Alternatives to Large Trade Show Displays – Animation, Scale Models and Large Scale Printing

Do you have large products to display at your next trade show?  Are the logistics of moving them around getting to you?  CalCo has some options for displaying your large products in a memorable way.  We offer animation, scale models or large scale printing as alternative options for your large products.

Our animation can show your product in action and it can be completely interactive for your customers.   They can choose whether to start or stop the animation and what information will help them or the animation can play continously.  Additional literature can also be accessed to provide more detailed information.  Our unique perspective on the way products work and the cutaway process give us good insight in to what your customer wants to see and how to achieve it.  The beauty of animation is that it can be used in multiple environments – at a trade show, on your website or on sales calls.

Scale models are another option to show your product in complete detail by using a light-weight, full color model.   We can create a cutaway section of the model as well to show the interior components and how they interrelate.  Your model is an exact duplicate of your product but in a small transportable size.  We can create a custom case to make moving it to your next trade show or sales call easy.

With large scale printing you can show your product in full size and detail with out moving it to the trade show.  We offer professional photography shoots of your product at our facility.  The photos can be used for large displays in your trade show booth or they can be utilized for brochures, banners or other internal or external advertising needs.

If the cost and headache of moving your large products are getting to be too much, give CalCo a call to see about the alternatives of animation,  scale models or large scale printing.  We can help you show your product in its best light without carrying it around with you.  Call CalCo at 847/639-3858 to discuss your alternatives.

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 and let us make your idea a reality!

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”.

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 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.

Working Models Draw People In

Motorizing your products is a great way to attract interest and show func­tionality. Many products can be actuated or rotated with a few minor adjustments and the right horsepower. Lighting and a descriptive backdrop can finish off the whole scene.

 Whether a fluid handling display or an actuating component, movement in your display will pay off for you in terms of people being drawn in by the movement and immediately asking questions about what is being shown.

 Add a push button or two to give the audience something to interact with themselves, and you will find people clamoring to try it for themselves.

 When marketing your product, the more of the (5) senses you can involve  in a memorable way, the more likely it will be that your display/salesmen/company will be remembered long after the crate has been latched and the freight ticket attached.

 If a product is too large for this type of service (or too small), consider a 3D animation sequence to show your products in action. Add a touch screen display where your customer can virtually interact with your product, and you will find a line of people waiting to try it for themselves.

 Get your audience involved and tell your story to a captivated audience. The results will speak for themselves.

Click for more photos. . . Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Computer Simulated Cutaways

Click to see this pump in motion

As great as the minds are over at CalCo, they still haven’t figured out how to create displays that aren’t affected by gravity and the basic laws of physics; until now!

Read the rest of this entry »