About
JKJ
Since 1996, we have been working as a family on a fundamental dream, that of turning every barrier into a new achievement, every architectural challenge into an opportunity for improvement. Born with the goal of innovating the world of construction and plumbing, we have become so much more: a bridge between technology and humanity, between progress and inclusion.
Our commitment goes beyond simple numbers and technical solutions. We believe that every project is a story to be told, every product a hand extended toward a more accessible future. With passion and expertise, we design tactile pathways that improve mobility for everyone in the world, making the urban environment truly usable.
Every day we are inspired by the resilience and courage of those who face life with determination and can see with their hearts. Our mission? To bring light where there is darkness, to offer answers to those who think there are no solutions. Even when you don't see us, we are there to show you the right way and ease your path.
We are not just a company. We like to imagine ourselves as a journey toward a more equitable future, where each person can feel part of a larger network that can listen and respond to their needs.
▬ FOR OVER 25 YEARS ▬
Our Story
1996
A long family history
Starting from the historical family business operating in the production of plastics intended for construction and plumbing, driven by curiosity and armed with ingenuity, we have experimented, tested and proven technical polymers capable of returning advanced technological solutions that would facilitate the processes of installation and use of our products.
Year after year, the company has worked alongside leading manufacturers offering impeccable service in line with its offerings.
2006 - 2013
New and challenging comparisons.
The plastics industry can find endless applications, and in diversifying pipe extrusion manufacturing activities, we have faced innovative and complex challenges, particularly that of sensory inclusiveness. Thus we established an influential research group engaged for several years in the study of technologically advanced aids for the mobility andaccessibility of people with visual impairments.
In doing so, JKJ makes use on the valuable scientific and experimental collaboration of theUICI (Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti ETS-APS) and theAssociazione Disabili Visivi ETS-APS, bodies that, both by their own statutes and by state law, are charged with protecting the rights and interests of the blind and visually impaired in Italy.
Subsequently, the study of high-performance technopolymers began in collaboration with theInstitute of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers established at the CNR in Naples and the Polytechnic University of Milan. The goal is to create a high-performance elastoplastic polymer compound that is easy to install and suitable for both outdoor and indoor use stackable to all types of substrates without the need for construction work.
In order to provide the best performance, test the nascent products, and above all add a technological plus to what represents the primary aid par excellence i.e. the tactile floor system, JKJ benefits from the support of some of the most renowned centers in the field of typhlotechnical research and specifically collaborates with IRIFOR(Institute for Research, Training and Rehabilitation), the CNT
(National Typhlotechnical Center), the Joint Research Centre – Intellectual Property & Technology Technology Transfer Unit of the European Commission in Brussels, the CATTID established at “La Sapienza” University of Rome and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Perugia.
To date, JKJ continues to make constant changes and updates to both its compound and the technology included in it so as to provide touch paths that are increasingly on target with the needs of all users.
2013 - 2018
Technology, inclusiveness and sustainability: one for all and all for one!
JKJ Srl concurs toward the most important challenge: to harmonize the most widely used tactile profiles in Italy by transferring through orientation and mobility courses their correct use so that the inhabitants of the future will be able to use them comfortably and consciously.
From in-depth legislative knowledge, stakeholder involvement, use of compounds, and the highest performing compounds comes a new tactile profile called LVE or Loges-Vet-Evolution.
Developed as a result of experiments conducted with blind and visually impaired users, it proves to have distinctive features that respond well to the concrete needs of users and the needs of business partners who required quick and easy installation.
On the strength of a well-conceived primary tactile aid, we decide to merge the indicator with additional technological support suitable for its vocalization. For this purpose we use RFG (Radio Frequency Ground) tags, thus creating the first tactile-vocal pathway.
Specifically, it is a system that provides accurate voice directions and messages about surrounding spaces in any language through the use of the aforementioned tags, a proprietary electronic stick, andJKJ’s T-Go app, available for iOS and Android, which provides access to a database with detailed, tested and certified maps.
Currently the LVE system is available in more than 250 public spaces. It has been compared with other similar systems on the market, achieving the highest degree of user satisfaction. Since the early years, the system and its logic, recognized and adopted by the major national transportation agencies and symbols of mobility in our country, is beginning to receive appreciation even across borders. During the Zero Project Conference held every year at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna, our assistive technology was in fact awarded and included among the best practices 2018 distinguishing itself for the most advanced techniques especially in the IT and digital as well as sensory inclusiveness.
And it is with a heart full of joy that JKJ gathers these tokens of esteem, never forgetting that work also represents serenity. This is how Piazzle, a system of self-locking and self-laying interlocking tiles, a colorful and playful puzzle, resistant to static and dynamic loads and easily removable and reusable, born from the imaginative pen of designer Felice Nappi.
2019 to date
A tactile pathway that guides us to the world.
International interest in the LVE system has encouraged us to industrialize new tactile systems complying with the latest standards to broaden our horizons toward the needs of European and global users.
As a result of the in-depth study of ISO 23599 and CEN/TS 15209, respectively, the systems T-Walk e T-Joy are born. These are tactile paths characterized by the same high-performance M-PVC-P compound used for LVE and all codes industrialized by JKJ. T-Walk and T-Joy fall perfectly within the measurements required by European standards, plus they are versatile and dynamic, equally suitable for highly walkable environments, both indoor and outdoor.
They, too, can be equipped with RFG Tags and thus reproduce information in any language and of any length at the exact contact point of the electronic stick on the path.
Based on further established norms then, JKJ’s molds resulted in the following T-Route, a tactile code system conforming to French Standard P98 used both in France and in several French-speaking countries. The same is true for T-Paso, tactile indicators designed according to the AENOR-UNE 127029 standard, the only ones that can be installed in Spain by law and that are widely used in South American countries.
While we were in the midst of new product development, unfortunately, the planetary emergency of Covid-19 began to overwhelmingly occupy our lives and put many Italian businesses in difficulty. Since late January 2020, the Council of Ministers has declared a state of emergency as a result of the health risk.
Once again, the JKJ family seeks to contribute positively to the needs of social distancing through T-Bol, a visually-tactile intelligible signage system, useful not only to the blind and visually impaired but to the regulation of pedestrian traffic in general in places of public use the scrupulous design attention of the geometric shapes combined with the combination of the trichromy of colors and the sensitivity of the reliefs has received authoritative national appreciation so much so as to become a UNI/PdR 110:2021 technical reference standard.
Once the doors of the Italian borders reopen, JKJ continues its expansion into international markets by engineering additional tactile codes such as T-Bel, made according to the requirements of the Belgian CCT 2015 technical standard, and T-Step, conforming to the British standard BS 7997:2003 and used in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
The same goes for single-element tactile indicators such as Stop&Go e T-Metal: thanks to new equipment and acquired technologies, in fact, JKJ develops systems that have a low architectural impact and are aesthetically pleasing.
To date, with the help of these new facilities and the know-how acquired over time, not only does JKJ represent a landmark in the landscape of tactile tracks, a key primary aid for the blind and visually impaired, but also an influential partner capable of guiding its partners in choosing the correct code and, if necessary, in designing new systems to meet the most precise standards.
Together with its partners, the JKJ family walks a bright and reliable path, paving the way for all who wish to follow it and who benefit from inclusive and equitable technologies to live in fullness and serenity!
