A Training Engine Cutaway Tells the Whole Story

How exactly does an engine work? What is the difference between a gasoline and a diesel engine? What is an EGR cooler?

When it comes to training people on the common principles and uncommon details that every single engine contains, nothing beats a full size cutaway of an engine. Whether on a moveable piston engine, a static turbine engine or any other kind of engine, training departments across the globe rely on the realistic detail of an actual engine cutaway to best relay standard and model specific information to students.

At CalCo, you can be sure that widest viewing angles for the most cost effective prices can be achieved with the same high level of attention to detail as found in trade show floor displays. The finish level may be a bit subdued, but the longevity of the training equipment and quality of craftsmanship is just as high.

Training engines highlight the areas you want to teach and give a working knowledge of how the engine functions. Whether an entire engine or just a few key components, CalCo puts together just the right model to help you describe the part relationships and stories behind new or complex technologies.

Add color coded passageways to clarify the function of each section, custom cutaway areas exposing internal parts and paint to emphasize the parts of the engine you want to draw attention to.

A professional photography shoot of the training engine can be included to add to the training materials provided to students as well. Employees, distributors or anyone in the training session can follow along with the materials, make notes and leave with a visual reminder of the session. These trainees will have an easier time remembering the parts when they are color coded, they can remember the key points of the product when they are highlighted and they will remember the training when this unique engine is used.

A recent article in Industry Week discussed the importance of assessing your needs and using relevant materials. To access the article click here.

Training is more dynamic when it is hands-on and with a visually stimulating and interactive product it can be even more exciting. Let CalCo help to make your training sessions memorable!

Call CalCo at 847-639-3858, click here for contact information or visit CalCo’s Facebook page.

CalCo: Making Cutaways Longer Than McDonald’s Has Been Making French Fries

Sometimes history goes back such a long way, it is difficult to fully grasp what a phrase like “for over 50 years” really implies. In fact, CalCo is getting close to the 60 year mark, and with this landmark anniversary comes a treasure trove of knowledge and experience.

CalCo has been around as long as the Corvette and WD40. In 1953, most Americans were enjoying the first issue of TV Guide, now that television was becoming a common electric appliance in the home. Ernest Hemingway received the Pulitzer Prize for ‘Old Man and the Sea’ and Elvis Presley had just graduated from High School.

Since that time, the cutaway has remained practically unchanged as a valuable tool for:

• Equipment training
• Sales presentations
• Trade show/lobby displays

RegO regulator cutaways, 1971

RegO regulator cutaway, 2011

It was once said that the Polaroid camera, the fax machine and even email were each going to spell the end of the physical, real-life cutaway. Even today rapid prototyping and lightweight modeling technologies seem to threaten the need for this specialized service.

The fact of the matter is that nothing can replace the understanding and sensory communication that a true cutaway offers. “This cutaway is an actual product; the same one you will be buying, maintaining or investing in”, they seem to say.

“THIS is the actual casting quality. Touch these seals yourself.  These gears mesh together as smoothly as when you turn this handle”. What can possibly take the place of an experience created only by a unique and custom version of your product, made by experts that know how important this experience is to your audience?

Only a company that has evolved alongside much of the technology that comes through the door can fully understand the subtleties and unique characteristics included in each one.

Do you want quality? CalCo craftsmen average a staggering 11+ years of experience

Do you want reliability? CalCo stands behind all promises of cost and timing

Do you want dependability? Many current clients have been using CalCo for decades, some since the very beginning

Do you want flexibility? Every day CalCo handles custom requests for everything from signage and lighting to animation and sales kits. What do you have on your plate that you’d like to see come to life?

Let’s step back for a moment:

How can you tell a do-it-yourself wall painter from a professional? The edges. That place where the new paint stops and the ceiling or unpainted wall begin. That place where a clean, straight and even line running the entire length of the corner is the simplest to imagine, yet most difficult to achieve.

CalCo has been working on the ‘edges’ for almost 60 years, and the magic of a CalCo cutaway is not in how even the paint is, or how all the cuts line up perfectly, or even how simple but very effective the cut design is. . .

The magic is in how much conversation the cutaway spurs about your product and its many benefits and advantages. The magic is in how many orders are placed within viewing distance of a cutaway. The magic is in knowing that this process works year after year after year after year. . .

Contact CalCo at 847/639-3858, click here for contact information or find us on Facebook.

