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Editor:Edition:

Max Taverna09/2011

communication@cannon.it

www.cannon.com

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Published by:

Cannon CommunicationVia Resistenza, 12 Peschiera Borromeo (Mi - Italy)

Afros S.p.A.

Via Q. Sella, 3 - 20121 Milano (Italy)

Wong Lee Meng, MD of Cannon Far East, highlights tothe Cannon News the most significant aspects of hisDivision’s performances in the recent past.

Wong Lee Meng:

Cannon News: How is in general the Far East areaperforming, in comparison with the rest of the World, andwhich are the most interesting applications in terms ofindustrial development, in the near and medium term?

There is nodoubt that Far East has thefastest growth in the past fewyears, compared to Europe andthe USA. Asia, especially China,has coped well with thefinancial crisis that started in2008. The many measurestaken to fend off the crisistook effect. The loss in exportwas quickly compensated bythe domestic stimulus plan.That resulted in the highgrowth in home appliances,automobile, infrastructure suchas rail road, housingconstruction. In the last two

years we saw explosive growth in the home appliances, especiallyrefrigerators and freezers. Now China is the world's largestmanufacturing country of home appliances. In 2010, theproduction capacity reached 97 millions units, which is 31.5%more than 2009. In 2010 the domestic consumption and exporthave reached a historical high figure. Haier has overtaken the restto become the world's top manufacturer of home refrigerator.The top five local brands – as well as some of the foreign ones –have been expanding their facility for the past two years. Some ofthem have already started to venture out of China, investing inIndia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia. The explosive growth in thecapacity of home appliances in China for the past two years hascreated an over-capacity at the moment. So this industry will gothrough a period of consolidation before it starts to grow again.As the population becomes more affluent, we see higher growthin the bigger capacity refrigerators.

Automobile also grew more than one million vehicles per year forthe past three to four years in China. Far East is the only growtharea while the rest of the world came to a halt in automobileproduction. Now almost all the world's automobile producershave production facilities in the Far East, especially in China andIndia. They try to capture the growing affluence of thepopulation in the region. Luxury brands such as BMW andMercedes Benz have the best sales performance in China, betterthan in their own home market. The per-capita ownership of carremains low in the Far East. China has less than 100 owners per1,000 persons, compared to more than 500-800 in Europe andUSA. So we can still see good growth potential in China, Indiaand emerging countries for automobiles.Energy saving and green energy industry also enjoy good growth,with the world focusing on energy saving and carbon emissionsreduction. PUR sandwich panel are growing at a steady rate andthis will go on in the medium and long term.

For the past two years Cannon Far East achieved morethan double growth as compared to the previous year and this isthe fastest growth period since its incorporation eleven years ago.We achieved strong sales in China, Thailand and Malaysia,especially from China.During the last two years we saw explosive sales in

The top five Chinese local makers, spurred by the stronglocal demand, have been investing heavily in the productioncapacity across the country. Cannon maintained the leadershipposition in this exponential growth area with a market share ofmore than 75%. This growth started in 2010 and continued tillto-date. We achieved good result in Thailand. Together withNippon Cannon, we managed to sell big refrigerator plants toPanasonic, Sharp and Sanyo in Thailand and Vietnam, where webenefitted greatly from the relocation of the Japanesemanufacturers. Our newly developed EasyDrum system forrefrigerator door production is now up and running in SharpThailand.

The new vacuum-assisted cabinet foaming system developed incooperation with Dow - Pascal™ - is now in full production inHaier Chongqing.We have introduced the latest JL mixing head to the market andsoon some of the plants will be using this state-of-the–art headfor cabinet foaming.So we see the refrigerator sector as one of the main contributorsto the significant growth of Cannon in the Far East Asia.

We are also very successful in theDuring the period of middle of 2010 to to-date, we delivered sixfull seating and headrest plants within China and outside.We also successfully carried out plant extension for the Japanesemanufacturers such as Kurabo and Toyota Boshuku.In Malaysia we will soon be installing three seating and headrestplants to APM and Lear, the local leading auto parts makers.

Apart from our traditional strong hold of seating and steeringwheel, we also achieved significant sales, in China and Taiwan, inthe area of instrument panel, engine cover ( with the Baypregsystem), headliner and sunroof encapsulation. In July only weachieved three significant sales in China and Taiwan from aleading Japanese maker of instrument panel for Nissan.

Our more recent orders include plants or machines forinternational parts maker such as Faurecia, Lear, Pelzer, JohnsonControl, IAC,KAAC, just to name a few. So you can see that ourgrowth is very widely spread, with China leading the dance.

Some more significant sales worth mentioning: we have installedin Taiwan the first phenolic foam plant using high pressuremachine. Also we have secured an order for the design andsupply of equipment for the manufacture of special windowframe. This plant will be delivered to a European-Chinese jointventure company and the plant will be installed in China.

CN: Could you give us an overview of Cannon's activitiesin the Far East & China markets during the past two years ?

WLM:

refrigeratormarket.

automotive market.

Cannon grows in Far East AsiaThe strong results that we achieved in these years have

put great pressure on our organization in term of manpower: inanticipation of more growth, we have been recruiting andexpanding. Now the CFE Group has 150 staff. Since then wehave moved our Shanghai office to a modern office block in theheart of downtown Shanghai. We are now the leading companyin the Far East in terms of organization and market share. Ourown offices in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand andVietnam have given us the strength to look after our customerswhen they start their regional expansion from one country toanother within the Far East region.For that they prefer to talk to Cannon, rather than to differentagencies of our competitors. Also our Chinese manufacturingbase – Shinnon - has been relocated to a new factory three timesthe size of the last one.

