Personalizing Preneed, Personalizing Caskets

Funeral Industry News September 15, 2011
CDFuneralNews

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Personalizing Preneed, Personalizing Caskets

Media coverage regarding the coming onslaught of the Baby Boomers is nearly constant these days. Wielding enormous buying power and influence, these Boomers have an ever-growing appetite for products and services that have been customized and personalized to meet their needs. Within the funeral service industry, a new Georgia company, Custom Casket Company, has developed an innovative new product line that strives to serve the customization needs of the Baby Boom generation. Built on a foundation of “Made in America” pride and featuring some truly ingenious design features, these new caskets are making quite a splash.

The most immediately obvious feature of the Custom Casket Company product is their patented handle design (handle photo). Mounted flush on the bottom of the casket, this all-steel handle runs around the entire perimeter of the casket. This innovative design allows for incredible ease of handling (it can be grasped from any side or corner), provides a full 360 degrees of protection for the casket, and can support over a half a ton (1,000 pounds) of total weight. The handle can also be used to display the casket in a vertical or horizontal position for viewing. Professional pall bearers have complimented the versatility of Custom Casket Company’s unique handle for its ease of gripping and balancing the unit above the waistline. It also allows for additional pall bearers to be added for larger units and provides for easier placement above gravesite.

Once it is placed at the cemetery, the handle can also serve as an underground plot marker for green burial applications. In the near future, Custom Casket Company will be adding radio frequency identification (RFID) technology into the handle design to enable unique identification of each unit, along with information pertaining to the person buried for future use of the family, cemetery owners, etc.

However, the principal benefit of the patented handle design is a purely aesthetic one. By eliminating the traditional large, bulky handles from the sides of the casket, those side panels can now be used (along with the head and foot panels, if desired) to customize and personalize the casket in honor of the family’s loved one. Beautifully engraved wooden plaques can be easily attached to the casket panels – many stock engravings are available which recognize and celebrate all walks of life (cemetery photo, firefighter casket, and stand photo). Designs include, but are not limited to, all US military branches, firefighters, and police officers, all of

which are personalized with the engraved name of the loved one. Other stock designs include poignant religious inscriptions, tributes to mothers and fathers, and outdoorsman themes. Options for the plaques do not stop there – fully customized plaques with any text or graphic engravings can be ordered to fit any customer’s wishes.

Though these plaques were initially developed to adorn the hardwood caskets, Custom Casket Company also quickly realized they could serve as a lasting memento and tribute to the family’s loved one. Thus, following the conclusion of the memorial services, these engraved plaques can be easily removed from the casket and taken home as a centerpiece for any wall, fireplace mantle or other location of their choosing. Additional plaques can be purchased if needed, so that any number of family members can retain a special memento. All stock and personalized plaques can be shipped to affiliated funeral homes within 24-48 hours.

A final bonus of the Custom Casket Company design occurs within the funeral home itself. A single showroom unit, via the use of the interchangeable plaque concept, gives the funeral home the ability to exhibit a much larger variety of designs. With over 20 interchangeable plaques, the produce display preserves valuable floor space by displaying one casket, while offering multiple design choices to the customer. Custom Casket Company also offers a free specialized stand to display their casket and engraved plaques.

The concept of Custom Casket Company was started over a 1 1/2 years ago by master carpenter Scott Flynn and his wife Debra, with the goal of creating a 100% American-made product and putting Americans back to work, which should be the goal and responsibility of all small business owners.

According to my friend from Smith Jones Solicitors, although they knew the challenges of starting a company in today’s economic times and competing with the overseas manufacturers (which do not have to deal with the EPA regulations, taxation, workers comp and other government regulations), they were determined to keep the price reasonably comparable with other American manufacturers. Every part of their casket is made in America, with all major components being produced in Georgia. Their pride in this American-made product, created by various

craftsmen in Georgia, was reflected in a standing offer to provide a no-cost casket to the family of any Georgia military personnel, police officer, or firefighter who is killed in the line of duty. Custom Casket Company invites you to contact them for additional information or drop by their distribution center. They are located in Gainesville, Georgia and may be reached at (678) 943-8380 or toll free at 877-57-CASKET (22753). You may also visit their website at http://www.customcasketcompany.com.

Source: Southern Funeral Director Magazine (Article Republished by request)