Your Lightweight 3-D Displays: From a Drawing to Reality

Are you getting hammered by shipping costs to get your industrial sized displays to trade shows and back? Is the weight, pun intended, of moving your displays becoming tiresome? CalCo has an alternative solution for you and how you display your products; and it’s easier than you may think…

It all starts with a CAD(computer aided drawing) file of your product. Once we are provided with this file we can scale it down to your liking and produce a light weight 3D model for you to tell the story of your new innovating and/or always reliable product. Models are created out of a very durable ABS plastic using a Fuel Deposition Modeling method, know as FDM.

Shown below are two pump models that we recently created for a client.

All of the individual part files are printed separately and then built into an assembly using very little glue and mostly scale-version fasteners. You can see some of the parts were printed in color to highlight specific components and areas of the pump to describe features to potential users. These two units normally weigh hundreds of pounds each and can now be brought to a show in carry-on luggage!!

To get started, simply email CalCo your 3D files for a quick and helpful quotation or to discuss the opportunities that are possible today.

For more information call CalCo at 847/639-3858.   Click Here for an article with information about other lightweight options or click here for more contact information.

Which cast part weighs 86% less than the other one?

One of these parts weighs 22 pounds and the other weighs just 3 pounds!  Without lifting them up it is almost impossible to tell the copy from the original but believe me when your salesman tries to move them he will appreciate the difference.  The part was copied using a molded resin and has been painted to look identical to the real part. This technique can be used to create full models or partial models and the copied parts can be integrated into a real unit (as we have done below) or stand on their own. Three dimensional models have been extremely expensive in the past but prices are coming down and the technology has improved so the materials are sturdier and more adaptable which opens up a wider range of uses. Whether you need to create a lightweight display or part for a trade show, for sales calls or any other reason CalCo can make it happen.

Which side is real and which is the copy?

If you are trying to create a lightweight model of your product or part and need some help, give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858 or click here for more contact information.

How about an Engine Cutaway for your Lobby Display?

CalCo specializes in trade show, sales and lobby displays, especially product cutaways. Our own lobby has many examples of our work and is getting crowded so we are offering two cutaway engine displays for sale. If you need a display and don’t want to customize it yourself one of these may be the solution.  Both displays are engine cutaways with interior and exterior paint, colored passageway paint, cutface paint and plating of metal parts.  They are mounted on custom stands, one wheeled and one stationary with a VW base.

For more pictures, details or pricing of these engine cutaways or a customized display please contact Chris at CalCo at 847/639-3858.

3-D Animation Shows Your Product in Action Like Nothing Else Can

Sometimes it is impossible to get your product in front of your customer whether due to size, geography or time constraints. Or maybe your product is extremely complex and it is hard for a customer to grasp all of the different parts that are working together.  In these cases your best solution is animation.  A customized animated video of your product  can show the interior through a cutaway or exploded view.  It can breakdown the various functions into understandable pieces and then put them all together to give a complete and understandable view of your product.  With animation a whole product or system can be studied, broken down into functions and put back together quickly.  Depending on the complexity of your product you can add features to stop, pause or advance the video so that different  areas can be explored.  Additional information in the form of white papers, 3-d drawings, graphs or any other data can be added and accessed easily.  Actual video of your product at work can be included and all with a script describing the attributes and competitive advantage of your product.

New animation technology is developing all the time.  With Flash technology you have the ability to have an interactive animation that the user can start and stop to individualize their experience.  With Augmented Reality there is even more user interaction for the customer.  A piece of printed paper is used in conjunction with a laptop camera to show a three dimensional shape that can be manipulated by just moving the paper in front of the camera.  Each user can zoom in on parts they want to see better or move to look at what interests them most.  These technologies increase the individual experience for your customer and show your product in its best light.

If you would like to learn more about how to animate your product give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858 or click here for more contact information.

Ideas for Trade Show Displays from CalCo

Our goal is to make your job of displaying your product easy whether it is at a trade show, at a sales call or in a training center.  We want to provide a customized solution for your product to show it in its best light.  Your satisfaction is our first priority.  With that in mind we have written some in-depth articles with ideas for displaying your product and we are trying to give you new ways to get information.  We have posted some informative articles about engine cutaways, trade show displays, shipping containers/case options and working models.  These articles give an overview of some choices for your displays and what CalCo can help you create.  Click on the links below to read these articles:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Tradeshow-Display-Options-for-Industrial-Manufacturers&id=6031914

http://ezinearticles.com/?Working-Models-Stop-Traffic-at-Trade-Shows&id=6148995

http://ezinearticles.com/?Engine-Cutaways:-How,-Why,-Who&id=5807313

http://ezinearticles.com/?Find-the-Right-Freight-Shipping-Container-or-Case-to-Handle-Your-Trade-Show-Displays&id=6314075

In addition, CalCo has a Facebook Page!! “Like” us on Facebook and get all the latest NEWS from CalCo directly. Browse our photos for ideas, ask questions and let us know what you think. We want to hear from you!