We are expanding our manufacturing strength in China,where now we count more than 100 staff. Shinnon, that iscoming to be seven years old this fall, obtained in 2010 theTUV/ISO certification, and this has brought tremendously goodresults during these years. We have a strong technical department,sales and after-sales team. The incorporation of Shinnon is timelyto catch the strong growth of the market, especially in China.We are ahead of our competition in terms of growth path, andwe continue to grow from strength to strength. Shinnon today,apart from making single machines for the local market, hasachieved a great experience in manufacturing plants for theautomotive and the refrigerator markets and for specialapplication, both for domestic sales and for export.In support of the Cannon Group worldwide, we already seeShinnon-manufactured equipment that is successfully running inUSA, Europe, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, just to name afew countries. Shinnon customers base include great names suchas JCI, Lear, Toyota Boshuku, Kurabo, Calsonic Kasei, Faurecia,Haier, Meiling etc. All these are leading auto interior trim andrefrigerator makers from Europe, USA, Japan and China.Shinnon confirms to be one of the strongest manufacturingbases of the Cannon Group. We will grow this company tosupport the whole Cannon Group. We will continue to upgradestaff quality and strength to achieve cost effective productionwith good quality and design. At this moment the activity hasbeen focused on PUR-related products. Being Cannon adiversified Group dealing with thermoforming, Aluminium diecasting, automation, energy and ecology, it is not difficult toenvisage that the next growth of Shinnon could derive fromthese non-PUR application and make Shinnon a very diversifiedlocal Chinese company. We will surely continue to brand Shinnonto become the best name in PUR manufacturing within China,just the way Cannon has achieved international reputation to bethe world leader in PUR!

CN: What does this effort mean for Cannon, in terms oforganization?

CN: Talking about Shinnon, what is this manufacturingcenter going to become in the near future?

WLM:

WLM:

Shinnon welcomes the Group President, Carlo Fiorentini, in the new factory.

It’s TIMEto CHANGE!

SMART

TECHNOLOGY

SAVE

ENERGY

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Cannon, the right heads for your business!"The head is the heart of the system” is a well knownstatement at Cannon, repeated endlessly in every printeddocument, web page and presentation referring to theGroup's Polyurethane Division. We interview on thisfascinating subject Alberto Zarantonello, Cannon AfrosDivision General Manager: he is the head of the Group'sfounding Company, fully dedicated to mixing andmetering technologies for Polyurethanes and otherreactive formulations.

Cannon News: The development of innovative and efficientmixing heads has driven the growth of Cannon Afros and –as a logic consequence – to the establishment of the CannonGroup in the late 1980's. How important is for you, after somany years and so many produced models, the developmentof new mixing head?

CN: Can you give us recent examples of this evolution, then?

Alberto Zarantonello:

AZ:

automotive Cavity Filling

For the 24:1 ratio chemicals wedeveloped the Trio 7 high-pressure head

For the 1:1 ratio chemicals a dedicated LN5 head

Very important! We could not think ofstopping here and simply consolidating our vast range of models.

It simply would be wrongfor our future. All the largechemical Groupssupplying Polyurethanes,Silicones and Epoxies arecharacterised by a vividR&D spirit. Theyconstantly generatechemical innovation anddevelopment of new enduses. All this fermentprovides new challenges tous, the machinery guys,because their formulationsrequire dedicated mixingand metering solutions toprovide the highestmechanical or aspectperformances.

Unfortunately the existing hardware not always provides theoptimum results. Therefore we must keep a far-sighted approachand continue the search for new, more performing solutions.

Sure, but let me first set the starting point of our philosophy.We start with the final product: we listen to our customer,examine his specific problem, define what he needs. If a solutionis available we recommend it, otherwise we evaluate if that newrequest is worth a dedicated development. In the latter case westart a project and – most of the times – we end up with a propersolution. This is our approach. The head comes first, then wedefine which dosing machine is required, and the rest of the plantfollows. Recent examples, you say? We've got quite a number ofinteresting ones. I could start with anproject. We usually meet – for Noise, Vibration, and Harshness(NVH) applications – two different types of formulations: one isa conventional 1:1 ratio and the second a very extreme 24:1 ratiorecipe. The liquids are very different from the viscosity andreactivity point of view.

, one in a family ofCannon mixheads designed with three internal chemical passagesenabling optimized mixing of high ratio, high viscosityPolyurethane chemistries. Using two of the streams for thecomponent fed in higher quantity the mixing efficiency increasesand the manageable output range widens significantly. Just tomention one example, Cannon's Trio-7 mixhead has been inoperation at Chrysler's Windsor, Canada Assembly Plant since2006. Obviously, performance standards for equipment placeddirectly on an automotive assembly line are very high. The Trio 7mixhead has exceeded Chrysler's expectations with an average of750,000 cycles in continuous operation and one mixhead hasrecorded 1,365,000 cycles! Obtaining high shot counts is onefactor, but in addition to this achievement the Trio 7 has alsodemonstrated superior mixing quality with the high ratio NVHacoustical foam system used in automotive cavity fillingapplications. Because of the excellent mixing quality, thecustomer has been able to reduce the amount of foam placed inthe cavity thus reducing costs. Chrysler has purchased more than10 machines for cavity filling applications and the newestplatform was recently used to conduct a successful trial in Indiafor another large automotive manufacturer. The newest platformwas designed as a global approach to cavity filling applicationsand, although nothing was sacrificed in the terms of quality orperformance, it can be offered at a reduced cost from the originaldesign. wasdesigned, starting from an existing straight head. Two largeinstallations have been recently supplied, directly in the OEMassembly lines, in two western countries. Each of them includesfour dosing units and eight mixing systems. There is aninteresting evolution for cavity filling in the automotive industry,which opens a totally new perspective for the application ofexpanded Polyurethane foams in automotive body frames, farbeyond the original purpose of providing protection from NVH.But let me keep this confidential, for the moment!

CN: Let us remain in the Automotive field, then: any otherinteresting development, recently?

