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QUALITY
Gentex Corporation operates under an ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System that is supplemented with additional quality system requirements that meet the AS9001C standard, a standard that provides strict requirements established for the aviation, space, and defense industries. Both of these standards ensure that our Quality Management Systems consistently provide products to meet our customer’s requirements, enhance their satisfaction, and ensure process measurements to support continuous improvements. As part of this certification, a third-party agency audits our management, engineering, manufacturing, testing, and other support processes to verify that the exacting requirements are consistently met. Additionally, the AS9100C standard requires Gentex to supplement its Quality System with enhanced risk management, supplier management, continuous improvement, to process effectiveness measurements. These additional requirements and Gentex’s own Quality Policy ensure that Gentex is a world-class manufacturer of personal protection and situational awareness solutions and products.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
Whether it’s a helmet system for a soldier, pilot or emergency responder; a respiratory protection system for a welder; fabric for a firefighter’s suit; or a communication headset for an aircraft maintainer, Gentex Corporation takes the same approach to product design and engineering to achieve the maximum protection, performance, and user comfort possible.

DESIGN AND ENGINEERING SPECIALISTS
Gentex Corporation’s design and engineering teams transform customer challenges into solutions that work. Each expert in their specific field—helmets, respiratory, optics, textiles, communications, noise suppression, and more—Gentex design and engineering specialists work to continually deliver best-in-class product solutions.

COLLABORATIVE PROCESS
Gentex collaborates internally and externally in the development of its solutions—input from customers, industry partners, academia, and internal resources (manufacturing, testing, R&D and other key functions) is all factored into product design. Considering all factors in the first stage of product development ensures the best solution to meet customer needs is produced efficiently.

FORM, FIT, FUNCTION, ANTHROPOMETRICS & PERFORMANCE PRINCIPALS
Gentex follows the principals of fit, form, and function when designing and engineering products. Further supporting this practice, our design and engineering teams specialize in the use of anthropometrics (body measurements) when creating our “body worn” solutions. Design and engineering of body worn products also requires factoring in the human-performance element, which is essential to the success of the person using the product. Whether it’s a soldier, a pilot, fire fighter, or welder, Gentex designers and engineers ensure the equipment we provide them compliments their activities while protecting them from harm.

INTEGRATED SYSTEM-DESIGN APPROACH
In order for different combinations of components to work together and achieve a desired capability, each use case scenario is carefully considered during the development of our system products. Only after the optimal performance of the system has been demonstrated can it then be broken down into a set of modular components. This approach to product integration results in systems with components that work together seamlessly and allow the end user to focus on their mission or job at hand, instead of their equipment setup.

OPEN ARCHITECTURE
To provide maximum flexibility and forward compatibility, our system products are designed and engineered to easily integrate and work with Gentex Corporation and other third party components. This open architecture approach allows end users to choose from a variety of manufacturers and options, providing even greater opportunity for customization of their Gentex Corporation system solutions.

PURPOSE BUILT AND SPEC SOLUTIONS
Gentex designs and manufactures purpose-built solutions. Our unified, end-to-end processes ensure that customer requirements are translated into innovative, high-quality solutions that are optimized to meet specific requirements and that often surpass specifications. Additionally, using their own R&D, Gentex develops advanced solutions to address future and current customer needs.

TESTING
Leveraging a product development and manufacturing history that spans more than 125 years, Gentex Corporation continually invests in its in-house manufacturing and testing capabilities. With in-house resources, Gentex can better manage costs and assure customers of product quality, performance, and delivery time.

• All products from Gentex undergo rigorous in-house and third party testing to ensure they deliver the performance promised.

• Our in-house testing is located within our global facilities.

• To ensure accuracy of our testing, our testing processes are routinely audited as part of our

ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification.

• We engage independent testing companies to verify our in-house findings for all our products. Below are a few examples.

- For defense helmet systems: Chesapeake Testing/NTS, HP White Laboratories, ICS Laboratories, and Intertek

- For defense respiratory protection systems: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Battlespace Acoustics Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), KBR Wyle (Previously Brooks City Base), Dayton T. Brown

RAPID PROTOTYPING
Gentex Corporation uses advanced product prototyping (e.g., CAD and 3D printing) and simulation techniques to quickly fabricate and test full-scale models of their products. This saves not only valuable time, but also extensive costs when compared to traditional prototyping methods. Once the designs are proven through this process, production quality products are then created and thoroughly tested in our

- in-house testing facilities, and then in actual use case environments prior to moving to full-scale production. All Gentex products undergo this comprehensive yet quick process, which allows us to deliver the best products possible in shorter times, and at less cost.

