Archive of E-Zine Articles

Exhibit Storage Containers: How they affect exhibitor costs - Real Life Examples - Part 2

Volume 2, Article 3, February 15, 2006

As we specified in the past two articles we just completed the design and construction of two new exhibits and are fresh in from Las Vegas where we oversaw their installation and dismantle in the field at two distinct trade shows. With our current experiences fresh in mind, we would like to make some conclusions as to the selection of exhibit storage containers and their affect on trade show exhibit running costs and exhibit maintenance.

Part II: How exhibit storage containers affect costs

Observations from the field - How exhibit storage containers affect costs - Example 1: Construction, Installation and Dismantle of Jump USA, Inc

We set-up the Jump booth at the WSA Show. This show is famous for particularly cramped quarters during installation and dismantle. One of our key construction criteria was that the exhibit fill no more than one truck in order to greatly reduce the trucking costs. We also, always try to apply common sense in order to reduce installation & dismantle and other running costs.

Summary - we were fully triumphant.

1) The exhibit filled a 53’ truck container right to the back. There was literally 2’ of room at the end of the truck. The customer was able to pay for exactly a truckload. This creates the greatest cost efficiency as partial loads or LTL (less than full truckload) costs are much higher than the purchase of a full truckload.

2) The exhibit is packed in 4 crates and 8 custom built skids with special additional packaging and fixturing designed to protect the exhibit during shipping. Skids were used as a way to decrease exhibit weight and allow for additional space during set-up and dismantle at the WSA Show. With these and other design choices the resulting exhibit weighs 13460 lbs.

Those of you familiar with exhibit weight should be thinking wow! A typical exhibit that fills a truckload is 20,000 lbs. minimum. 22 standard sized crates fill 52’ of a 53’ container and that is the size of a standard 18 wheeler. Those same crates weigh 1000 lbs. on average so 20-22,000 lbs is very normal for a truckload filled with a custom exhibit. In addition, this is a very well-equipped exhibit: Custom painted carpeting and padding, a full stereo system with a subwoofer, refrigerator, bar, 40 light fixtures and light headers. And yet, with careful design and specification we achieved a weight 30% less than average. This lower weight lowers the cost of freight handling and exhibit storage costs by the same 30%.

3) Possible drawback does not hold true! Now for those of you really familiar with the trade show process you are saying to yourself that we didn’t eliminate 30% of the costs, because the exhibitor would be charged a higher rate for freight handling since most of the exhibit was skidded. While we cannot speak for every show, this wasn’t the case at WSA. At this show, we were billed for a fully crated exhibit, not the higher uncrated rate.

Exhibit Performance Specifications and Budget

4) This is an award winning exhibit. We won the Best New Exhibitor Award at this past WSA show. Although, it is light and costs less to run, it is extremely well equipped, outstanding to work in and represents Jump's product extremely well.

5) This exhibit did not cost anymore than an average custom exhibit to design and construct. In fact, the exhibit including the stereo system, carpeting, shipping containers, all hand-painted two-tone custom interior plus exterior and even a vacuum cost $150 / Square foot – this number represents exactly the industry average. Again these results are all about design and materials choices.

Observations from the field - How exhibit storage containers affect costs - Example 2: Construction, Installation and Dismantle of 5ive Jungle

In addition to all of the design and construction, we supervised installation and dismantle of 5ive Jungle at the MAGIC Show. Again one of our key design and construction criteria was that the exhibit should weigh as little as possible to greatly reduce the exhibit’s running costs including the costs of freight handling and storage.

The results re-define what is really possible:

1) Exhibit Equipment Specifications - A 20’ x 20’ exhibit that stands 15’ tall, is walled on 4 sides, contains 3 workstations, a showroom area and locked doors. This exhibit has 3 good sized tables, 10 chairs, a neon sign, and 12 light fixtures. Incredibly it packs into 2 standard sized crates 4’ W x 4’ D x 8.5’ H. The total exhibit weight is 1904 lbs including all of the materials listed above, power cords, graphics, carpet and padding.

2) Exhibit Performance Specifications - This exhibit ships for about ½ the cost of a typical 20’ x 20’ custom. It weighs about 1/3 of a typical 20’ x 20’. At 15’ tall and with an interesting tent like shape that ties in nicely with the 5ive Jungle corporate identity, it represents the company well and is very visible. In addition, this fully equipped exhibit cost about ½ of the $150 / square foot industry average to design and construct.

Conclusion - We suggest that you specify how you would like your exhibit packed early on in the design process. Also, mention that the cost and weight of storage containers is an issue early on in the design process and if possible, directly on your RFP (Request for Proposal). Specify that the parts of the exhibit that must be in crates to be best protected, easy to pack securely, or hidden from view be packed in this way. On the other hand, for parts that can be shipped safely using other methods, alternative means should be considered, planned for and implemented.

Keep in mind that some exhibit builders are more expensive than others, but that their cost to you does not represent their creative abilities as trade show exhibit booth designers and display builders or their ability to run your exhibit in the field. In the exhibitor world, you don’t always get what you pay for!