AZ:

FPL AD

Cannon AXhead

A new four-components RIM head has been releasedrecently, available in two sizes with 14 and 24 mm outlet diameter.Their main characteristic is a very high resistance to all sort ofabrasive fillers you may have in a formulation. The RIM head is atrue “battle horse” for our Company. The two-componentsCannon RIM head patent dates from 1972 and hundreds ofthose heads have been used since for all sorts of applications.This new four-components RIM head is simpler, lighter andfaster than its two-component predecessor. All the metal surfacesin contact with abrasive chemicals have been designed, machinedand hardened thinking to the worst possible “abrasion scenario”.An ideal tool for end users moulding RRIM, structural andcompact formulations with heavily additivated polyols. Inaddition, it is also lighter and more compact than other headsavailable on the market, allowing for easier positioning on closedmoulds. The same “hardening” concepts were used to design the

model, an “armoured” version of our most successfulhead adapt for open mould pouring of abrasive formulations.These may contain Aluminium Trioxide, Wollastonite, Barite,milled glass, and are quite popular among the manufacturers ofNHV shields, even when they are made with slabs of foam cutfrom large moulded blocks. Let me remind here a furtherinnovation introduced into a prior development, the

, which confirms its position of preferred head for theautomotive seats production. We have more than 50 AX inproduction worldwide at the manufacturing plants of the majorcar seat producers, in the two available sizes of 18 and 24 mmoutlet diameter. The 5-component mixing chamber features nowan improved operational speed: the opening and closing times ofthe head have been further reduced, optimising hydraulics andsoftware. The head's reliability has been maintained even cuttingsignificantly the dry cycle time.

production mix. A 5-component dosing unit was designed tofeed the selected head with the required choice of formulation.The plant was equipped with a turning table holding four largepresses – 2,400x1,600 mm – characterised by a very ergonomicdesign. The operator stands in front of the open mould,demoulds easily a large mattress and cleans both lower and upperplaten very comfortably, since they both fully tilt towards him.The second manufacturer preferred a

, using two heads simultaneously for a fasteroperation. In this case a double arm Cannon robot was chosen tohandle the two FPL 24/3 mixing heads. Two “A-Compact” 60with two CCS (Cannon Color System) were supplied to meter theformulations, and a set of large mouldcarriers was supplied,together with a complete mould circulation system.But, again and for both examples, the analysis started from theend product and the orders were secured thanks to the availabilityof suitable mixing heads!

Of course yes, a lot also in this area, I'd say! We've developedspecial equipment for insulated pipes starting from therequirements of two different segments of market: those thatneed to spray foams over a rotating pipe – this is the mostcommon case for the largest diameters – and those who mustinject, or rather “deposit” the foam between the inner pipe andthe outer protective liner. In both cases we've achieved significantsuccesses thanks to the availability of the proper heads. Let meconcentrate on the continuing success of the , thelatest large head designed for rigid foams blown with LBBA (LowBoiling point Blowing Agents) such as Isobutane or similarHydrocarbons: repeated orders from East Europe, Korea andMexico confirm that this innovative device really solves a numberof production problems in the field of domestic and commercialrefrigerators! The absence of jets, or injectors, in its design allowsfor a much easier operation and regulation. Lower meteringpressures can be used, at the advantage of the equipment'slifetime and energy requirements. Its long nose permits an easyaccess to remote injection holes, with more freedom in designingthe final products. – upto 260 mm! – has been specifically made after having heard of aserious requirement in the manufacture of insulated pipes: theneed to automate the injection eliminating a cleaning operation inthe flanges mounted at the end of a pipe. With this new longnose the JL can send Polyurethane foam directly into the cavitybetween the inner pipe and the outer liner, leaving the flangeclean. This removes any manual intervention and allows for highdegree of automatisation.

We've been active in the area of forlighting applications, with a special

able to mould alternatively a batch of gaskets with aPolyurethane formulation and immediately after a batch inSilicone. As we know, the two materials are highly incompatibleand one should keep them well apart, but this head did very welland the two resins can co-exist in the same dosing machinewithout any problem! A more recent development is the oneallowing for the inclosed moulds. For this application we started our developmentfrom the existing , which proved to be the right headfor these resins too. Also our shows the same goodperformances with Epoxies, allowing for a wider range of mixingratios, for very “unbalanced” formulations.

Sure, as always we are very actively working at a few newdevelopments, but let me reply simply as it is written in the nowfamous Cannon poster calendar:

open-mould pouringtechnique

AZ:

Cannon JL

A new version with an extra long nose

AZ: Silicones gaskets4 components low output

head

high pressure injection of Epoxy resins

FPL modelTrio 7

AZ:

“The Evolution Continues”!

CN: From the above examples it seems that you mostly workfor flexible foams: anything new to mention for the rigidapplications?

CN: You mentioned before other reacting formulations, ontop of the classic Polyurethanes. Anything new in this area?

CN: To conclude, any new device in view for the nearfuture that you can speak of?

Two 3-component formulations are handled in the FP2L32 mixhead, designed formaximum flexibility in flexible foam open-mould pouring.

CN: Let us change domain of application: what can you tellus about other popular PU markets?

AZ:

Two leading German manufacturers of mattresses

very high instant output

FP2L 32

Furniture is a good example of commitment to the “productfirst” concept I expressed at the beginning.

haverecently preferred a Cannon solution mainly because of ourapproach. The first one confronted us with a stringentrequirement: a , since they had to injectin closed mould the whole lot of a fast-reacting material before itstarted to rise. For a double mattress we're talking of injecting 20kg of liquid in 10-12 seconds, maintaining the best possiblelaminar flow in order to avoid air entrapments in the foam.A single injection point was used, for the very same reason.The most suitable head was defined as a , a 32mm outletdiameter model featuring two opposite mixing chambers, eachcapable of 3 components, feeding alternatively the blendedmaterial into a common discharge duct. This allows for the non-turbulent injection of two different formulations (a Visco-elasticfoam or a conventional High Resilience one) with an output rateof 2.2 kg/sec. The head can use different colours (required tocolour-code the various densities of foam), or different additives,including melamine, providing a high degree of flexibility in the

Repeated orders from East Europe, Korea and Mexico confirm that the JL mixinghead solves a number of production problems in the field of refrigerators foaming.

