Nifco's history | About Us

Nifco was founded in 1967 in order to manufacture and sell plastic fasteners for industrial purposes.
The current name NIFCO is the acronym of the original company name, "Nippon Industrial Fastener Corporation".
Plastic fasteners, which play the role of connecting, bundling, and tying, contribute greatly to labor saving and cost reduction in production processes, are eventually being installed in many automobiles with the development of the automotive industry.
Today, Nifco continues to deliver to manufacturers not only plastic fasteners but also various products that utilize the merits of plastic being rust-free, light, and easy-to-handle.

1967

February: Nippon Industrial Fastener Corporation(renamed to Nifco Inc. in December 1970) was co-founded by Nichiei Bussan Co., Ltd. (holding 60% stocks) and ITW (holding 40% stocks) with a starting capital of 48 million yen.

Nifco's first product, Plasti Rivet

1970

December: Renamed Nippon Industrial Fastener Corporation to Nifco Inc.

1972

February: Entered into a technical assistance contract with General Motors.
October: Entered into a technical assistance contract with Chrysler.
November: Entered into a technical assistance contract with Ford Motor Company.

From our PR film "Litte Giants" in 1975.

1977

October: Merged with Nichiei Bussan Co., Ltd. Company name changed to Nifco Inc. with a capital of 1 billion yen.

Nifco's booth in the 1978 Electronics Show

Nifco won the 10th Plastics Award in 1978.

1979

July: Nifco was listed in the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Increased capital to 1.18 billion yen.

1983

May: Co-founded Nifco Taiwan Corporation in Taiwan.

Nifco's first overseas venture, Nifco Taiwan Corporation

1984

March: Nifco was listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Head office established in Totsuka, Yokohama in 1984 (current head office is located in Yokosuka).

1985

January: Co-founded Korea Industrial Fastener Corporation (current Nifco Korea Inc.) in Korea.
August: Nifco was listed in the First Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange.

Nifco's second overseas venture founded in South Korea.

1986

November: Co-founded ITW-Nifco Inc. with ITW in Ohio U.S.A.

Expanded into the U.S.A. with ITW-Nifco in 1986.

1987

July: Founded Nifco (HK) Ltd. in Hong Kong.

1988

June: Nifco was listed in the First Section of the Nagoya Stock Exchange.
November: Co-founded Union Nifco Co., Ltd. in Bangkok Thai.

1990

February: Co-founded JT Nifco Inc. (current Nifco-Yamagata Inc.) with Japan Tobacco Inc. in Yamagata Prefecture.
July: Acquired Elta Plastics Ltd. (current Nifco U.K. Ltd.) in England.
October: Co-founded Nifco (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (current Nifco Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.) in Malaysia.

Made first venture into Europe with Elta Plastics Ltd. in the U.K.

The Tokyo headquarters was established in the Minato ward of Tokyo in the Japan Times-Nifco Building in 1990. (current Tokyo headquarters is located in Mita Bellju Building.)

1991

March: Increased capital to 7.2 billion yen.
December: Co-founded Kyushu JT Nifco Inc. (current Nifco Kumamoto Inc.) with Japan Tobacco Inc. in Kumamoto Prefecture.

1996

March: Founded Shanghai Nifco Plastic Manufacturer Co., Ltd. in Shanghai China.
April: Founded Nifco U.S. Corporation (current Nifco America Corporation) in Ohio U.S.A.
July: Acquired stocks of Simmons Co., Ltd. and Simmons Bedding & Furniture (HK) Ltd., and made them subsidiaries.

The luxurious bed manufacturer “Simmons” is a Nifco Group company.

1997

December: Acquired stocks of the joint venture ITW-Nifco Inc. and merged it into Nifco U.S. Corporation (current Nifco America Corporation).

1998

July: Obtained the International Standard Certification for quality management systems "ISO 9001" at the Sagamihara Office (current Sagamihara Engineering Center), Nagoya Office (current Nagoya Plant), Utsunomiya Office, and Osaka Office simultaneously.

Nifco achieved the ISO 9001 certificate in 1998.

2001

April: Founded Nifco Plastics Ltd. as a subsidiary and acquired four companies under the Acriplas Group (current Nifco Products Espana S.L.U.) in Spain.
November: Founded Tifco (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. in Dongguan City, Guangdong China.

