KYB Corporation

KYB is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of shock absorbers and one of the world’s largest suppliers of OE shock absorbers to vehicle manufacturers. 
For almost a century KYB has specialized in hydraulics, with technology widely used in the motorcycle, aeronautical, rail and maritime industries. KYB is Japans leading hydraulics company. From its 15 factories in Asia, Europe and the United States, over 1 million KYB shock absorbers are manufactured every week and has an annual production capacity of more than 75 million shock absorbers. KYB has the largest shock absorber factory in the world (in Gifu, Japan), with a capacity of over 50 million pieces. It is highly automated and can change from producing one strut to another in 15 seconds


From 1919 to 1980

November 1919 Kayaba Research Center was founded by Shiro Kayaba.
January 1927 Kayaba Seisakusho was established for manufacturing of hydraulic dampers, catapults, etc. for aircraft.
March 1935 Kayaba Manufacturing Co., Ltd., was established.
July 1943 Gifu works (presently Gifu South Plant) was established.
November 1948 Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd., was established (based on the Corporate Reconstruction and Reorganization Act).
June 1956 Kayaba Auto Service Co., Ltd. (presently KYB Engineering and Service Co., Ltd.), was established.
March 1958 Nihon Koki Co., Ltd., was established for engineering and sales of mining equipment.
October 1959 Company’s stocks were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
March 1961 Urawa special purpose vehicle works was established.
April 1968 Gifu North Branch Plant (presently Gifu North Plant) was established.
June 1970 Capital participation in Yung Hwa Machinery Industrial Co., Ltd., in Taiwan.
January 1971 Kumagaya Plant was established.
May 1971 Miye Plant was established.
July 1974 Sales subsidiary was established in the United States
May 1975 Sagami Plant was established.
February 1976 Shock absorber production joint venture was established in Indonesia.
September 1977 Nippon Power Steering Co., Ltd., was established.
November 1980 Deming Application Prize was awarded for TQC activities.

 

From 1981 to 1999

June 1983 Shock absorber manufacturer in Spain was jointly acquired.
August 1983 Shock absorber production manufacturing joint venture was established in Malaysia.
September 1984 MacGregor-Kayaba, Ltd. was established as a joint venture for engineering and sales of marine equipment.
October 1985 Company name “KYB” in Japanese changed from kanji (Chinese characters) to katakana (Japanese Characters).
November 1986 Shock absorber manufacturing subsidiary was established in the United States.
June 1989 Sales subsidiary was established in Germany.
January 1996 Shock absorber manufacturing jointly venture was established in Thailand.
June 1996 Joint venture was established in Spain for manufacture of hydraulic components for automobiles.
October 1996 Joint venture was established in Thailand for manufacture of hydraulic components for automobiles.
October 1996 TPM Special Award was granted to four plants, including Gifu North Plant. The same award was granted to Urawa Plant in October 1997.
October 1997 Gifu South (Motorcycle Parts) Plant obtained ISO 9001 certification; All other plants obtained the same certification by March 1998.
June 1999 Cadac Co., Ltd., became a subsidiary and changed its name to KYB-CADAC Co., Ltd.

From 2000 to 2005

February 2000 Gifu South Plant obtained ISO 14001 certification; All other plants received the same certification by February 2001.
March 2000 Gifu North Plant obtained QS 9000 certification.
October 2001 Shock absorber manufacturing subsidiary in the United States became a wholly owned subsidiary.
October 2002 Motorcycle shock absorber manufacturing subsidiary was established in Vietnam.
December 2002 Automobile shock absorber manufacturing subsidiary was established in China.
August 2003 Automobile shock absorber manufacturing subsidiary was established in Czech
September 2003 Urawa plant was closed and operations were merged into the Sagami plant.
February 2004 Industrial-use hydraulic equipment manufacturing subsidiary was established in China.
June 2004 Stock acquisition in KYB Trondule Co., Ltd., which became a subsidiary.
July 2004 Systems Products segment split from the company, and succeeded to Nihon Koki Co., Ltd. Merged with Kayaba Rae Stage Co., Ltd., and new company Kayaba System Machinery Co., Ltd. was established.
November 2004 Sales office is established in China
December 2004 Sales office is established in Mexico
February 2005 Sales office is established in Thailand
March 2005 New management principles and vision is established.
June 2005 Sales office is established in Dubai-UAE
October 2005 “KYB” was assumed to be an alias name of the Company.

 

From 2006 to 2016

October 2006 Stock acquisition in Takako Industries, Inc., which became a subsidiary.
June 2008 Established　Gifu　East　Plant.
August 2008 Joint ventures for manufacturing and sales of railroad equipment and motorcycle suspensions established in China.
October 2008 Automobile shock absorber manufacturing and sales company established
December 2009 European Regional Headquarters established in Germany
December 2010 Regional Headquarters established in China
January 2011 Aftermarket hydraulic shock absorbers sales company established in Panama.
April 2011 Yanagisawa Seiki MFG CO., LTD., became a wholly owned subsidiary. Trade name changed to KYB-YS CO., LTD.
May 2011 Brazilian local subsidiary made a joint venture company with Mando Corporation of Korea in order to expand operations in South America.
July 2011 Operations started at Developmental Experiment Center, an exclusive test tracks for automobile and motorcycle components.
October 2011 American subsidiary and indirectly owned subsidiary merged. Trade name changed to KYB Americas Corporation.
October 2011 Machine Tools Center established in Japan
April 2012 Electronics Technology Center established in Japan
April 2012 KYB Europe Headquarters B.V. established in the Netherlands
July 2012 Aftermarket sales company established in Russia
October 2012 Hydraulic components manufacturing and sales company established in Mexico
December 2012 Motorcycle hydraulic oil damper manufacturing and sales company established in India
January 2013 Joint venture aftermarket automotive suspension spring manufacturing and sales company established in the Czech Republic
May 2013 Acquired shares in a concrete construction equipment maker in India and established subsidy
October 2013 Hydraulic component manufacturing and sales company established in Indonesia
October 2013 Established KYB Motorcycle Suspension Co., Ltd., for the manufacture and sale of motorcycle hydraulic shock absorbers
December 2013 Aftermarket sales company established in Brazil
September 2014 Established Chennai Sales Office in India
June 2015 KYB Advanced Manufacturing Spain, S.A.U., an automobile shock absorber manufacturing and sales company in Spain, became a wholly owned subsidiary.
October 2015 The trade name was changed to KYB Corporation.
January 2016 Established Aircraft Components Division, independent from HC Operations.
April 2016 KYB-CADAC Co., Ltd. merged with KYB-YS Co., Ltd.
April 2016 KYB Hydraulics Industry (Zhenjiang) Ltd. merged with KYB Industrial Machinery (Zhenjiang) Ltd.
April 2016 KK Hydraulics Sales (Shanghai) Ltd. merged with KYB Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
April 2017 KYB Asia Co., Ltd. merge with KYB Technical Center(Thailand) Co., Ltd., and established KYB Asian Pacific Corp.Ltd.

KYB began as Kayaba Research Center, founded in Japan on November 19, 1919 by Shiro Kayaba. Having established itself in the manufacture of hydraulic dampers, the company became known as Kayaba Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in 1935. The company grew steadily, and in 1959, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

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