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The recent development of new applications have widenedthe range of Cannon technologies for the rising market ofIndustrial Spray Polyurethanes. Flexible or structural, filledor reinforced, aesthetic or functional, almost every type ofPUR formulation can be today applied with a Cannon Sprayhead and its relevant dosing unit. The interested end usesinclude the whole transportation industry (cars, bus andtrucks), agricultural, earth-movement and mining vehicles,sanitaryware and householdings, the insulation of pipes forevery possible application. With the exception of walls androofing spray applications (a market that Cannon does notwant to approach) a suitable spray solution is available atCannon! We interview on this subject Davide Lucca, Salesand Marketing Manager of Cannon Afros, the Group'sDivision in charge of all Polyurethane metering and mixingtechnologies.

Davide Lucca:

DL:

InterWet

spraying aesthetic PUR skinsspraying

flexible expanded foam

OuterWet

Cannon News: Numerous new spray foam applications havebeen tackled recently by Cannon: can you tell us more aboutyour involvement in this field?

CN: What is the current situation, then? What did youachieve?

CannonAfros has always beeninvolved in spray foams:when you enter our officesin Caronno Pertusella, nearMilano, Italy, you see alarge black and whiteposter of the early 1960'sshowing one of the firstdosing units made by ourCompany, a C3 spray unitdesigned for both roof-spraying and wall-cavityfilling! In the early days weproudly made hundreds ofthem. Things havechanged, during the years,and for several yearsCannon concentrated itsactivity on the moulding

applications. Roof-spraying demands a size of machines and adistribution system that was not compatible with the industrialmarkets successfully pursued by our Group. Around yearsago the development of new Industrial Spray applications startedand we started building a complete family of spray technologies,since the market was very keen towards this method ofmanufacturing Polyurethane parts.

Well, a good number of new technologies have beendeveloped in the recent past. Significantly, nearly all of themderive from the availability of an ideal mixing device. Variousconfigurations of this successful head have been adapted for thespray market, and their efficiency in mixing the most diversifiedformulations has only improved with the years. Initially wedeveloped the process – a method for projecting a blendof Polyurethane and various reinforcement fibres or fillers usingan internal-wetting concept, i.e. the resin and the charge areblended within the mixing head before being sprayed in openmould, usually over another layer of plastic or fabric; immediatelyafter the mould closed and gives to the manufact a perfect shape.A thin, strong, lightweight composite part is obtained,characterised by high impact resistance and good surface aspect.After that we developed almost at the same time two differentnew ideas: a method for usingconventional two-component formulations, and one for

over textile substrates, with comfortpurposes. Both these techniques have a very specific market,limited to a few customers in the world, but we are open todiscuss ideas that could come out from a wider panel of potentialcustomers operating in different markets.Then came the , the technology which allows for thespray-application of multiple layers of glass-fiber-filled or unfilledPolyurethanes, until a thick layer of rigid foam is obtained. This isusually applied over a rigid plastic substrate – like a bath tub or ashower tray, but also for parts for caravans, campers, ambulancesand other special vehicles, micro-cars and boats – so that it can beused in applications where “Class A” surface aspectcan be joined to structural andthermal insulationperformances.

twelve

Cannon Spray foams:the widest choice

The modern building industry cannot do withoutinnovative insulating technologies. Cannon reportednumerous times on new innovative solutions andprocesses for Polyurethane rigid foams, the main playerswhen speaking of the best insulation practice. Reportingabout facing insulation, so far, mostly concerned theoutside insulation of the buildings.The Emil Knobel GmbH & Co. KG, a medium-sizedfamily owned company located in Albstadt-Tailfingen, inBaden-Württemberg, Germany was dead set on goingother ways: to insulate from inside the hollow brickswidely used in every German building.

“A-Compact”Cannon LN 5 HP mixing heads

Siemens S7 PLC

Cannon OVS process datavisualisation

Their specified target was an industrial manufacturing processfor obtaining a thermally-insulated brick which satisfy allstandards of an operationally reliable brick, with regards tonoise protection, fire protection, building biology,workmanship or structural analysis. A wall made with theseblocks would not require a conventional thermal insulationafterwards. The design of the brick foresees up to ten singlecavities per block to be filled with foam, and several thousandof insulated blocks should be produced every day.The advantages of such a product are numerous:• no need to transport insulation panels to the building site• no additional insulation of the facing leaves more space

inside the building• a rated value of thermal conductivity of 0.08 W/m°K

Knobel addressed these requirements to the market leaders ofthis field and specified the supply of a compact dosing plantwith the simultaneous use of multiple mixing heads for thediscontinuous foam injection in a continuous productionprocess. It took a while until all the requirements for machineand material were fulfilled and incipiently "teething troubles"were eliminated.

Cannon developed for Knobel a special version of the high-pressure dosing unit series for thesimultaneous use of twowith an output range from 20 up to 120 g/s. Therefore it wasnecessary to install in total four Cannon axial piston pumpswith a flow rate of 6 cc/round each. The speed of thefrequency-controlled motors is fully adjustable via theoperator panel, allowing for instantaneous change of output ifrequired. This configuration is working in a closed loop circuit.Output and shot weight are easily programmable or modifiedby the operator via the free standing touch screen operatorpanel. The Cannon heads are supplying excellent mixingresults and, in spite of their small overall size, they aredemonstrating a high repetitivity. The repeatability of themixing operation guarantees optimally expanded foams andconstant product quality.

A controls the operations and ensures thewidest freedom in modifying the process parameters and incommunicating with all the peripheral equipment. All relevantparameters are displayed with the

system, and can be directly analyzed. The datacan also be transferred to a central manufacturing dataprocessor or stored if required.The display is installed near the pouring portal, so the plantoperator can keep an eye on the monitored parameters whilechecking the laminar flow of the mixing heads into the holesof the bricks.

The Cannon plant concept for the production of hollowbricks with integrated insulation is extremely operator friendlyand adapt for an automatic process. The high quality andinsulation standards for the new product are successfully met:last year the German Institute for Structural Engineering hasgiven their approval to the Knobel's bricks filled withPolyurethane foam, which are already in operation in manynew houses in Germany with full satisfaction of builders,architects and home-owners.

