Trade fair system · CP Pump Systems

Mobile trade fair stand for the USA

TPS Houston 2024

Instead of renting furniture anew for each trade fair, CP relies on its own reusable stand equipment in the USA. The stand box and furniture are designed to match: every appearance looks the same, is quick to set up and can be planned reliably.

The system consists of three parts: the stand box with its own transport crate, the trade fair box and the storage crate. Between fairs it is kept in a rented warehouse in the USA, so there is no transport across the Atlantic.

1 · The stand box

Storage, workspace and eye-catcher in one

The stand box is custom-made: a walk-in cabin of light, white blockboard, 2 × 2 m and 3 m high, with a lockable door, adjustable shelves and a fold-out work table. During the fair it stores brochures, promotional items and the team’s jackets. I coordinated the build with a Swiss crate maker.

For the outer walls I developed a wraparound design: a birch forest across all four sides, above it on a white background the CP logo and the claim “cleaner pumps, cleaner planet™”. This makes the box the centrepiece of the stand, recognisable from afar.

For transport, the stand box has its own crate made of three-layer panels that holds all the walls upright. With my assembly instructions in English, the team sets up the box without a stand builder: the walls are numbered, marked top and bottom, and screws and keys come in a separate box.

Visualisation, created from my final layout

Construction

Design

Final layout of the four walls — Final layout, four walls

Transport crate

Assembly instructions

2 · Trade fair box and storage crate

One travels, one stays in the warehouse

Trade fair box

It accompanies the stand box to every major trade fair and contains everything the stand needs apart from the exhibits. It is made by the same crate maker and from the same wood as the storage crate.

White furniture to match the stand box: 2 round tables with 8 chairs, 2 high tables with 4 bar stools
Brochures and promotional items for the fair
Carpet and technical equipment
Name badges and coffee machine

Sketch of the trade fair box: at the front 2 tables stacked, a high table and boxes of promotional items, at the back 4 bar stools in a 2 × 2 block, the second high table and 8 stacked chairs, plus the top view — Sketch

Storage crate

It stays in the warehouse and serves as a stock of promotional material. For customer visits and smaller appearances, the US sales team takes what it needs directly from it and reports when something is missing. Supplies arrive in two ways: the US salespeople take material with them on visits to Switzerland, or it is sent to them. They then refill the crate on site themselves.

I sketched the layout with open compartments and closed drawers myself. It was built as a custom wooden crate, around 1.3 × 1.1 m and 1.5 m high.

Storage crate from the front — Compartment 1

Storage crate from the back — Compartment 2

3 · Before – after

From 3D planning to the finished stand

Before ordering and building, I planned the stand in 3D: the position of the stand box, the arrangement of the plinths with the exhibits, and the high tables and seating areas.

3D planning from July 2024: blue floor, stand box in the corner, white plinths, high tables and seating areas

The finished stand at TPS Houston 2024: stand box, white high tables and stools, plinths with pumps

Before · 3D planning, July 2024

4 · In use

One system, many appearances

Since 2024 the trade fair system has been used at the major US trade fairs, without additional rented furniture.

TPS HoustonAugust 2024

First use

First use of the stand box, furniture and transport crate.

TFS OrlandoApril 2025

600 sq ft island space, open on four sides, self-built. Stand box and furniture came from the warehouse, supplemented by a shipment from Switzerland with exhibits, brochures and giveaways.

TFS TampaNovember 2026

Upcoming

400 sq ft, self-built, again with the trade fair system.

My tasks