Our process
Our manufacturing process is dedicated to building the highest quality products. What guides this is both meticulous, internal Hilleberg quality control standards, and an ISO 9001: 2000 certified quality management system, which is built on tested and proven quality management principles.
Pre-Production
We order materials for every production run many months in advance, and do exhaustive quality control testing. This way, we ensure that we can replace any inferior component long before production begins.
We test every roll of all our fabrics for proper color, abrasion resistance, waterproofness where appropriate, weight and hand properties. We also test a significant sampling of outer tent and floor fabric rolls for tear strength, tensional strength, and color resistance to light. And we subject our tent floor fabrics to “tapability” tests along with the other, more standard tests. In addition, we ensure that all fittings – poles, zippers, fasteners, webbing and the like – meet our quality criteria.
Making the Tents
Fabric pieces are cut using pattern shapes. The appropriate pieces – including fabric, zippers, and all details needed for each model – are assembled, and passed on to the sewers.
Assembly & Quality Control
Every tent we make is completely set up and inspected before it is shipped. A Tent Inspector visually inspects both the inner and outer tents, puts the two together, inserts the poles and puts on the ground straps. After erecting the tent he or she makes sure the ground straps have the proper tension, and opens the tent to check zippers and seams. After closing the tent up, he or she does another quality check and affixes the guy lines and line runners. If at any point a mistake is discovered, the affected piece goes back to the production line for correction.
Once the tent is certified and approved, it is taken down. Poles and pegs are put into their individual stuff sacks and bundled with the tent, which is then put, along with an instruction pamphlet, into its stuff sack.
The completed tent is now ready for shipment to the company warehouses in either Sweden or the US.