Brick For Brick: insulationof hollow concrete blocks

Again, this is true with both filled and unfilled foams, so the finalend uses can really be numerous. Another development of theearly years of this century refers to the application developed for

sandwiches, a Bayer Material SciencePolyurethane applied over a sandwich of glass mat andhoneycomb. This process allows for the production of very light,stiff composites appreciated by the automotive industry per theirhigh fuel-saving efficiency. They can be stiffened only where this isnecessary, optimising the use of raw materials. For this mostly-automotive application we have patented a special

method which uses Liquid Natural Carbon Dioxide (CO ) asfrothing agent, able toimmediately stop thedripping of theformulation when it isapplied to vertical walls.This is, again, anotheridea worth beingdiscussed with themanufacturers of otherparts, which could benefitfrom the R&D done for acompletely different enduse! The good resultachieved with thesedevelopments encouragedus to continue, and weapproached a moredifficult field, the sprayingof

. The 30-yearsexperience matured inhandling milled glass fibre and barite in RRIM moulding hasgenerated a number of metering and mixing components that canbe very well applied to a spray technology. That's how we havemade the , a few years ago. Designing a machine and amixing head able to spray a “mud” – made with 70% of abrasiveBarium Sulphate and 30% of PU – , atthe end! This formulation is used to manufacture sound andvibration absorbing products, mostly, but not exclusively, for theautomotive industry. Think of a noise absorption panel ofirregular shape, where it is difficult to manually apply aninsonorisation element, and this is a viable solution for it. It is achallenging job, and got good results with it.

An interesting technology, characterised by a tremendousgrowth rate and where we are maturing significant experience andresults, is the application of ofmedium-large diameter. They have dozens of end uses: industrialapplications, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, petrochemicals,chemicals plants and refineries, pulp & paper, mines, oil & gaspipelines, heating services, buildings & leisure, district heating &cooling, marine systems, you name it… in every modern industrialactivity hot or cold fluids and gases are transported: a properinsulation of the pipes avoids a huge loss of energy. We have

for these end users, and not only for themetering and spraying part of the equipment. Turn-key plants areavailable, complete from the chemicals storage to the pipe-handling solutions. Another spray-related development involvesthe use of chemicals different from Polyurethanes, but let me keepthat confidential, until the project sees the light. Nobody does that,yet, and we do not want to “spray around” valuable information!

processing Baypreg®

“Spray-and-stay”

abrasive formula-tions

SoliSpray

DL:

insulation foam over pipes

some interesting ideas

2

CN: What's new, now? What are you developing?

was a successful experience

Designed to handle the most difficult formulations, the SoliSpray head canspray a blend containing up to 70% of solid and abrasive fillers.

The head for manual application of spray and cavityfilling foams, the LN is a lightweight straight mixhead.

Ideal for automated application ofvarious types of Polyurethane, the LS

head features a "L" geometry foroptimum mixing performances.

4

Opening a manufacturing presence in the Guangdong province hasbeen substantial to our development. Shinnon today operates fromtheir third location, in less than 5 years of life. We keep moving it inlarger premises!

The refrigeration industry is our most successful business area,in China. We supplied there, more than twenty years back, a relevantnumber of complete foaming lines. Then things have stopped: reverseengineering worked well, there! Our technical solutions were copiedbolt by bolt from local mechanical shops, often belonging to ourclients. Patents and intellectual protection was a dream, at that time.Therefore we kept supplying only the major fridge makers, those whocould afford to pay a premium price to get a premium product.

CN: Who is driving the Chinese boom, as far as Cannonactivities are concerned?MdG:

As early as 1998 IAC Songjiang – a Shanghai-basedmanufacturer of automotive carpets and insonorisationelements, (shortly: IACSJ) – purchased from Cannon the firstcarpet back foaming plant equipped with the Cannon-patented Foam & Film technology. The satisfaction of theperformance on the first plant pushed IACSJ to order asecond foaming plant in 2009 and a third one, installed inspring 2010.

Automotive market in China is enjoying a booming time.The foamed carpets produced by IACSJ – formerly part of theLear Co. Group – were supplied to Shanghai General Motor fortheir car model Buick series as a start and later to Mercedes whenthey were present in Beijing. The existing plant, running at itsmaximum capacity with three shifts a day, could no longer meet thedemand for the products. In the peak period the market growthrate reach 45%. Therefore reliable and higher productivity plan wasurgently needed to support the demand from the automobilesmakers. Plan for a new plant with high productivity was madeduring 2008 and discussions with Cannon Team started withCannon Far East and Cannon Tecnos in sequence. The team workof Cannon Tecnos and Cannon Far East saw the results of the firstnew plant being installed which achieved immediately a 3-shiftsoperation in mid 2009. The satisfaction of the performance on thefirst new plant soon saw the second plant, with more versatility inhandling PU chemicals, ordered and installed in the first quarter of2010. The supply included a retrofitting work to the existing oldplant, which still works with Foam & Film technology, to bring itto a latest control technology and driving system.The two new foaming plants consist of component tanks for fastreactivity PU system, all relevant high and low pressure pumps,gauges and control with closed-loop controlled system, one FPL24

Far East Asia and China

sustain the whole businessThings have changed now:

. All world's majors have their own manufacturingpresence here, now. Just imagine that the already huge total

inthe past 12 months of ! And I'm onlyspeaking of the investments made by Haier plus the top four-fivemajor manufacturers. It's an unbelievable growth, just to face theforeseen supply of one fridge to each Chinese family in rural areas, plusthe replacement of the early simple model with more sophisticatedones, plus the supply of high-quality models with “western” standardsfor the export market. Local equipment suppliers cannot cope with therising demand of refrigerator foaming plants, both in terms of quantityand of quality and reliability; so, there is still space for sophisticated“western” solutions at prices that are very sacrificed but still profitable,if you know where and how to build plants.

