CannonSpA showed an expansion of $4 million

CannonSpA, an Italian polyurethane equipment manufacturer, gathered 55 employees from around the world in the suburbs of Pittsburgh to celebrate the 40th anniversary of CannonUSA and visit its 26,000 square feet expansion project.

Paolo Spinelli, president of Cannon USA, said that the 40-year history in the United States proves that privately held Conlon has a long-term business vision in the United States. This is reflected in the $4 million expansion project, which has more than doubled the manufacturing space of Cranberry Township factories in the United States, including office upgrades.

He said: "We have seen steady growth in the market. We see an increasing number of manufacturing advantages in the United States, not just for economic reasons. Of course, the current exchange rate and the dollar are very strong, and it's easier to buy products from Europe. But customs duties are required. In addition, all these changes you can't control are changing every year. Spinelli said that in addition to the US dollar and the US dollar exchange rate, owning the US manufacturing business has helped Cannon provide better services to its customers here.

"We speak the same language and have the same mentality," he said. For a European company, manufacturing machinery in the United States means hiring domestic employees with engineering and manufacturing expertise. He thinks it's better than simply storing spare parts.

He said, "If something is broken, you can replace it. It's simple. But in order to replace something, you have to change the design and so on. You have to understand why it was designed this way for the first time. It's very important to design in the United States, and it's going to have a big impact. Conlon USA also employs seven service technicians. The prolific inventor Leonardo Volpato founded Cannon in Italy in 1962, originally to produce spray-coated polyester systems. The company grew, and three years later, when Carlo Fiorentini, his partner, joined the company, Conlon entered the polyurethane machinery industry, forging ahead. The two families still own Cannon, located in Caronno Pertusella, northern Milan, Italy. Marco Volpato, son of Leonardo and President and CEO of Cannon, spoke in public. He said company owners believed that companies like Cannon should be owned by families, not by private equity.

In an interview, he said: "We have been working on projects for decades. Not years. Project integration may take 10 or 15 years. CannonSpA also produces thermoforming equipment for industrial parts.

Volpato said that Cannon's foam machinery is now entering new niche and new markets, where it can make use of its experience in precisely mixing two liquids.

"Now we're not just talking about polyurethane," he said. "We are talking about urea. We are talking about phenolics. Cannon started its manufacturing business in the United States early, and its polyurethane equipment has found a huge market in the automotive and household appliances markets. The Italian company founded Cannon USA in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, in 1978, then relocated the business to Cranberry Township a few miles away in 1987, after which the plant has been expanding for many years. Today, the company has 67 employees at its main Cranberry plant and another plant in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. Here, visitors can see an 80-foot refrigerator insulation line with eight sites, and Cannon is renovating its American factories for customers. Spinelli said Cannon USA had annual sales of about $25 million to $30 million.

Part of Conlon's expansion in Cranberry Country was to build higher plant ceilings and add a 10-ton crane. Spinelli said this would enable the factory to build larger machines, including production lines with sandwich structures. Large cranes will also help employees move heavy components in manufacturing space. Hybrid head is the core of polyurethane machinery. The two liquid chemical components are mixed together in the flow zone, and then the mixture must move smoothly into the die by laminar flow. They react and produce bubbles. CannonUSA introduced its mixing head from the Italian parent company's factory in the United States, but American technicians refurbished the used mixing head. Cranberry Factory carries out light processing. Spinelli says U.S. operations use local contractors to process large surfaces.

He said, "We make machines and measuring devices here, and we integrate them with customer needs," and Cranberry factory employees also make control panels.

In Cranberry Factory, Fanuc Pronunciation Robot can be programmed according to the specific needs of customers. The hybrid head is fixed on the robot, and the robot moves to fill the area of the large die.

Spinelli said it was important to hire robotics experts in CannonUSA.

He said, "The person who writes software must understand it."