Cannon Group comprises over 30 companies and is recognized as a world leader in technologies, processing, and molds for polyurethanes (PU), epoxy, and urethane elastomers for the plastics and composites industries. The Group’s interconnected businesses work in synergy to provide turnkey production plants for PU, multi-component resins, composite materials, and die-cast aluminum processing, serving an array of industries such as automotive and transportation, renewables, and cold chain, building and construction, furniture, medical and electronics.

“Dedication to improve manufacturing processes and productivity, coupled with health and safety concerns, has been at the core of Cannon Group’s strategy for over 40 years when we eliminated cleaning solvents for our PU processing mixing heads, replaced low-pressure mixing technology with high-pressure self-cleaning heads. The introduction of our game-changing free pouring laminar mixing head in 1979 revolutionized the way molded polyurethanes were produced, bringing cost-savings and especially environmental advantages in the workplace and, an avant-garde example of sustainability-driven innovation,” said Dario Pigliafreddo, Key Account Manager at Cannon Afros. “Sustainability has become a core business imperative and Cannon invests 5% of annual turnover in research and development which is the essential driver for innovative, technologically advanced, and increasingly sustainable products for our customers.”

The influence of composites is acutely predominant in two major industries – automotive and transportation, and renewable energy, especially wind turbines.

Cannon fully meets the automotive industry’s demanding requirements with superior expertise and the design and engineering of turnkey solutions to deliver high-quality products while optimizing cycle times and energy consumption, and the safety of factory floor personnel.

Automotive OEMs need to reduce the total weight of vehicles while maintaining high levels of safety, performance, and aesthetics. The Group’s knowledge and experience in PU and epoxy processing technology is extended and encompasses fiber-reinforced materials processing and composite technologies, fully optimized to provide advanced solutions and tailor-made applications.

The automotive industry is undergoing upheaval with the burgeoning rise of hybrid and fully electric vehicles (EVs), heavier than thermal combustion counterparts, and are also using composites more and more as part of lightweighting initiatives in body and powertrain applications to increase their autonomy.

Composite enclosures for EV batteries are a critical application with a complex array of constraints ranging from crash, impact and fire resistance to corrosion, dust and moisture incursion, stone impact, and in some circumstances, electrostatic discharge. Composite underrun protection shields further safeguard the battery casings. In addition, Cannon offers fully automated plants, including dosing units, mixing heads, and robots allowing micro-dosing processes of thermosetting polymers, silicone, or epoxy resin for gasketing and potting guarantee the protection of battery electrical and electronic components. In addition, Cannon supplies presses, molds, and automation related to sheet molding compounds (SMC), pre-preg compression molding (PCM), hybrid processes, high-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM), Interwet-LFI, and other technologies to produce battery cases, lids, trays, and covers.

Further developments include high-precision multi-mixing heads and dosing systems for the filament winding process focusing mainly on the growing demands for Type VI composite pressure vessels and tanks for the transportation industry, where precision in mixing ratio, flowrate and temperature control are crucial.

Cannon Group has been collaborating with Tier 1 wind turbine blade manufacturers for over 15 years. Wind turbine blades are typically manufactured using glass fiber composite materials with thermoset resins and is the highest volume market for composites which enable innovative rotor blade designs to enhance turbine efficiency and lower the overall cost of electricity. Cannon supplies innovative turnkey HP-RTM, wet compression molding (WCM) and long fiber injection (LFI) plants fully equipped with dosing machines for epoxy resins, adhesives and pultrusion, vacuum degassing systems, and recently introduced a novel direct infusion system to automatize and provide accurate higher volume dosing to accelerate vacuum infusion (VARTM) for repeatable, reliable, and quicker production process that reduces waste, drastically lowers VOCs, and improves operator safety.

For more than five decades, Cannon Group has been active in a wide range of composite technologies providing state-of-the-art and game-changing engineering solutions delivering efficient and reliable dosing metering and mixing machines for reactive resins, preforming units for glass and carbon fiber, high tonnage presses with handling and shuttling systems for complete production lines, and mold design and manufacturing. A key sustainability-driven milestone to reduce the impact of industrial production on the environment resulted from an innovative pilot process to prove the viability of producing carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) from recycled carbon fiber with some mechanical properties comparable to virgin material.

Extensive know-how and a significant aptitude for innovation, proven by over 200 patents, enables Cannon to conceive and develop efficient solutions tailored to meet customers’ needs. By implementing intentional changes to improve our environmental footprint, Cannon Group’s products, processes, and services generate durable environmental benefits for its customers while at the same time creating economic gains for the Group.

Cannon will feature a presentation focusing on ‘Structural and Aesthetic Lightweight Applications for EVs with Interwet-LFI Technology’ led by Fabio Carminati, Sales Manager, Cannon Tipos, during the ‘Composites Exchange’ sessions at JEC World 2023 on Wednesday, April 26 Agora 5 (16:30-16:55).

Cannon Group is exhibiting at JEC World 2023, Paris Nord Villepinte, Paris, France (April 25-27), in Hall 5 Booth N56. 

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