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Claim ProfileProudly serving the industrial fabric industry
Lightweight Manufacturing was founded to serve the fabric structures and tent rental industry with the manufacturing of architectural fabric panels. Customers are supported with a deep understanding of available fabrics and their properties, and a wide range of manufacturing services such as computer cutting, slitting and various methods of heat welding such as RF welding, hot air welding, wedge welding and more. Fabric panels with complex shapes are computer designed with software that generates cutting patterns, which seamlessly move from engineering design to the manufacturing floor to be computer cut, welded and finished.
Our products include a wide range of fabrics from brands like Serge Ferrari and Duraskin with their well-known types of industrial fabrics (PTFE, PVC-Coated, PVC-Mesh, Polyethylene). We also carry Keder, Keder rails, Keder Extrusions, and offer engineering and design services for tensioned structures.

headquarters
other locations
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United States
Focus
Portfolio
Tent rental companies (Replacement panels). Subcontractor Role: (we can produce the fabric panels as well as provide the keder and keder rails-we also have an engineering and design team)Turnkey fabric structures, Frame Supported, Tensile End Customer: We can supply the fabric and recommend one of our customers for project management and install based on the project.

Engineer rendering of a tensioned fabric structure

Double flag keder

Eastman Eagle C3 cutter

We carry a variety of industrial different fabrics
PVC coated fabrics, PVC mesh fabrics, polyethylene, Solution-dyed woven fabric, ePTFE, all available from leading brands
Reviews
the project
Textile Design and Engineering for Construction Company
"Lightweight Manufacturing is a very courteous and prompt team."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm a project manager at a construction rental company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Lightweight Manufacturing?
Lightweight Manufacturing supplies engineering and structural design work as well as fabric for us.
What was the scope of their involvement?
For most of our projects, I send them an email with basic information to request an engineering quote. After Lightweight Manufacturing gets back to me with a response, we kick them off with a purchase order (PO) that includes their projected timeline and an engineering draft for the customer to approve.
Subsequently, we do an accessory layout with the client to send back to Lightweight Manufacturing, and they provide a complete calculation package and engineering package. This process usually takes a couple of weeks.
Once we give them approval from all site as well as the customer, we move on to the fabric portion of their company to order any materials or fabrication for specialty parts we need from them. We go through the same quote process for this stage, and we order directly from them.
What is the team composition?
We generally work with 3–4 teammates.
How did you come to work with Lightweight Manufacturing?
They have had a long-standing relationship with the company I work for, and I believe they had shared work prior to my role here. I know they've been our primary source for some time now.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend about $3,000– $4,000 every couple of weeks.
What is the status of this engagement?
The engagement began about six years ago in 2013 and is still ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Lightweight Manufacturing creates many specialty designs for us at our customers' request. Our customers often have specific requirements that aren't normally a part of our structure.
In several instances, they've been able to fabricate parts and materials that enable us to provide solutions our customers need. In turn, we can utilize those designs in repurposed forms for future customers as a troubleshooting option or workaround for problems that arise.
Even though this might not be the design's intent, we've had many opportunities to reuse designs and technology from past projects going forward.
How did Lightweight Manufacturing perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management has been excellent. They're highly efficient and very thorough. I appreciate that they ask a lot of questions, which helps troubleshoot many possible issues. If I have any questions or ever can't understand something, they're always just a phone call or email away.
Despite the three hour time zone difference between us, they always get back to us in a timely fashion. Lightweight Manufacturing is a very courteous and prompt team.
We are usually in communication with the team every day.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I was most impressed with their overall thoroughness, sense of urgency, and ability to provide the complete package. I never have to worry about anything being forgotten in my requests. They take care of everything and cover the entire dynamic of the design work.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I don't think so. Many of our designs are very similar, so much of the work involves regurgitating the same information. Conversely, we also have many site-specific projects. They perform very well in both areas.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
The more information you can provide them with, the better. They don't assume anything. Everything should be stated very literally. Request exactly what you need rather than leaving any gray area.
Lightweight Manufacturing rapidly delivers orders that dependably align with customized requirements. The versatile deliverables they produce can easily be repurposed for future use with different clients. Timely, skilled, and attentive, they're a dependable partner for longterm engagements.