What kind of company is Fujita Kinzoku?

Fujita Kinzoku Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells kitchenware, mainly pots and pans. Initially, the company only made tea kettles and dishes for school lunches, but a little over 40 years ago the company started manufacturing frying pans. In a single year, the company manufactures and ships out an impressive number of 210,000 products, from iron frying pans to pans with a coated finish, from shallow to deep, to meet the needs of the trends.

What is so impressive about Fujita Kinzoku?

① A rare metalworking company that follows every step, from casting the metal to the finishing touches.
Fujita Kinzoku Co., Ltd. creates 210,000 products of over 800 types in a single year. They are able to produce this many, and so many types of products, because they make their own metal casting. Fujita is also equipped with their own pressing machine, a “spinning machine” that turns and stretches metal, and a coating machine. This makes it possible to manufacture products all in one place. This also gives them the control to manufacture custom products meet specific needs and keep prices low.

*The analog metal cast molding machine that only the father of the Fujita family can use.

② A family-run business in a relaxed atmosphere that gives form to ideas quickly
“We don’t have meetings, because casual family conversations turns into a brainstorming session,” says Managing Director Fujita. Managing Director Fujita, the eldest son, works in sales and generating ideas. His father is the traditional craftsman, while his two younger brothers give shape to the products and makes them come to life. In the market saturated with cheap products from abroad, they maintain a relaxed atmosphere that can only be found in a family business, challenging themselves to create new products and increase the value of their products through planning and marketing.

Techniques and Technology

① Fujita Kinzoku can create their own new metal molds.
② Fujita Kinzoku can use their in-house “spinning” technology to manufacture the frying pan (One of only three companies in Japan)
③ Fujita Kinzoku wons a 150-ton press machine that allows them to create deep crevices in the metal

Things Fujita Kinzoku is not equipped for

① Manufacturing oddly shaped metals such as ovals
② Adding special finishes, such as adding cracks

Main products we make

Frying pan
Fujita Kinzoku manufactures pans of all types with different sizes, depths, and designs, from iron frying pans to frying pans with a coated finish. Many oans are made by pressing the metal into the shape with the press machine, but Fujita Kinzoku Co., Ltd. is one of very few companies that can make frying pans by “spinning.” Because the metal is stretched and shaped with centrifugal force, the product becomes lighter than those that were pressed. A popular product is “Jiu,” an iron frying pan which are finished with a hard tempered finish which does not require oil seasoning and and a wooden handle which can be removed for the pan so that it can be used as a plate.

Inner workings of the factory

①Create the cast for the frying pan by pressing a metal plate and stretching it

A metal plate cut into a circle is shaped into a frying pan by using the press or spin method. The company makes various metal casts, in various diameters and depths.”Because you can always infinite products once you have made the cast, we just keep making more,” says Fujita. In response to requests from other companies, Fujita Kinzoku can also handle customized frying pans and handles as a semi-order.

Hard tempered finish to meet the needs of consumers.

While iron frying pans are becoming popular recently, the main issue with them is that you have to “season” the frying pan by heating oil at a high temperature when you purchase it. Fujita Kinzoku Co., Ltd. stood in the consumer’s shoes and created an iron frying pan with a hard tempered finish. This is rarely done in other companies, as it requires a tremendous amount of work produce. Hard tempered finish is a film on the surface created by baking the iron frying pan at a high temperature and blending the oil into the film, so that the customer could use the frying pan without having to season it.

The love from the maker

Because we can make our own casts, we can keep making new products. One time we made so much that we oversupplied, isn’t that funny? It was never an easy ride, but what kept us getting through hard times is that all employees pitched their ideas, and we used those ideas to solve the problem. This can only really be done in a small factory.

We developed products such as the “Frying Pan Story,” with customizable pans materials for the handles with over 800 possible types of combinations, and the frying pan “Jiu” which can transform into plate, from our collaboration with the design company TENT. This has caught the attention of both corporate and individual clients, from Japan and from overseas.

Because a frying pan is such an essential everyday item for your kitchen, usability is a must. We create new products everyday while envisioning the end user, imagining things like how the pans will be incorporated in their kitchen and how they could cook the best food with this pan.

Because we specialize in kitchen products, we are an expert on creating a market in the niche of household objects. We’re starting to export to Europe, the US, and other countries in Asia. Because we were able to create hit products with the “Frying Pan Story” and “Jiu,” we are looking forward to YAOYA PROJECT becoming our third hit product. I’m looking forward to working with our limitations to come up with a new idea.

Official HP：http://www.fujita-kinzoku.jp/
　　　     　  https://frying-pan.jp/_

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About the YAOYA PROJECT

https://awrd.com/award/yaoya-project