propositions in medical and housing products, as well as venturing into real estate and construction in the growing Japanese domestic environment. Unfortunately, during the oil crisis of 1976, Japan entered a severe recession that forced Yamazen out of the real estate market and a drastic reorganization that allowed it to invest more in the domestic local market and the implementation of its "Domestic Products Department" in 1978.

International consolidation and expansion:

By the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s, Yamazen implements a growth plan that includes the restructure of its commercial area, which begins its international expansion with the European Operations office in Germany in 1978, along with a new visual identity, creating the company's current logo in April 1991. In the 90's, around the company's 50th anniversary, the company's management philosophy is also updated. It is also in this decade of international consolidation with the opening of offices in Thailand (1989), Malaysia and Singapore (1990), Taiwan (1991), India (1996), Hong Kong (1997) and Korea (1999). It is also in this decade, in 1991 that the founder, Takeo Yamamoto, passed away.

XXI Century Yamazen:

Yamazen begins to use information technologies to expand its business capabilities, and in 2006 establishes PROCUEbyNET Corporation in a joint venture with NICHIDEN, as an online site for transactions and support between companies within the production equipment sector. This site allows for a single point of purchase for a wide variety of products for commercial companies. It is estimated that they handle the largest number of products within Japan, around 7.7 million. It also begins to promote environmentally friendly technologies through its "Green Ball Project" in 2008. During this decade, offices in Shanghai (2002), Indonesia (2004), Shenzhen (2005) and Vietnam (2010) are opened.

For the second decade (2010 ~ 2020) Yamazen starts operations in the Philippines (2011) and Mexico (2013). In addition, domestic subsidiary companies such as Yamazen Create (1992), Yamazen Logistics (1993), Travel Topia, Japan Logistics Newspaper, Ogaki Kiko (2005 - machinery repair), Toho Industrial (2017 - industrial automation), Ishahara Giken are consolidated. (2019 - engineering and planning for businesses).

Currently, Yamazen Corporation encompasses a wide variety of offers, although its main business is still the commercialization of industrial products, machine tools, construction products and household products, with a direct presence in 15 countries and more than 3,000 direct employees worldwide. world.

This year we will have events related to Yamazen's 75th anniversary, so we invite you to sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with our announcements.

Finally, we want to thank you for sharing this effort with us and we hope to continue helping you in your processes and business.

On behalf of the entire Yamazen team worldwide: Thank you very much!

-Author: Gerardo Pérez Plascencia-