China is the Number One producer ofrefrigerators, today

Chinesemanufacturing capacity for domestic refrigerators has grown

25 million pieces per year

Cannon Tecnos modular carpet back foaming plant featuring PUR meteringsystem, pouring robot, mold clamps working in tandem and complete set of safetysystem.

IAC Songjiangrepeats orders toCannon for a profitablemanufacturing system

mixing head and accessories monitoring features to complete a foamingsystem built around a “A-Compact 60” dosing unit. The metering unitstands on a mezzanine floor, near the hydraulic systems of the twomould clamps. The foaming arm is a ABB Robot designed to cover thefurthest possible the corners of the mould for best foamingperformances. The two hydraulically-operated mould clamps, one oneach side of the robot, are designed with a fixed upper platen and a 90°tiltable lower platen plus a shiftable loading tray. Both clamps work intandem to maximize the productivity. The platens are designed to holdmoulds for products of size up to 2,300x 1,500 x450mm.

Since the installation the new system was running well and IACSJ wasfully satisfied with the system performance. Up to date, the two newsystems have been running on a 24-hours per day, 350-days a yearcadence, with only 4 operators.

Since 1998 a successful and happy partnership among three parties,each specialized in his function, with IAC Songjiang as the end user,Cannon Tecnos providing the technology, backed up by Cannon FarEast's strong local after sales technical service and spare partssupport, designed a triangled co-operation relationship which standsfirm and provides mutual benefit to all the involved players.

Western technology is employed for the manufacture of advanced equipmentfor Chinese Polyurethane transformers.

Shinnon moved for the second time, due to space reasons, and have nowenough floor space to handle the largest foaming plants.

“The continuing growth of the Far East markets, propelled bythe steady development of China, has substantially helped us inthese past two-three turbulent years” says Marco de' Guidi,Corporate Sales Director of Cannon. “Refrigerator andAutomotive industries keep investing significantly, and wesecured a good portion of those orders thanks to the invaluablecontribution of our local people!”

Marco de' Guidi:

Cannon News: When we talk about China and Far East todaywe always risk to be obvious. Everyone perceives the “great waveof energy” coming form those countries, and the feelings aboutthat are mixed: competition and opportunities, fears and hopes,jobs are lost elsewhere and generated there… What can you tell usabout the Cannon version of this complex phenomenon?

It's definitely acomplex scenario. Expansion in Chinais driven by the need to recover 50years of substantial poverty. The riskof developing a new society whosefixed idea is to catch up with westernlifestyle and its status symbols is huge.Obviously when the average salaryincreases the first thoughts areoriented towards consumes: a car isbetter than a bycicle, a fridge provideshealthier food, a comfortable bed isbetter than sleeping on a hay sack.This drives the consumes, factories are

mushrooming, jobs are created in China and factories are closing inEurope and the USA, and so on… The analysis is much more complexthan that. I leave that to the economists. What I see is a world ofopportunities for at least ten more years. We have realised that back inthe year 2000, when we decided to take full control of our operationsin South East Asia and China, opening our own subsidiary inSingapore. From there we have invested substantial money and effortsin the development of a strong presence in China, because all thesignals were leading there and we could not risk to be caught off guard.Our strategy was “belong &control” rather than “stay out & suffer”.

CN: What was Cannon's involvement in this wave ofrefrigerator plants' orders?

CN: Let's talk about this, then: what is going on in the rest of FarEast?

MdG:

Haier

Galanz BYD

MdG: Sharp

In the first half of 2010 we secured orders for two thirds ofwhat we have been invited to bid for, and that's already a lot of work.Innovative equipment has been supplied to , the largest Chinesemanufacturer, and to four others among the major suppliers. Othersignificant references, because of their names and activities, includefor instance , world leader in microwave ovens, and , agiant in the field of batteries for hybrid cars. They all understand thedifference between innovative, reliable solutions and cheap local steel.Cannon Far East and Cannon Nippon have significantly increasedtheir business volume in 2010, thanks to this, with historical recordfigures for our Singapore-based branch, who are managing also therest of the Pacific area, excluded Japan.

Well, still talking about refrigerators we gladly welcomein our reference list! For the first time they have bought a “western”

plant, after many years of loyalty only to Japanese suppliers. TwoDrum Units of new design will be installed in these days to theirThailand plant, to make refrigerator doors in a very flexible way, usingour most recent mould-handling concepts. Another Japanese fridgemanufacturer, , just completed the conversion to Cyclopentane-blowing of their foaming plant in Vietnam. And I could continue…

No, not “only” refrigerators, of course: we know how to makeother things! The automotive industry represents for us a bigopportunity and a valuable resource, in this area. We are supplying,through our Shinnon factory, the whole “dry side” of our plants forfoamed seats, the moulding lines for steering wheels and dashboards,and most of the required multi-component foaming units.This allows Cannon to stay in direct competition not only with thehalf-Chinese/half-foreigner competitors, but even with the mostexperienced local suppliers of equipment, those that have literallymushroomed here in the past ten years. We have a lot of space forgrowth, but we know that the market segment which can afford ourprices is limited to the top producers, those which are working here injoint venture with the largest western car companies. These are usedto work with us in Europe, Japan and the USA, and when it'sinvestment time they know they can rely on our tradition,technological innovation, local service and international experience.It's a long way from any local supply, in both senses of course!They could spend less here, but they know it's a fake saving, when youare in troubles later. And we serve them promptly with qualified localtechnicians, and they love it.

