CalCo: Your Turn-Key Solution for Product Displays

CalCo likes a challenge! We have been in the business of solving our customers problems for almost 60 years.

CalCo started in 1953 as a cutaway shop taking products and cutting away a portion to show the internal parts since they can be a valuable selling tool.  We have come a long way over the years by adapting to customer needs and changes in product displays.  In that time, we have become a turn-key solution for our customers by adding new services.  Did you know there is a place you can go to get all of your product display needs performed at the same time?

In addition to cutaways,  CalCo provides :

• Working Models with or without a cutaway
• Product Displays
• Sales and Training Aids
• Lighting
• Custom Basemounts
• Custom Shipping Containers
• Acrylic covers  and Displays
• Point-of-Puchase Displays
• Custom Cases
• Scale Models and Rapid Prototyping
• Three Dimensional Printing
• Animation
• Sales Awards
• Corporate Gifts
• Plating
• Training Programs
• Professional Photography
• Waterjet Cutting

CalCo can solve your trade show or product display problems with just one phone call!  A typical project now involves creating a cutaway, attaching a brushed aluminum base or custom rolling basemount, building a custom shipping container and a shooting a professional photography session before the project is completed and shipped back to the customer ready to go directly to a trade show or presentation.

If you need help with your trade show, sales or training needs, call CalCo at 847/639-3858 or click here for our contact page and let us make your idea a reality!

2009: The Year in Review

As is typical at the end of the year CalCo is reflecting on the past twelve months. There were some unique and creative product displays, cutaways, 3-D models and POP displays created this year.  A few of them are included below for your enjoyment:

And finally, some believe that 2009 was a year down the toilet, although that was not the case at CalCo we still spent some time with one….

CalCo looks forward to another interesting year!

To contact CalCo call 847/639-3858 or click here for our contact page.

CalCo’s New Brochure is Now Available

Fresh for 2010 Calco has developed a new brochure showing all of the services offered and some examples of the quality craftmanship that is synonymous with the CalCo name.  CalCo has been offering quality tradeshow displays and cutaways for over 50 years, especially to industrial product manufacturers.   Now see some of the other services available such as 3-D models or prototypes, working models, special lighting, custom bases, corporate gifts, POP displays and other tradeshow or marketing products.  You can count on CalCo as a turn-key solution for your sales and marketing needs.

The front and back cover of the new brochure are shown below, and the full PDF can be downloaded here. (right click and choose “Save As”)

To get a look inside our new brochure please send your information (name, company and address) to brochures@calcocutaways.com.  You will receive one in the mail right away so CalCo can help you start the year right with some new ideas to show your product in its best light because “Your Product is Our Profession”

For more ideas visit our website at www.calcocutaways.com ,  click here for contact information or call 847/639-3858.

The Buck Stops Here

Your company uses a variety of vendors for certain products or services every day, making make life easier for everyone. So do we.

Your company probably uses a few providers that actually make life more difficult for you or your coworkers. Same here.

On Monday one of our primary vendors emailed to let us know that our project with them was complete. . .Great.

This was typical and expected. . .

However, the details on getting the order back to us were left out, forcing us to stop what we were doing, contact them about it and make these arrangements ourselves. Done.

Once the items were received, we found quality issues on practically every piece that was delivered. Where was the quality control??

We would have sent the entire order back to be redone from scratch, except that we needed these pieces for a larger project that our client was expecting on time. We had to stop what we were doing (again) and fix every mistake and flaw to bring this project back up to our high standard of quality, (which our client expects).

Everything worked out in the end, our client was thrilled with the final result and his coworkers were equally impressed with the craftsmanship and attention to detail, (and the shipping was arranged without our client’s involvement whatsoever).

So the extra effort on our end resulted in a great experience for our client. We love that.

The vendor’s actions, on the other hand, had to be managed, monitored and corrected.   Is this the case with some of your providers?

Communication and responsibility are the landmarks of a company you can trust for the long term. The reason companies like CalCo have been around for over half a century, is because they are trusted, respected and are the go-to guys when quality and professionalism are important.

Did you know that CalCo can handle your POP displays, your screen printing, your photography, your display storage, your prototyping, your sales cases, your website design, your 3D animation, your metal finishing, your large format printing, your digital image manipulation, and many of the other items you struggle with every day?  It’s true.

