Trade Show Outlook for 2012

While the economy seems to be picking up and unemployment is on the decline there are still questions about the future of the economy and the outlook for 2012.  For many manufacturing companies there has been a decline in marketing budgets in recent years and the decision whether to invest in attending trade shows has been challenging. Some positive news is finally emerging though.

Recently the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) released their report on the “The Changing Environment of Exhibitions”.  One aspect of the report looked into executives opinions about the importance and benefits of exhibitions and their future.  The result summarized by CEIR Research Director Nancy Drapeau is that  “the overall findings from this study indicate that business-to-business exhibitions are an integral part of a company’s marketing mix today and will continue to be so in the near term.”

Other findings indicate the most important factors when deciding to exhibit are:

Quality of Attendees – 84%
Favorable ROI – 54%
Positive Past Performance – 50%

While much information was gathered we think it speaks well to the 2012 trade shows that “99% of surveyed marketing executives identified a unique value of business-to-business exhibitions that is not provided by other marketing channels. The most popular value is the ‘ability to see a large number of prospects and customers over a short period of time,’ selected by 60 percent of executives.”  With this kind of endorsement hopefully the decision to travel to trade shows will be much easier in the future.

If CalCo can help you with any aspect of your trade show display please call us at 847/639-3858 or contact us.

Make Your Product Display Shine with Custom Plating

A well done product display can be the difference between catching your customers attention at a trade show and having him walk right on by. The qualities of your product, the knowledge of your salesmen and your reputation will all make the sale but it helps to have an eye-catching display to draw people in to your booth. One way to differentiate your product and make it shine is through plating.  The metal components on our displays are usually plated but you can hike up the drama with some real sparkle using polished chrome or gold plating. As you can see in the pictures above the plating adds an extra gleam and excitement to your display.

We offer a variety of plating options and we work with many types of parts and products. Some of the plating options are:

Plating Finishes

• Anodizing – an attractive way to prepare aluminum and available in a wide variety of colors
• Electroless nickel – durable, minimal build process with even cover, good lubricity and hardness
• Metal Plating – Copper, Nickel, Gold plating and industrial hard plating is available
• Chrome Plating – available in bright chrome, polished chrome or satin finishes and can be applied to any metal
• Black Oxide – for steel or iron parts where a blue/black matte finish is desired

If you need plating, want to rework an old display or need a new display,  just give CalCo a call at 847/639-3858 or click here for more contact information.  You can visit us on Facebook too.

Get Your Message Across in a Big Way with a Large Banner

Poster with Stand

Wall Mounted Poster

Sometimes the only way to get your point across is to GO BIG. Our training banner for fire departments is a good example of that. It is 6 feet high and 2.5 ft wide and includes a stand for portability. This banner shows a cutaway fire hydrant and is used to educate firemen on the inner workings of the hydrant. While this banner is used specifically for fire stations,  CalCo can create a banner for any product or situation. They are useful for training, sales presentations, investor meetings or trade shows.

Let CalCo help you get your message across with a large banner.  Show a cutaway of your product or blow up your small product so it is more noticeable.  Call 847/639-3858 or click here for contact information to get help with any kind of signage or display.  Visit CalCo on Facebook too.

A Valve Cutaway which is also a Regulator of its Audience’s Attention

Your product represents your company.  Whenever you display your product, whether at a sales call, at a trade show or to investors it is conveying information about your company.  The quality and ingenuity in your product makes a difference in today’s competitive marketplace and can determine whether your company thrives or just survives. Make sure your product is identifying your company in a positive way and that is emphasizing the quality and attention to detail that embodies your company as a whole.

The company that manufactures the valve above is an example of one that takes its dedication to quality to heart.  They have cutaway their entire line of products so that their attention to detail and their competitive advantages are on full display.  CalCo has done all of these cutaways for them because we are as committed to the details as they are.   We cutaway the valve above to show the interior functioning which can better sell the product.  It is painted to highlight the areas of focus and to draw the client in and it is plated so that it catches attention. It is mounted on an attractive aluminum base for stability and easier lifting. With a custom case it is protected from damage no matter where it needs to travel and it looks great when it gets there because we use a high density foam, cut to the exact dimensions of the product.  We can add logos and signage to your case to further enhance your presentation.  Let CalCo help you get your corporate message across to your clients without saying a word.

When you demonstrate your product to customers, distributors or investors you need to put your best effort forward and CalCo can help you do that.  Our focus is on making your product the star attraction. CalCo has years of experience with all types of products so if you want to make your product stand out give CalCo a call at 847-639-3858 or click here for contact information.  You can follow us on Facebook too.

You Can’t Mix Up a CalCo Cutaway

There are many reasons why CalCo has been a leader in the cutaway business for decades and why so many clients keep coming back.  The most important  reasons are our knowledge, skill, and attention to detail which make a CalCo cutaway stand out above and beyond expectations.  Another reason is our ability to listen and work with clients to achieve the optimal and desired finished product.  Working with our clients to achieve the desired results is a cornerstone of our business and one of the main reasons that our clients return.  We use our extensive mechanical knowledge to show your product to its full advantage while telling the story that your marketing department wants to highlight.

We were recently asked to create a cutaway of a mixer, seen below, that would be displayed at one of the biggest fluid handling trade shows in the country.  It was on display at the WEFTEC show in Los Angeles.

The company conveyed to us how they wanted the mixer to look, including cut area and color scheme matching, we replicated those instructions and included this rail and T block support system which resembles the system used in the field. The company got exactly what they were looking for and we got another satisfied customer.

At CalCo exceeding expectations is what we strive to do for all of our customers.  We want to give you the best display possible so that you and your product look good.  If you need help with a display please contact CalCo at 847/639-3858 or click here for more contact information.  Find us on Facebook too.

Complete Your Project with a Professional Product Photography Shoot

Your product display is complete and it looks fabulous!  Now is the time to capture and commemorate the beauty of it.  CalCo offers a great way to do that through in-house photography sessions. Let us handle the details and coordination.  Before your product is shipped our professional photographer, with vast experience in product photography, can get the best angles to show  your product in its best light.  During a two hour shoot your product(s) is photographed from all sides with great lighting and different exposures, ensuring you have the magic shot. Images are delivered with a photo proof thumbnail sheet and CD-ROM with two brightness settings for each photo. Clipping path application option is available as well.

These high resolution images can easily be utilized for any media such as:

Brochures
Websites
Presentations
Newsletters
Videos
Emails
Literature
Product Spec Sheets
Catalog Pages
Wall or Show Booth Graphics
. . .and More

We mean it when we say “Your Product is our Profession”.  So let us complete your project with a professional photography shoot which will celebrate and perpetuate your product.  You will be able to utilize your new display in more ways and more places to get the most from your expenditure.  Call CalCo at 847/639-3858 or click here to get more information or pricing.  Visit us on Facebook too.

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.

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.