Get more ideas on our website at www.calcocutaways.com or look through our past articles on this site. To contact us call 847/639-3858,  click here for more information or visit us on Facebook.

“Your Product is our Profession!”

CalCo Creates Employee Achievement Award for Newsworthy Man

Click on the link below to see the story of this dedicated employee….

Albert Triplett Retires from Navistar after 60 Years on the Job: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Subsea Oil Bundle Displays: Exploring New Options

Since the beginning, people have always been fascinated by exploring. Finding new places, discovering new information through unique ideas, and embracing the entire journey to which we reach our goals and expectations is why we keep seeking. And two of the most essential elements of accomplishing these feats is first equipping ourselves with the proper tools; and second, convincing others that the task at hand is obtainable.

These ideas come to mind because a major issue that we are dealing with throughout the world right now is oil, its discovery and the many technologies existent and emerging for acquiring it. Over the past several months CalCo has received many requests to dissect oil equipment, mainly the subsea tubing used to extract oil from depths of the oceans that are hard to even fathom. This brings us to the two points we mentioned earlier:

Tools As you can see from the pictures below we have cutaway this tubing to show the intricate hoses and materials with which they are made. There are many different styles which serve different functions. Companies are persistently trying to find the most effective and, most importantly, safest ways to provide consumers with petroleum.

Innovation and Technique Once the tools have been established there is the need to show others that, in this case, the product is effective and separates itself from others in the same field.  With these tools cut away you can easily describe the functionality and superior edge over the competition and show that in the end they will be the reason the job will get done right!

Like many before and after us, CalCo looks forward to any task that is put in front of us.  So whatever the job may be, CalCo will find a creative and effective way for you to demonstrate your objective to help us all move forward.  If you are interested in creating a unique product display call CalCo at 847-638-3858 or click here.

For more information on the latest products in off-shore technology visit the OTC Shows website at http://www.otcnet.org/2011/index.php

Dave Kasper, CalCo’s Senior Consultant, Has ALL the Answers

CalCo has been in business for almost 60 years. The reason – the people who work here and their dedication to getting a job done right and on time.   Dave Kasper, our Sales Manager, is a key component in our success.  Dave has been with CalCo for 9 years and has become indispensable due to his ability to come up with new and innovative ideas and to work with our customers to make sure they get exactly what they want.  Talking to Dave on the phone can turn a project around completely because he not only quotes, coordinates and communicates with you about your project but he also develops new ways to display them.  Recently he designed a large pedestal with multiple levels of display space which we constructed based on his designs.  He also developed a waterjet cut acrylic fire hydrant for a display which was lightweight and easy to transport.  He has designed many point of purchase layouts and has helped customers develop animation, 3D models, prototypes, displays and cutaways of every type. Although we have an archive with all projects we have completed it is sometimes easier to go and pick Dave’s brain.

Some of Dave’s ideas are shown above and some of his beliefs are explained below.

What is CalCo’s first priority?

Customer satisfaction.

What makes CalCo different from its competitors?

Honestly CalCo is one of those places that is more like a consulting firm for your marketing, sales and training departments. It is difficult to know about so many technologies and possibilities for your displays, and it is nice to be able to speak with someone who can offer suggestions that you may have never thought of otherwise.

What information do you need to know before beginning a project?

The first place we like to start is getting a good understanding of where your displays will be used, and in what context. Is this a training seminar, a trade show exhibit or a sales tool for road warriors, etc. . . Next is what story are you looking to tell with your project; how a product works, what the new upgrades look like and what they mean or even “We are number 1″! Once we get into the finer details and pricing/timing estimates, we will need some drawings or photos with dimensions to get started. From there we will take care of everything else, from asking additional questions, providing examples where needed and nailing down the shipping details in advance of that glorious day!

Whether you have a good idea of the type of display that you want or you need some good ideas, Dave can help.    For a free quote or to discuss your next project contact CalCo at 847/638-3858 or click here for more information.