Tentnology®, a leading tent and structures company based in British Columbia, Canada, is an excellent example of how a well-organized creative approach by a materials supplier and a customer can result in an innovative solution.
Located just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Tentnology® has garnered numerous awards over the past 20 years in recognition of its creative approach to the design and construction of tents and structures. It is renowned for custom-designed structures that have been deployed at high visibility sites, such as the World Trade Center, New York Ports Authority, Dollywood and Disney World. Tentnology is also a leading supplier to tent rental companies throughout North America, utilizing the Architent® line of flexible composite textiles from Herculite®.
As a customer of Herculite® for 20 years, Tentnology® turned to Herculite for technical assistance in meeting the unique fabric needs of one of the company’s rental tent lines. While Tentnology wanted an abrasion resistant fabric with protection against pinholes that can occur with extended use, it also wanted a fabric lighter weight than Herculite’s industry-leading Architent® line of tent fabrics that feature the company’s StarFree® Blackout technology.
The Herculite® Discovery Process is a proprietary approach that Herculite offers its customers to explore opportunities for product enhancements and new product development as well as operational improvements. The goal of the Discovery Process is to provide customers with the highest possible return on investment and lowest possible total cost of ownership.
The people at Herculite® are creative and open minded, and they worked with us to meet our needs by investing their R&D capabilities,” said Ali Riyaz, superintendent of operations for Tentnology® , “Jeff Sparks and his team at Herculite know Fabrics, and we know tent design and construction, so we were able to find a solution that works for both of us. There is no question that Herculite offers the best laminated tent fabric available today.”
“By engaging with Tentnology® in our Discovery Process, we determined that for this particular tent line, they didn’t need the 100 percent StarFree® Blackout feature, so we developed a lighter weight opaque fabric that uses our proprietary opaque adhesive system and a custom-woven scrim,” said Jeff Sparks, sales director for Herculite® Tent and Structure Fabrics. “The result is a fabric that meets all of their needs for pinhole protection yet is lighter weight. This is a great example of how our supply chain partnership approach and the Herculite Discovery Process can result in unique solutions for our customers.”
“We’re able to collaborate with our customers in the Discovery Process, because we have a tremendous amount of experience working in the tent and structures marketplace, and we have infrastructure behind us that fosters innovation,” Sparks said.
