Earning trust through our bending expertise that expresses beauty in metal
Founded in 1990, Gendai Kogyo has been engaged in sheet‑metal processing for 35 years, primarily manufacturing architectural hardware. Within this field, signage and display products form the company’s core offerings. Its client base consists of approximately 130 firms, including design offices and house builders, with about 50 of them being active customers.
Notably, around 80% of these clients are located within 5‑kilometre radius of the company’s factory in Ikuno Ward, Osaka City. This advantageous geographical concentration has helped foster strong and lasting customer relationships. Renowned for its technical expertise in metal cutting and bending processes, the company plays a vital role in supporting local manufacturing.
The company’s strength lies in its ability to fully utilise equipment such as laser cutting machines and multiple bending machines, enabling it to handle all sheet‑metal processing—from design through cutting, bending, and finishing—under one roof, with the exception of welding. It is particularly proficient in high‑precision bending. Even at the early development stages when no drawings are available, the company proposes shapes and provides VA/VE suggestions, understanding the intentions of architects and designers who seek to express beauty through metalworking. “Bringing design to life” is the company’s motto.
A prime example of its capabilities is the “R‑Closing Bend.” In 2021, the company received the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award for this piece at the Excellent Sheet Metal Product Skills Fair hosted by the Amada School, operated by the major sheet‑metal processing machinery manufacturer Amada. Crafted solely through bending from a single sheet, the work exemplifies the company’s exceptional technical prowess in expressing beauty through metal. The company is also focusing on nurturing young employees and passing on technical skills, successfully fostering greater autonomy and motivation among its staff.
Creating beauty from metal through bending alone — without a single weld.
A work that symbolises the certainty of this technical prowess is the sheet‑metal model of the “Grand Roof Ring,” the emblem of the 2025 Osaka‑Kansai Expo. The model, measuring 2 metres in diameter and approximately 1/300 scale, was produced entirely by the company’s employees using bending techniques alone. It was displayed at the Expo site to showcase the company’s outstanding technical capabilities.
In 2024, the company unveiled the “Triple R Closing Bend,” an even more complex technique than the “R Closing Bend,” which went on to win the Grand Prix in the Single Product category at the Excellent Sheet Metal Products Skills Fair.
The company harboured a desire to elevate the craftsmanship nurtured in Ikuno Ward, Osaka—a region renowned for its thriving manufacturing sector—to the next stage. This aspiration led to the launch of its own brand, EXTLINE.
Conceived around the concept of pursuing designs that are simple yet commanding in presence, the brand merges the bending techniques honed over many years with the inherent beauty of stainless steel. After repeated prototyping and verification, the brand’s first product, the “Dust Bin,” was completed in December 2025, and sales began shortly thereafter.
According to Managing Executive Director Lee Yang‑hee, the goal is to “raise the proportion of our own products to around 10%,” and the company is actively promoting the brand through exhibitions and other outreach efforts.