Polyurethane machinery firm celebrates 40 years in U.S., shows off $4 million expansion

CRANBERRY TWP., Pa.—About 55 Cannon S.p.A. employees from around the world gathered in a Pittsburgh suburb to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Italian polyurethane equipment maker's division, Cannon USA, and see its 26,000-sq.-ft. expansion.

Forty years in the U.S. proves the privately held Cannon has a long-term vision for business in the United States, Cannon USA President Paolo Spinelli said. That also shows in the $4 million expansion, which more than doubles the manufacturing space in the Cranberry Township factory and includes an office upgrade.

"We see a stable growth in the market. And we see more and more the advantages of manufacturing in the U.S., which is not just an economical reason," he said. "For sure, the exchange rate and now the dollar is strong and it's easier to buy from Europe. But then you have the tariffs. Besides, all of this variation that you cannot consider—it's changing every year."

Beyond dollars and cents, Spinelli said, having a U.S. manufacturing operation has helped Cannon serve customers better here.

"We speak the same language and have the same mentality," he said. And for a European company, making machinery in the U.S. means the company employs domestic people with engineering and manufacturing expertise. He believes that's better than simply stocking spare parts.

"Something breaks, you replace it. It's easy. But to replace something that you have to change the design and so on, you have to understand why it was designed in the first time like this," he said. Having engineering in the U.S., he said, is "very, very important. It makes such a difference."

Cannon USA also employs seven service technicians.

Leonardo Volpato, a prolific inventor, founded Cannon in 1962 in Italy, initially to make spray polyester systems. The company grew, and after his partner Carlo Fiorentini joined three years later, Cannon got into polyurethane machinery—and never looked back. The two families still own Cannon, based north of Milan in Caronno Pertusella.

Leonardo's son, Marco Volpato, Cannon's president and CEO, spoke at the open house. He said the owners firmly believe that a company like Cannon needs be family-owned, not owned by private equity.

"We carry on projects for decades. Not years. Decades," he said in an interview. "It could take 10 or 15 years for projects to come together."

Cannon S.p.A. also makes thermoforming machines for industrial parts.

Now Cannon is moving into new niche areas and new markets for its foam machinery, where it can use its experience of precisely mixing two liquids together, Volpato said.

"Now we're not only talking about polyurethane," he said. "We are talking about urea. We are talking phenolics."

Cannon moved early to set up a U.S. manufacturing operation, where its polyurethane equipment had found a giant market in automotive and appliance markets. The Italian company set up Cannon USA in 1978 in Warrendale, Pa., then in 1987 moved the operation a few miles away to Cranberry Township, where the building was enlarged over the years.

Today, the company employs 67 people at its main factory in Cranberry and another plant in nearby Zelienople, Pa., where open house visitors saw an 80-foot-long refrigerator insulation line with eight stations, which Cannon is modifying for a customer's U.S. plant.

Spinelli said Cannon USA generates annual sales of about $25 million -$30 million a year.

Part of the expansion in Cranberry is a higher ceiling and a 10-ton crane. Spinelli said that will allow the plant to build larger machines, including lines with mezzanine structures above. The big crane also will help employees move heavy components around the manufacturing space.

The mixing head is the heart of polyurethane machinery. Two liquid chemical components are mixed together in a turbulent flow section, then the mixture has to move smoothly, in a laminar flow, into the mold. They react and create foam. Cannon USA brings its mixing heads in from the Italian parent's factory, but U.S. technicians refurbish used mixing heads.

The Cranberry plant does light machining. Spinelli said the U.S. operation uses a local contractor to machine big surfaces.

"We make the machine and metering side here, and we marry it with the customer," he said. Cranberry employees also make control panels.

At the Cranberry plant, Fanuc articulating robots get programmed for specific customer needs. Mixing heads are fixed on the robot, which moves to fill in areas of a large mold.

Spinelli said it's important to employ robot experts at Cannon USA.

"Who writes the software has to understand how the system works, how the customer wants things to flow and so on," he said. "So they must be people who not only are very good to write the software, but they go to the customer. They see a line producing seats. What's critical? What does the customer need to improve productivity? To do maintenance? The software is critical."