Eye-Catching Displays Can Make Your Booth More Power-Full

Walking around the show floor at the recent Power-Gen Show in Las Vegas, it is clear an abundance of power solutions are available, and the market is growing.

One of the larger exhibitors at the show, Leslie Controls, Inc. (designer and manufacturer of control valves for over a century – providing ZERO LEAK control valves for the power generation, industrial, marine and oil and gas markets), took advantage of their open booth design by placing product and information at every corner of the booth. The overall look was fantastic and drew in many people to learn more about Leslie Controls, and how their product’s advantages set them apart.

Does your booth offer an opportunity for prospective clients to have a hands-on experience in regards to your products? Sometimes this makes all the difference in the world.

Contact CalCo at 847-639-3858 for help with your booth or product displays.   Click here for more contact information or visit us on Facebook.

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.

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.

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.

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.