CalCo NEWS

CalCo Offers Cases and Containers for All Purposes

Custom Case with Signage

Drawbridge Shipping Container

International Non-Wooden Container

Custom Case with Logo

Heavy-Duty Rolling Case

Case with Wheel and Handle Options

Now that your product looks great and is ready for the trade show or sales call you need a reliable and safe way to get it there. CalCo has the customized answer.  We create containers based on your specific needs. With every size, shape and material available we can create a case to fit your product based on weight, size and usage. For trade show displays we custom build permanent shipping containers with angle iron frames, wooden sides and felt hold downs to protect your product during shipping.  Drawbridge styles are available for larger wheeled products.  Since they are custom designed, storage compartments can be added for collateral materials or multiple units can be shipped in one container.   For overseas shipping we offer international non-wooden shipping containers or we can heat treat and certify a wooden shipping container.

If you need a smaller, lightweight container for a salesperson to transport then wheel and handle options are available. Our cases have custom high density foam to protect your product from damage. We offer standard Pelican, ABA style cases or custom made cases for your product.  Signage and sales materials can be incorporated into the design of the case and logos can be added to the exterior to prevent loss or theft.

If you need to protect your display give us a call to discuss your options.  We think your product deserves special attention and custom protection from CalCo.  For a further discussion of case options access this article:

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

Call us at 847/639-3858 or click here for more contact information.

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!”

Manufacturing Trade Show Season is in Full Motion

Navistar Booth at MATS 2011

Spring and Fall have traditionally been the busy months for manufacturing trade shows and this year is starting off well.  We attended the 40th Anniversary of the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Kentucky which was held March 31-April 2.  The auto industry problems of the last few years seemed to be a thing of the past.  With over 1000 vendors, 71,000 attendees and all the latest trends and products on display the MATS show showed great promise for the future.   There were many large displays, engine manufacturers including Navistar had large booths with all the latest technology on display.  There was a lot of conversation over the latest emissions filters for trucks.  All in all the show was a great opportunity to see new products and meet new people.

We also visited the ConExpo/IFPE show in Las Vegas,  which is always a big show due to its occurrence only every three years.  This year there were over 2400 exhibitors and 120,000 registered attendees of which 24%  were from international destinations, including 150 different countries.  While the attendance didn’t break records it was still impressive given the tough times the construction industry has endured over the past few years.  Large crowds gathered and there were some big, impressive booths with monstrous equipment. Manufacturers went all out to ship their equipment to the show in hopes of delivering big sales.  Time will tell but those exhibitors we spoke to were happy with the results. The next Con Expo/IFPE show will be held in Las Vegas again on March 18-22, 2014.  See you there!

At the beginning of May we attended the OTC Show in Houston.  This years Offshore Technology Conference was the largest exhibition since 1982 in Houston, TX with over 78,000 people in attendance. The energy levels were cautiously high and new products and developments were on display from all over the world.

CalCo sees many of their cutaways and displays end up at this show year after year, and with the high profile attendees and press coverage, it is easy to see why. With more than 2,500 companies on display, it is important to catch the eyes and attention of the right people in a way that spurs healthy conversations and ultimately attracts more business.

From working models to engine displays to hose cutaways, CalCo’s work was all over the 2 massive halls. Whether its in the oil and gas industry, the automotive sector or even the military, the importance of high quality displays is a must. CalCo has been creating the highest end product displays for almost 60 years, and all that history works for you in showing your expertise by leveraging and outsourcing to true experts in the industry.

When the details are important, the service is a must, and the show goes on with or without you, turn to CalCo and get it done right.

Hopefully the high attendance at these trade shows indicates that the lagging economy is recovering nicely.  We came away with a more positive outlook on the future of the automotive and construction industries.  If you have any information about a recent trade show you have attended we would love to hear it!  To contact CalCo call 847/639-3858 or click here.

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