Wind generation and use of fuels from renewable sources aretwo different areas where our Polyurethane and Energy Divisions arevery active. Cannon Far East distributes them both, and the market ishuge, even with the limitations that I already explained before. Chinahave quickly developed both an environmental conscience and atremendous manufacturing efficiency in this field. If they want totackle foreign markets too with their wind generators, they cannot staystill using old technologies, they must evolve: and they know it!In the “ ” we are entering the speciality marketfollowing our main client, near Shanghai, withthe target of reaching the top five producers that work here withwestern companies and technologies. Our solutions for infusion ofEpoxy in glass mats are well accepted, even if a bit expensivecompared with the simple equipment available locally. EvenPolyurethanes can find their space here, with expanded rigid foamsproposed as an alternative to expensive balsa wood for the blade'sinserts and spacers. For the Energy division it is still a long way to go:huge carpentries are not the most convenient thing to buy fromEurope, for a local Chinese Power Company. And we do not producethem here – yet.

It is not difficult to predict a busy year for our technical officeand manufacturing department in Shinnon, busy to deliver all whathas been sold. Our Service technicians of Cannon Far East will haveto follow all the refrigerators' plants going in place from Europe, tohelp in the start up and to make practice with some recentlyintroduced solutions. And the sales guys will collect a lot of airlinesmiles, looking for new prospects in the developing segments of themarket.

That is what I foresee:

Sanyo

MdG:

MdG:

wind businessSiemens Wind Power

MdG:

a lot of work!

CN: So, “mostly” or “only” refrigerator plants in your order'sbook, for that area?

CN: China is the fastest growing country for alternative energyresources: what are you doing at this respect?

CN: What do you expect for the next year, then?

5

The Automotive sector is looking with great interest atthe industrialisation of the injection process involving theuse of Epoxy resins and Carbon or other continuousfibers, provided that this allows for typical part-to-partcycle time of 3 minutes or less. Until now this fastproduction has not been possible, for a number ofreasons linked with the involved chemistry and with themanipulation of the fiber's substrates. Thanks toESTRIM – a fast-demolding, high-pressure injectiontechnology for Epoxy resins recently launched by Cannon– lightweight, thin-walled composite moldings ofcomplex shape and medium-large dimensions can nowbe produced at very reduced cycle times.

The innovation introduced by Cannon with ESTRIM (whichmeans Epoxy STructural Reaction Injection Molding) consistsin providing the right mix of technologies able to achieveAutomotive industry's production cycles for mass productionof large composite parts:

High-pressure technology for metering, mixing and

injecting a properly formulated family of liquid Epoxycomponents in a closed mold: this decreases demolding timesfrom up to 30 down to 2 – 3 minutes, maintaining optimummechanical properties and surface aspect characteristics.

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Self-cleaning mixing heads eliminate the use of flushing or

cleaning solvents, achieving significant economic savings andenvironmental advantages. In addition, they can bepermanently fixed on the tools, speeding up the productionand eliminating leakage problems from the injection point.

High-pressure injection, in combination with closed-loop

controlled metering systems, guarantees optimum repeatabilityof the dispensed weight from shot to shot. This provides highstandardisation of the molded parts and avoids unnecessaryoverfilling of the mold, with all relevant advantages (materialsavings, no leaks, cleaner working environment, no emissionsof vapours from the molds, much lower scrap rate, etc.)

Dedicated preformers provide repetitive and fast

production of inserts to be manually or automaticallypositioned in the molds prior to the injection, avoiding longmanual preparation of the production tools and increasing theprofitability of presses and dispensing equipment.Mechanical characterisation of the produced parts confirmsthat structural Epoxy-based composites can be obtained byESTRIM technology – used in combination with properlydesigned dosing machines, mold carriers, preformers andancillary equipment – with a production rate up to ten timesfaster than that provided by RTM technology.

deriving from this technology speak forthemselves:

Presses and moulds generate ten times more parts per unit

of time, potentially with the same manpower.

Production lines can be automated, making use of 40+

years of industrialisation experiences matured by other plasticsprocessing technologies. Production costs and scrap parts aresignificantly reduced.

Advantages

Multiple heads can be connected to a single dispensing

machine to serve several moulds in a row, reducing therequired equipment's investment per point of injection andoptimising the performances of formulation and dosingmachine.

canthink in new terms the production of structural or decorativelightweight composite parts, since their production rates canbe brought nearer to their assembly lines' logistic needs.

Automotive, transportation and aerospace industries

Apply High Pressure - Get ESTRIM Results!

Cannon FPL high-pressure self-cleaning heads eliminate the use of flushingsolvents after the injection of Epoxy resins in closed molds.

Dedicated preformers

BMW for their Landshut's Innovation andTechnology Centre

Lamborghini (Audi-VW Group)Aventador

Cannon Tecnos – the Cannon Group's Unit dedicated to thedevelopment of dedicated solutions for the Automotive sector– have designed and supplied dedicated preformers forcomposites for more than three decades. Glass, Carbon,Aramidic and natural fibres of every type and consistency havebeen successfully handled and precisely dispensed in large orsmall moulds in dozens of different applications.The availability of these dedicated tools – in addition to acomplete range of mould carriers, presses, manipulators andother specially-designed equipment – is a significant plus inthe search for a complete industrial solution aimed at theautomated high-yield manufacture of injected compositesbased on Epoxy formulations.

One of these preformers has been specified and purchased in2001 by

(LITZ), within the frame of a majordevelopment project aimed at the production of a complete“composite” car. See the article below this.Another prestigeous achievement was the supply of acomplete carbon composites preforming line to

for the production of allthe preforms demanded by the new «all Carbon»supercar.

The Cannon Group can supply, as a One-Stop-Shop suppliercarrying the whole responsibility of the line, all the equipmentrequired by this technology:

High-pressure closed-loop controlled metering and

injecting machine, and self-cleaning mixing heads.

Dedicated preformers for repetitive and fast production of

inserts

Dedicated moulding clamps and moulds, in various lay-out

configurations

Water-jet trimming equipment for the finished preforms

Storage tanks and distribution circuit for chemical

components

All the ancillary equipment required by the process.

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During the “BMW Group Innovation Days 2010” eventBMW released the details of its all-electric car, theMegacity Vehicle (MCV) – the BMW Group's firstelectrically powered production model. With the MCV,the BMW Group will offer an innovative solution forsustainable urban mobility which will be brought onto themarket by 2013 and sold under a BMW sub-brand. ACannon Preformer – specified and purchased in 2001 byBMW for their Landshut's Innovation and TechnologyCentre – is used for the production of all the Compositeroofs of this innovative vehicle.