2002

February: Founded Dongguan Nifco Co., Ltd. in Dongguan City, Guangdong China.
June: Acquired more stocks of the joint venture Nifco Taiwan Corporation in Taiwan and made it a subsidiary.
July: Founded Nifco Thailand Co., Ltd. in Chonburi Thailand.

Founded Tifco (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. in Donnguan, China.

2003

March: Delisted itself from the Osaka Securities Exchange and Nagoya Stock Exchange.

2004

November: Founded Beijing Nifco Co., Ltd. in Tongzhou District, Beijing China.

2005

January: Founded Kifco Vietnam Ltd. (current Nifco Vietnam Ltd.) in Vietnam.
March: Acquired additional stocks of affiliated companies JT Nifco Inc. and Kyushu JT Nifco Inc. and made them subsidiaries.

Advertisement in The Japan Times when Nifco exhibited its products in the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show

2006

February: Founded Nifco Poland Sp.z o.o in Swidnica Poland.

Nifco was presented with the Intellectual Property Achievement Award in 2006.

2007

March: Founded Nifco North America Inc. in Kentucky U.S.A.
June: Founded Nifco Deutschland GmbH in Germany.

2008

April: Renamed JT Nifco Inc. to Nifco Yamagata Inc., and Kyushu JT Nifco Inc. to Nifco Kumamoto Inc.
September: Acquired additional stocks in Union Nifco Co., Ltd. and made it our subsidiary.
October: Founded Nifco Korea USA in Alabama U.S.A.

2009

April: Nifco America Corporation absorbed Nifco North America Inc.

2010

January: Founded Nifco (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in Tianjin China.
June: Founded Nifco India Private Ltd. in Gurgaon India.
July: Founded Nifco South India Manufacturing Private Ltd. in Chennai India.
November: Founded Nifco (Hubei) Co., Ltd. in Ezhou City, Hubei China.
December: Founded Nifco Korea Poland Sp.z o.o in Zory Poland.

Founded Nifco India Private Ltd. in Gurgaon, India.

2011

January: Founded Nifco (Jiang Su) Co., Ltd. in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu China.
May: Founded PT. Nifco Indonesia in Indonesia.
June: Founded Nifco Yancheng Co., Ltd. in Yancheng City, Jiangsu China.

2012

July: Founded Nifco Central Mexico, S.de R.L.de C.V. in Mexico.

2013

March: Built the Nifco Technology Development Center (NTEC) in Yokosuka, Kanagawa.
April: Acquired the KTS Group in Germany.

Nifco Technology Development Center won the 27th New Office Award.

2014

January: Nifco Deutschland GmbH absorbed KTS GmbH and changed its name to Nifco KTS GmbH.
May: Acquired the KTW Group in Germany.
December: Nifco Germany GmbH absorbed KTW GmbH and changed its name to Nifco KTW GmbH.

2015

January: Moved head office to Yosukuka, Kanagawa.
April: Founded Nifco KTW America Corporation in Georgia U.S.A.
September: Founded Nifco (Chongqing) Limited Liability Company in Chongqing China.

Moved the head office to Yokosuka from 2015.

Opening ceremony at Nifco KTW America Corp.

2016

August: Constructed an explosion-proof tower and laboratory tower in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Area near the Yokosuka head office.
(Left: NTEC; Center: Explosion-proof building and laboratory building; Right: Head office)

©Shigeo Ogawa

2017

February: 50th anniversary.
March: Turned Nifco-Yamagata Inc. and Nifco-Kumamoto Inc. into wholly-owned subsidiaries.

2018

April: 51st year of business since our founding. We are determined to Surprise and delight customers like never before. As such, we have renewed our corporate philosophy, logo, and slogan.
August: Built the Nagoya Technology Development Building in Toyota, Aichi.
December: Founded Nifco-Kita Kanto Inc. in Tochigi Prefecture.

Image of new logo and slogan

The Nagoya Technology Development Building is one of two R&D sites in Japan; the other is NTEC in Yokosuka.

2019

July: Nifco KTW GmbH Absorbed Nifco KTS GmbH and changed its name to Nifco Germany GmbH.