Custom Cases make your Product Stand Out

Carrying your product to a sales call can be a challenge if you don’t have the right carrying case.  At CalCo we can custom fit your product to the right case and create custom signage to make your product and presentation stand out.

With every size, shape and material available we can create a case to fit your product based on weight, size and usage.  Using high density closed cell foam we custom fit your product into the case to protect it during transport and make it look good when on display.  Add your corporate logo to your case and you can protect against loss while looking more professional.

If you want a professional, durable and high quality case to take for your next presentation give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858 or click here for contact information.

Meet Dan Fierla, Senior Supervisor and Cutaway and Display Expert, at CalCo

Ever wonder how CalCo can continually make first class cutaways and always seems to know just what you wanted? We owe much of it to our production supervisor, Dan Fierla. Dan started at CalCo as part of a high school cooperative work program and has been here ever since. In his 32 years, he has moved up the ladder from high school intern to Senior Supervisor, in charge of production and managing our facility and workers. If you have worked with CalCo you may have spoken to Dan and you most likely learned that he has high standards for the work that we do. If it doesn’t meet Dan’s expectations, it is not going out the door. Customer service and satisfaction has always been a key component at CalCo and Dan is one of the reasons why. Another of his famous attributes is his dedication to time commitments. We pay close attention to deadlines and work hard to meet every one. While we always try to work projects into our schedule, we have turned away business because we could not have maintained our high standards and met the delivery date.

According to Dan the most important information that you can give us about your project is……

“information that will help me to make your project have that just right look.  Details like, what are you trying to show with this cutaway/display?  Is it the size/type of the internal parts you want to showcase? Or is it something special that separates your product from the competition? This information helps me to design the cuts to show what the customer needs and wants to see.”

His favorite project that he has completed is…..

“I had the honor to work on and am very proud of a Double over head cam V6 marine engine for a large engine manufacturer. This project from start to finish was done right.  David Meeler from their marketing department, came to Calco, told me all of the features he would like to show, which helped me to machine the engine and give it that personal touch.  Colors and color coding were all picked out by the customer. When the engine made its maiden voyage at the Florida Boat Show it was a big hit.”

Something you should know about him is……

“I get great satisfaction out of working with the other members of the CalCo team.  I am driven to make CalCo the Best it can be for both employee and customer. When I see pictures of  trade show booths like Navistar, DeZURIK and Kimray, and all of them use Calco cutaways/displays to show case their products,  I have a great sense of pride in knowing I played a part in helping them project a positive image.”

Dan’s level of experience and overall knowledge of products helps you in terms of deciding the best way to display the internal components of your product. Chances are great that Dan has the best and most cost effective way to show your products key features.  He can assist you in creating your ideal cutaway/display.  He also has innovative ideas to show off large products, create working models or design custom stands.

If you have a project that you are interested in discussing, give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858, email us at news@calcocutaways.com or click here for our contact page.

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!

Shipping Containers You Can Rely On

We have all seen what happens to packages that get shipped through the mail. What about your valuable displays that need to be shipped from show to show?  This cargo can see even more abuse. How can you protect your prized display? With a custom permanent shipping container from CalCo.

CalCo’s steel framed wooden shipping containers are made to measure for your display with felt covered bumpers to hold your display in place and help it from getting damaged during long journeys. Each container is designed from the ground up to fit your project’s particular needs.  Options include:

• Custom holders for extra parts or literature
• Drawbridges (for items on rolling stands)- work well for items that are not too heavy and can help make your show set up quick and easy
• Heavier items or ones not on wheels can be forklifted into the shippers. CalCo also has c-channel basemounts for your displays to make them even easier to move by forklift.
• International grade containers- sail through customs by using all non-wooden materials

The steel frame makes a CalCo shipping container durable. Each container is framed in angle-iron strapping on all edges, thereby withstanding many bangs and bumps that are common, and many of those not-so-common abusive acts of fork-lifting.  Some customers have been using the same shippers for ten or fifiteen years. We provide them painted blue so they stand out in the sea of shippers at a show and are easily located. The hasps are heavy duty and can of course be locked to protect your display.

CalCo also offers international grade (non-wood) shipping containers. These can be sent to any international destination without worrying about getting caught up in a customs battle over the wood content and can help your delivery get there on time. These containers are made from fully tested, stronger than wood materials.

In addition to shipping containers, Calco can also provide cases of every kind.  Give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858 or click here for our contact page and let us solve all your shipping container needs.

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.

CalCo Makes A Great Case

The age old dilemma, how do you transport your product to sales calls, tradeshows, investor relations meetings, distributors or anywhere else with out damaging it and so that it keeps that ‘brand new’ look? The answer is a custom case from CalCo.

We have a case to meet virtually every need. Sometimes this is as simple as a soft sided carrying case, while sometimes a rugged behind the scenes shipping crate needs to be fabricated.  Often the container needs to be worthy of carrying into someone’s office and possibly even set upon their desk.  At CalCo, this need is met week after week with a variety of solutions.  Whether you need to ship it through the mail or the case will be riding around in the trunk of your car, CalCo has the right option for you.  These custom cases are custom selected and designed to fit your product specifically and have a history of peak performance.  From slim and elegant to heavy duty work horses, a case from CalCo will impress as well as protect. More photos after the break..

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How to Beat Wood Restrictions on International Shipments

To many people’s dismay, shipments can often be held in customs for an undue amount of time just because of the materials used to construct the containers that hold the shipped goods, and here’s why. . . Read the rest of this entry »

To upgrade from a CalCo Shipping Container you would need to order a Safe

In today’s perilous world of shipping and receiving, it is without a doubt that you have stories of shipments gone awry or trade show services as far from “service” as it gets.

In this environment CalCo has responded by providing one of the best regarded and highly successful custom shipping containers available.

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