13 Facts About Young Chang

Young Chang is among the largest and most automated of the world's piano manufacturers.

Young Chang had four manufacturing facilities as of 1999, three producing pianos and the fourth a sawmill producing wood for export from the United States.

Young Chang maintained a research and development facility in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Young Chang reported sales in the United States, China, Canada, Korea and the European Union under its own brand.

Young Chang produced pianos for Nakamichi of Hamamatsu, Japan until 1998; the units were modified by Nakamichi before export to the United States.

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Young Chang was founded in 1956 as a distributor of Yamaha pianos for Korea and other parts of Asia.

Young Chang was founded by three brothers, Jai-Young Kim, Jai-Chang Kim and Jai-Sup Kim, as South Korea emerged as a major economy and producer of high quality goods.

Young Chang subsequently sold this subsidiary to Samsung America in 1987.

In 1988, Young Chang established a foundry for production of piano plates in Tianjin, China, to supplement production of this key component, produced in Korea.

In 1990, Young Chang purchased Kurzweil Music Systems, a maker of high end electronic and digital musical instruments.

In 1991, Young Chang invested to establish a subsidiary in Tacoma, Washington, Young Chang Timber, to cut and process North American spruce and maple for export to its Asian manufacturing sites.

The Chinese facility allowed Young Chang to start serving the low-end markets, part of a long-term strategy involving shifting production from Korea to China.

Young Chang has more than 2,000 full-time workers, designing and building its upright and grand pianos, and the electronic Kurzweil Music Systems.