Mind the gap

Students: YKK zippers are so precise, I bet they close up completely without any gaps, right? YKK employee: Actually, if you look carefully, zippers have gaps. And those gaps are very important.
YKK employee: If you look at this photo of a closed zipper, you can see small gaps spaced out evenly. Student: You're right! But why are those gaps important?
YKK employee: If the gaps are too large, the elements fall apart. If they're too small, the zipper won't work smoothly. The gaps are the key to a zipper that opens and closes easily. Student: I didn't know that!
YKK employee: The engineers at YKK work hard every day to come up with better ways to reproduce these measurements accurately. Student: I never knew so much goes into making zippers. What other things do you work on?
YKK employee: We do tests like these over and over to improve quality and make sure the zippers feel good to use. Student: I see. So zippers are tested, too.
YKK employee: You could say the gaps are just one of the improvements that contribute to making higher quality zippers. Students: There are a lot of improvements I never noticed!
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