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A Stronger Cannon USA for a Strategic Market
FOUNDED IN 1978, CANNON USA WILL SOON CELEBRATE ITS 40 YEARS OF ACTIVITY IN NORTH AMERICA. WE DISCOVER WITH PAOLO SPINELLI, THE CEO, IF IT ' S TRUE THAT“ LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY”
Paolo Spinelli is CEO of Cannon USA since April 2003. Born and raised in Italy, holding a degree from Politecnico di Milano in Mechanical Engineering, he matured a solid background in Polyurethane foaming plants since 1982.
After several years spent in management positions with Cannon Afros in Italy, Cannon France and Cannon Viking in the UK, Paolo was selected to lead the North American branch of the Cannon Group. We learn from about his company, who will soon th cross their 40 milestone.
Cannon News: Who is Cannon USA today? Paolo Spinelli: We are a 6 0- p e o p l e C o m p a n y p r o v i d i n g S a l e s, M a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d Service for the Cannon Group ' s lines of products in North America. We do it for various major industrial markets, with local Product Management and a strong designing capacity in both mechanical and software departments. We are proud to contribute, with many years of pro itable results, to the growth of Cannon in America.
CN: Which are your main markets? PS: I think that, amongst our competitors, we are the most widely present in very different ields of the Polyurethane industry and now also of the Composite areas: one third of our turnover comes from the Automotive industry, with a very diversi ied range of technologies, one third comes from the thermal insulation business, split between refrigerators and insulation panels, and the remaining one third includes a world of other applications. Flexible foams, ilters, technical article, aerospace, sport items … you name it, we are in it. It ' s easier to state where we are not present, in Polyurethane: roof spraying equipment, shoe soling, adhesives and coatings, TDI-based cast elastomers. The rest, we know.
CN: How do you cover such a diversi ied range of technologies and markets, from the organisational point of view? PS: With a sound staff, that has been streamlined, if compared with the situation of a few decades ago, reinforcing it with fresh, competent members. We have hired new, young forces in the Technical Of ice, R & D and Service groups. We regularly replace our retiring staff with new employees, which contribute with a modern mentality to our problemsolving approach. Our Sales forces have been reinforced, we count four specialists for the Automotive markets and three for Insulation. The R & D facility now counts a fully dedicated staff utilising a diversi ied range of equipment – four different dosing machines, one press and a robot – for various technologies. We use it extensively to run trials with our customers and the Raw Material Suppliers, both for testing new applications and for producing batches of prototypes. Our“ plus” factor has been the capacity to develop, and maintain, in the USA the know-how for design and fabrication of this equipment: this guarantees the de inition of projects in full accordance with our client ' s requirements, using locally available components and providing a fast and quali ied tech service and spare parts supply. We daily cooperate with our Italian sister companies for the exchange of innovation and technology, working with them for the most complex jobs, those who require our European manufacturing resources. What makes us different is our capacity to serve and assist our customers with an important number of quali ied technicians. Backed up by a staff of designers quite familiar with the processes and equipment. We have the solutions promptly available, without waiting for a European Headquarter to respond.
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