Performance Fabric News & Insights | About Herculite

The typical vendor-buyer sourcing relationship is a push-pull, sometimes adversarial one, borne out of the tension created from the two opposite ends of the profit maximization effort that exists with every transaction. A buyer wants to pay the lowest possible price (with maintaining key product specs) while the vendor is looking to get the highest reasonable price on the sale (without losing the business), all so their respective companies can maximize profit.

For a time, that adversarial relationship may work. But at some point, eventually, the inherent risk that exists when finding and implementing the lowest cost solutions, will end up becoming a losing bet for the buyer and the company. That risk can manifest itself as inventory shortages, manufacturing downtime, international trade agreements, production inefficiencies, or even a companies' worst fear, a widespread product recall.

But here, at Herculite, we believe differently.

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Lots of companies manufacture textiles - but how can you be sure that their goods are manufactured to a higher standard, consistently? That's where the certification of quality management systems  can help to give you trust that a company is manufacturing with consistent quality. The gold standard of quality manufacturing system certifications is  ISO 9001. You may have seen the ISO 9001-certified claim made by companies as diverse as Nestle and DHL. 

But what is ISO certification? It's become ubiquitous, we see the logo at the bottom of manufacturers, suppliers, and other company web sites. But what does it really mean for you, the customer? Let's explain exactly what ISO 9001 certification stands for and what it means when you buy products from one of our Herculite brands.

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As the world’s second-largest manufacturer, the United States has historically benefited from a robust manufacturing market, boasting plentiful manufacturing jobs and competitive power in the global economy.

However, high tariffs and expensive labor pose significant challenges, and this August, U.S. manufacturing shrank for the first time in about ten years, sparking concerns about the sector’s future. Are there still benefits to domestic manufacturing?

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Herculite, Inc., a leading provider of flexible composite textiles, has been selected by the readers of InTents magazine as the industry’s “best tent fabric supplier.”

InTents magazine, the official publication of the Tent Rental Division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), conducts its Reader’s Choice Award annually, asking its readers to vote for the best of the best in 15 categories, ranging from Best Tent Manufacturer to Best Rental Software.

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Choosing the right type of industrial fabric for your specific use can be challenging given the specific requirements of your desired use. Fortunately there are a a number of options, all with specific strengths and weaknesses. Some fabrics are highly durable, while others offer flexibility, others are inherently fire resistant, while others offer good abrasion resistance. Those inherent qualities might me that a fabric is good for the specific demands of the marine environment but not for aerospace.

However, off all the industrial fabrics currently available on the marketplace, only PVC vinyl fabrics offer the ability to have a variety of these characteristics making them suitable for a much wider range of different applications than other fabric options. 

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For about as long as humans have worn clothes and needed shelter, fabrics have been in use. Natural fabrics -- including but not limited to silk, cotton, wool, and linen -- are made from natural materials and were the only fabrics available for many years. As technology grew and advanced, people began to search for new options and attempted creating fabrics rather than using the ones that had always existed.

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Sy Hyman, company founder and retired CEO of Herculite®, is a long-time member of IFAI and became an Honored Life Member in 2014. He shared with us some insights about the challenges of marketing laminated synthetics with a start-up company when no market existed: about learning from customers, production mistakes, and inventing sales techniques for new materials. These are some tips garnered from 60 years of practical experience.

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Let’s take a look at inherently fire resistant fabrics. Before we get started, it’s important to note that no fabric is actually fireproof; given enough time, they will burn. That being said, there are some fabrics out there that resist fire more than others. For example, we all know that cotton burns easily and rapidly. However, fabrics like wool and Kevlar resist flames inherently because of the structure of the fiber. A tightly woven wool fabric will take longer to burn than cotton or linen.

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So you’ve bought that house, that boat, or you need a tent for a special occasion and now you need an awning, a cover, or a specially designed fabric product for your backyard. But, where do you get the right product?

Most of the time, we end up going to the local store or surfing the internet to find a cheap, premade piece. But did you know you can customize your fabric products?

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While the initial costs can be lower, and tempting, there are many hidden costs that make purchasing from an off-shore dealer not worth the risk.  A fabric product dealer is a company that looks worldwide for "buy low, sell high" opportunities. Here are 5 risks that could lead to increased total cost of ownership buying through a fabrics dealer.

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