NBK > ABOUT NBK > Corporate History
Corporate History
- 1560
- Started a foundry in Gifu.
- 1749
- Received license as "Foundry Craftsmen".
- 1940
- Established Nabeya Kogyo Kaisha(NBK).
- 1947
- Started production and sales of cast iron flat pulleys.
- 1948
- Introduced cast iron split pulleys.
- 1950
- Set manufacturer's standards for V pulleys and started production and sales.
- 1957
- Set manufacturer's standards for cast iron handwheels.
- 1963
- Introduced flexible flanged shaft couplings.
- 1967
- Introduced JIS standard V pulleys.
- 1971
- Introduced Wedge® pulleys.
- 1974
- Completed Seki Garden Factory's first phase construction.
- 1979
- Established Van Pulley Ltd. with Kanemitsu Corp. for Vankin® pulleys.
- 1980
- Began affiliation with Lanker & Co. AG(Switzerland) for the M&M product line.
- Began affiliation with China Metallurgical Import Export Corporation(China) for V pulleys.
- 1982
- Introduced Isomec® bushings and Isomec® SP pulleys.
- 1983
- Introduced Isomec® synchronous pulleys and Isomec® Poly-Drive pulleys.
- Opened Tokyo sales office.
- 1984
- Established NBK Power Transmission Research Center in honor of Mr. Tomokichi Okamoto.
- 1985
- Developed computer software for pulley selection.
- Opened Osaka sales office.
- 1986
- Obtained licensing agreement with TB Wood's Incorporated (U.S.A.) for flexible shaft couplings.
- Introduced Sure-Flex® couplings.
- 1987
- Began affiliation with Otto Ganter GmbH & Co. KG(Germany) for the M&M product line.
- Introduced Couplicon® miniature couplings and Clamp-Lock® bushings.
- Completed the first phase of computerizing Kakamigahara Foundry.
- Opened Nagoya sales office.
- Acquired licensing agreement with Leggett & Platt Inc. (U.S.A.) for flexible shaft couplings.
- 1988
- Started production of cast aluminum products.
- Presented the Good Design Product award by MITI for the Couplicon® MST miniature coupling.
- 1989
- Introduced Isomec® sprockets.
- 1990
- Introduced Isomec® flat pulleys.
- Began affiliation with Gamm s.r.l.(Italy) for the M&M product line.
- 1991
- Presented the "iF" Design Prize for the Couplicon® MST miniature coupling, chosen as
One of "The Top Ten of the Year-1991" by Industrie Forum Design Hannover.
- Presented the Good Design Product award by MITI for the M&M Dimple Knob, Plastic Clamp Lever and Couplicon® MOL miniature coupling.
- 1992
- Completed construction of Seki Garden Factory's office building and auditorium.
- Began affiliation with Southco, Inc.(U.S.A.) for Access Hardware product line.
- Began affiliation with Rogan Corp.(U.S.A.) for the M&M product line.
- Began affiliation with Atoms Monaco(France) for the M&M product line.
- 1993
- Presented the "iF" Design Prize by the Industrie Forum Design Hannover for the Couplicon® MOL, MHW, and MHS miniature couplings.
- Presented with the "Best Office in Japan" award by Nikkei News and MITI.
- 1994
- Presented with the Good Design Facility award by MITI and honored by the President of the Japan Greenery Research and Development Center for the Seki Garden Factory.
- Presented the Medium and Small Business Research Institute Award.
- 1995
- Began affiliation with Superbolt, Inc. (U.S.A.) for Superbolt product line.
- Introduced the Superbolt product line.
- Taichi Okamoto, President and CEO, awarded "Persons of distinguished services to the promotion of science and technology" by the Science and Technology Agency.
- Established Aluminum Foundry in the Kakamigahara Industrial Park.
- 1996
- Established PT. Himalaya Nabeya Indonesia as a joint venture.
- 1997
- Completed construction of the MEME Center and the "Genki-Tei" exercise facility at the Seki Garden Factory.
- Completed construction of a machining shop for development and production of NBK machinery at the Seki Garden Factory.
- 1998
- Awarded the 1998 "Chubu Architecture Prize" for the MEME Center and the "Genki-Tei."
- 2000
- Introduced "e-nedzi.com®".
- Acquired certifications of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for all the sites and activities at the same time.
- 2001
- Changed the company name to Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha.
- Concluded licensing agreement with Lovejoy Inc,(U.S.A.) for flexible shaft couplings.
- Introduced JawMax® couplings.
- 2002
- Concluded licensing agreement with Jaure, S.A. (Spain) for flexible shaft couplings.
- Introduced ServoMax® couplings.
- Introduced grooved pulley for round belts couplings.
- Presented the Good Design Product award for the ServoMax® MSMA coupling.
- Affiliated with Zimmer GmbH (Germany) for Linear Guide Way Clamper.
- 2003
- Introduced LinearClamper-Zee.
- 2004
- Acquired OHSAS 18001.
- Commenced the operarion of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 as integrated management system.
- Completed temperature and humidity controlled Bi-tech Plant for ultra-precise machining. A Class 10 clean room included in Bi-tech Plant.
- 2005
- Completed Positive Air Pressure Place designed to support the logistics of our high frequency, micro-scale, and same-day shipment.
- Introduced PowerStop.
- Received "The 1st Japan Craftsmanship Award" by Prime Minister for micro-scale production of diversified V-pulleys.
- 2006
- Selected as one of the 300 best small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan in 2006.
- Received the 2005 "Design Excellent Company Award" for Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha(Company) and Taichi Okamoto(President&CEO).
- Opened Gifu Collection of Modern Arts(Gi-Co-Ma) at Seki Garden Factory.
- 2007
- Changed the address to "1, Toko-Taichi, Seki City, Gifu 501-3939"
- Affiliated with MISATI(Spain) for PowerClamper.
- Introduced UDEX series, accessory parts with universal designs for human-friendly manufacturing.
- Presented the 2007 "Good Design Award" for the Couplicon® limX series shaft couplings.
- Presented the 2007 "Long Life Design Award" for the Couplicon® MST,MOL shaft couplings, Plastic Clamp Lever LEM, and Dimple Knob KDM, KLM, KRM.