LARGE CAPACITY MANUFACTURING

FLEXIBLE, GLOBAL RESOURCE
Unrestricted by location, Gentex Corporation’s six, shared flexible manufacturing facilities, located in the U.S. and the U.K., form a combined resource equipped to deliver any size order, anywhere in the world. From a single prototype to quick turns on units in the thousands, our state-of-the-art production facilities stand ready to deliver the highest quality product in the shortest time possible.

MANUFACTURING EXPERTISE
Gentex Corporation has been manufacturing quality products for over 100 years with manufacturing expertise in the following product areas and industries:

• Helmets/Helmet Systems (Defense; Emergency Response; Industrial)

• High Performance Textiles (OEM for Firefighting and other industries)

• Optics (Defense; OEM for other industries)

• Respiratory Products (Defense aircrew and ground troops)

• Respiratory Protection Products (Industrial)

• Hearing Protection and Communications Products (Defense, Industrial)

MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY
From concept development to performance testing, Gentex’s in-house manufacturing capability is comprehensive with expertise in each of the industries it serves:

• Concept Development
• Materials Design and Development
• Design
• Systems Design
• Prototyping
• Engineering Development
• Molding
• Fabrication
• Manufacturing
• Assembly
• Performance Testing

ISO QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Gentex continually invests in its research and technological development, design, manufacturing, and testing facilities located in the U.S. and the U.K., which all follow ISO Quality Management Processes.

STATE OF THE ART R&D FACILITIES
Dedicated to continually advancing protection and performance capabilities for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel operating in high performance environments, Gentex Corporation continually invests in its in-house research and technological development and other facilities.

ISO COMPLIANT FACILITIES
Gentex Corporation continually invests in its research and technological development, design & engineering, manufacturing and testing facilities located in the U.S. and the U.K., which all follow ISO Quality Management processes.

CUSTOMER, INDUSTRY, AND ACADEMIA PARTNERS
Working with our customers, industry partners, and academia, Gentex Corporation’s team of scientists and engineers focus on the development of innovative technologies that continuously advance the performance and protection capabilities of our solutions.

PATENTS
For over 125 years, Gentex Corporation has been advancing its technologies and in the process has obtained numerous patents. A leading patent holder, the company also shares it’s learning’s with others in the industries it serves through papers and presentations at key events throughout the year. Learn more about our history of innovation.

MATERIALS
With its roots in textile manufacturing dating back to 1894, Gentex Corporation continues to invest in the research and technological development of high performance materials. The highlighted materials below represent just a few of the many ways we are working to improve the comfort, weight, protection, and performance capability of our products.

ALUMINIZED FABRICS
Leveraging its roots as a silk manufacturer in the early 1900’s, Gentex Corporation pioneered the technology of combining metals with fabrics in the 1950’s for U.S. military researchers probing the upper atmosphere. With continued R&D, Gentex is today’s global leader in high-performance aluminized fabrics with its proprietary Dual Mirror technology, which incorporates a proven five-layer structure that ensures a high level of abrasion resistance so the fabric remains highly reflective. While there are endless uses for our advanced aluminized fabrics, they are primarily used to create garments worn by firefighters and industrial workers operating in high-heat environments. The goal of continued R&D in this area is to achieve even the highest levels of protection and performance for end customer needs.

ULTRA HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE (UHMWPE)
Gentex Corporation is the first helmet manufacturer to invest in and develop capabilities to successfully produce high performing, industry leading ballistic helmets using UHMWPE materials. Our advanced research and technology development team continues to collaborate with other leading materials development partners worldwide to develop next generation UHMWPE and other materials.

ARAMID FIBER
Gentex Corporation has been producing aramid fiber helmets and protective gear since the 1980s. With the capability to weave our own fabric from aramid yarns, our aramid solutions cover a wide variety of weave patterns, deniers, coatings, and material combinations thereof to meet ever-changing market needs. Plus, our patented proprietary-technological advancements allow us to mold aramid helmets without any cuts or slits, thereby improving the ballistic performances uniformly around the helmet.

HYBRID MATERIALS
Gentex Corporation’s R&D team has developed an innovative preforming and molding process that seamlessly combines state-of-the-art advanced material (UHMWPE, Aramid, Carbon etc.) combinations in a helmet shell, which delivers industry leading durability and performance against blunt impact; side to side, top to bottom compression; and wear and tear.

MATERIAL DESIGN IN OUR HELMET SYSTEMS
For our helmet systems, material design is a key focus as helmets are worn for extensive periods of time under extreme environmental conditions; therefore the materials selected for helmet components must be able to withstand substantial amounts of wear and tear, while also providing consistent protection, comfort, and support. These requirements can be contradictory and difficult to achieve and often require innovative solutions with unique combinations of materials and parts. Gentex carefully designs and selects materials, including some of the above, to work with one another to provide the desired performance benefits.

GENTEX

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