The spirit of manufacturing symbolized by the “Quality is Vital” philosophy that was advocated by Yasuhiro Yashiro, the first president of Benda Kogyo, continues to live on in the Benda Group. At the Benda Kogyo Kurose Business Office, there is a large stone monument inscribed with the words “Quality is Vital”. This stone monument deepens our understanding of how these words have been cultivated and ensures that this philosophy will be passed on to future generations.
Benda Kogyo, which formed the basis for the Benda Group, was founded on September 5, 1964. At the time the company was founded, no technology existed for using a cold-bending method to bend steel. So we thought, “If that’s so …” and set about developing the techniques and equipment ourselves.
Kazuyoshi Yashiro, the founder and first chairman of Benda Kogyo, was an idea man with a strong spirit for trying new things. Patents received in 1973 and 1974 for the cold-bending processing of H-steels and steel pipes, and patents received in 9 countries in 1975 for the “method and apparatus for manufacturing metal ring material”, which became the basis for the Benda Method, were all conceived of and realized by Kazuyoshi Yashiro. The spirit of the Benda Group was born from the founding spirit of Kazuyoshi Yashiro, and nurtured by the lessons that he taught.
Our business started from the cold-bending processing of steel when 6 craftsman, including Kazuyoshi Yashiro, who laid the foundation for the Benda Group, shared the strong ambition, “We’ll bend the world’s iron!”
One of these 6 founding members, current Senior Advisor Koji Yashiro worked primarily on the development and improvement of manufacturing equipment and jigs. Koji was involved in the development of the Benda Method from the start, and knows better than anyone the importance of passing technology on to the next generation.
The origin of the Benda Kogyo company name comes from the verb “to bend”. Although our business started from the cold-bending processing of steel, we established the “Benda Method” of technology for manufacturing metal rings at a high yield while conserving resources, in step with the progress of motorization in Japan. The Benda logo was conceived by Yasuhiro Yashiro, our first president, based on the motif of a capital letter B. The straight line along the back of the B represents the rolled raw material. The two circles represent the technology used to bend this raw material into a closed circle or a nearly closed circle.
At Benda Kogyo, we believe that every effort we make is built upon a foundation of mutual respect for each individual. We hope to contribute to sustainable development of society through the healthy development and growth of our company.
In 1986, Benda Kogyo made its first overseas expansion in South Korea. The lifestyles, culture, and social climate is different overseas, and there are many instances in which the common sense that is natural to Japanese people does not apply. In some cases, we have suffered significant loss when a situation we take for granted is not accepted overseas. At these times, we should remember the words of our corporate founder, Kazuyoshi Yashiro: “In every situation, check, check, check again, and then check again, and check some more …” The Benda Kogyo action agenda of “Find out, make certain, commit yourself, take action, take responsibility”, based on the experiences of those who have spent time overcoming such difficulties while working overseas, is deeply ingrained in the mind of each group employee.