Please call 847-639-3858 or email to see if your project can be handled correctly this time by CalCo, let us handle the problems so you can just sleep easy for once.

What is a Cutaway?

CalCo has been designing and producing high quality cutaways since 1953.  To make a cutaway we take your product and physically cut it open to show the inner parts that make your product unique.  Cutaways are invaluable tools because they are interactive.  They allow your customer to see, feel and in many cases move your product to see the most important features hidden inside.

Cutaways can be used for a wide variety of products including the following:

• Valves
• Pumps
• Engines
• Transmissions
• Actuators
• Tools
• Machines
• Hydraulics
• Pneumatics
• Regulators
• Torches
• Appliances
• Electrical and Electronic Equipment

We have created cutaways from many materials including plastic controllers, speakers and toilets.    We have the capability to cut any material and in any thickness, from the toughest grade of stainless steel to ceramics.

Cutaways have become quite popular at tradeshows but they are also used for lobby installations, investor relations meetings, sales calls, advertising and brochures, training and awards.

If you are interested in having a cutaway made using your product give us a call today at 847/639-3858 or click here for a free quote.

A finished regulator cutaway

CalCo Cutaways, Generations of Dependable Innovation

Around the time New York City was introducing their brand new, 3-color traffic lights, James Calhoun was founding a new business named CalCo, which would produce cutaways for product manufacturers in order to help them show off the many advantages to using their products.

Little did he know that his small business would grow into the most accomplished and experienced cutaway company in America, possibly even the world.

Even Jim himself couldn’t have foreseen the wide variety of offerings his company would eventually have to present to its customers, such as laser cut lighted display pedestals, 3D animation, custom training equipment, POP displays and much, much more.

In fact, CalCo’s unrelenting attention to detail and quality as well as their ability to create customized solutions on the spot is about all that hasn’t changed since 1953.

CalCo’s excellent reputation and insight into the needs of their clients will go a long way towards making the next half century of business just as revolutionary as the first.

To contact CalCo click here or call 847/639-3858.  Your Product is Our Profession.

FEEDing Your Inbox

How to “subscribe” to CalCo NEWS

Technology is always changing and it can be hard to keep up! We have had questions about how to “subscribe” to our new site so here goes….

For those less interested in RSS feeds:

The easiest way to keep track of the site is to go to it and bookmark it in your favorites and just check back periodically. The drawback is that you won’t be notified when new content is posted but the information will remain on the site to be viewed at your convenience.

For those interested in getting new content notifications:

RSS Feeds are the way to go. You can get all of the latest information sent to you as it happens through the use of RSS Feeds. For many of us this is a new concept and it can be confusing as to how to begin. A great link is www.WhatisRSS.com . This site explains what RSS feeds are and gives some types of RSS Feed readers. The readers are great for alerting you when new content is posted on the sites you have requested but many of you have the ability to track sites without a reader. For example, through Internet Explorer you can track RSS feeds in the Star Favorites button located on the top left corner of the toolbar. Some e-mail programs like Outlook will track your RSS feeds as well. In the 2007 Outlook if you right click on the RSS feed folder and type in http://news.calcocutaways.com/?feed=rss2 the new postings will appear in your unread mail folder.

To add an RSS feed go to the website http://news.calcocutaways.com and hit the orange square RSS Icon in the upper left corner. The feed will be stored on your computer. If your system requires that you type the feed in then you will need to type: http://news.calcocutaways.com/?feed=rss2.

If you want more information on how to receive all the latest NEWS from CalCo just send us an e-mail using the icon above, click here or give us a call at 847/639-3858.

CalCo NEWS is Upgrading

For over 50 years CalCo has been innovating a unique craft and letting you know about it every step of the way. A bi-annual newsletter, arriving on your desk to remind you of upcoming projects or giving you ideas for an upcoming event has been working like a charm.

Today the vast line of CalCo products and services in growing and expanding a quicker pace, and your world is moving faster as well. Bringing the CalCo NEWS to an online format will help us keep you in touch and stay on top of what the industry is up to.

You can RSS feed the page to get regular updates at your own pace, and if you have any suggestions for this site and things you would like to see, feel free to drop a quick note using the email link at the top of the page.

CalCo is the same as always, and cares as much about the outcome of your project as you do. Hopefully the new format of CalCo NEWS will become as welcome as our printed version was. Thank you!

Contact CalCo at 847-639-3858 or click here for contact information.