In a comprehensive 40-page report (available in BMW'swebsite www.press.bmwgroup.com) titled “Mobility of thefuture” BMW highlights the philosophy which drives thedevelopment of the all-electric car, which they claim is the“world's first all-new electric powered car”. Stemming fromenvironmental concerns created by climate change and globalwarming, growing scarcity of resources and need forsustainability, the author states the need for new solutions formobility in Megacities characterised by growing urbanisation.

A Cannon preformer for BMW

A Cannon Tecnos preformer was supplied in 2001 to BMW Landshut Innovationand Technology Centre for the development phase of the project.

The response from the BMW Group is defined in one word:Electromobility, or . The BMW Group sees E-mobility as one possible way of meeting future demand forpersonal mobility. Here, one great advantage lies in zero localemissions. Since E-mobility involves electric current ratherthan fuel being converted into propulsion, no climate-harminggases are created during the journey. A fundamental elementfor the achievement of this ambitious goal is the Life Module,a high-strength and extremely lightweight passenger cell madefrom carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, or CFRP for short. Withthis innovative concept the BMW Group adds a totally newdimension to the areas of lightweight design, vehiclearchitecture and crash safety.

The secret of this high-strength material lies in the carbonfibres. In contrast to quasi-isotropic metals like aluminium orsteel, which have equal strength in all directions, CFRP isanisotropic. This gives it very high strength, like a rod, in onedirection, namely along the tensile/compression axis. This isits key advantage. Using CFRP is more than simply a straightsubstitution, like using aluminium in place of steel.With its special properties, this high-tech material also opensthe door to completely new approaches and design concepts.As early as 2003 the BMW Group introduced a next-generation production system geared to high-quality volume

E-mobility

The right strength in the right places

production ofCFRP parts.This state-of-the-art processhas very short cycletimes, and it has beenramping up output eversince. Today the Landshutplant is mass-producingroofs (for the BMW M3 andM6 models) and bumper supports (for the M6) in CFRP.The BMW Group's CFRP specialists have steadily refined andautomated the CFRP production process at the Landshutplant so that, for the first time, it is now possible to mass-produce CFRP body components cost-efficiently and to ahigh quality standard.

At the so-called “preforming” stage, the cut but still flat fabricbegins to acquire a shape. During this process a heat source isused to give a fabric stack a stable, three-dimensional contour.The final shape of the component is already clearly visible.Several of these preformed stacks can then be joined to forma larger component. In this way CFRP can be used, forexample, to produce highly integrated components with alarge surface area, which would be extremely cumbersome tomanufacture from aluminium or sheet steel. This has majorbenefits for vehicle body design and manufacture: mountingparts or other features can be integrated directly into thecomponent, while complex structural components and entirebody modules with varying wall thicknesses can be producedin a single moulding tool. At both process stages –preforming and preform joining – the big challenge lies inensuring good production processability of the flexible fabricso that the preforms will maintain a stable shape and can bejoined with maximum precision. This precise and delicateoperation is performed using a sandwich composed by variouslayers of carbon fabric, selected according to the mechanicalresistance desired for the final, moulded part.

Landshut Innovation and Technology Centre for thedevelopment work of this project, and

required by the M3and M6 models.

All the equipment (preformer, high-pressure Epoxy resininjection, clamps, molds, trimming, chemical’s storage etc.)for a complete CFRP production line is today available atCannon: we will gladly discuss with you your specificmanufacturing requirements, in order to tailor together mostappropriate solution for your needs – just give us a call!

Preforming and joining – a component takes shape

A Cannon Tecnos preformer was supplied in 2001 toBMW

is in full productiontoday supplying all the roof preforms

The Cannon preformer is in full production today supplying all the roof preformsrequired by the M3 and M6 models.

6

The world's domestic refrigerator manufacturing capacity isundergoing significant change in shape and geographicaldistribution. Western manufacturers are looking for a morecompetitive cost structure for their products and theirfactories are going to East at an increasing rate. Jointventures are being established with Chinese appliancemanufacturers in order to establish manufacturing siteswhere labour is still cheap and quality can be assured thanksto sophisticated production equipment. Cannon have beenpresent in refrigerator's Companies in Far East Asia andChina for more than thirty years, and keep supplyingadvanced solutions to these Countries. Innovative cabinetand door foaming plants have been designed specifically forJapanese and Chinese fridge makers by Crios, the CannonGroup's Division in charge of this technology.

Fresh News from Crios

The technical solutions most recently developed for consist ina new version of the famous Cannon Drum System, the rotarymoulding device that was patented by Cannon back in the early1980's and has been manufactured in thousands of units and variousversions. With the the rotary 6-stations machine is usedas a simple carrier for the polymerisation of the foam: the door'sclosed moulds are automatically handled in and out from theEasyDrum at every foaming cycle: opening, demoulding, cleaning,insert positioning are performed in the front position of a rotatingtable holding two mould carriers. When the manual operations arefinished the table quickly rotates and the open-mould foam pouringand mould closing operations can be performed on the rear positionof this service station. The polymerisation machine therefore worksat its maximum efficiency, not being delayed by dead times.The moulds can be simpler and cheaper than usual, not requiring athermostatisation circuit: temperature conditioning occurs on boardof the EasyDrum, where flat, heated platens of 3 x 1.5 m size areconstituting the mould carriers. Production efficiency is very high, ofcourse depending from the curing time of the rigid foam: two largedoors can be demoulded every 52 seconds, and the single requiredoperator has a long time, at least 48 seconds, to download the filleddoors and load the metal frames for the production of the next two.

For the cabinet's manufacture an innovative version of the patentedRotoplug System has been designed and built. Introduced in the early1980's by Cannon Crios, the Rotoplug has revolutionised therefrigerator cabinet's manufacturing methods: the possibility to use adouble plug on a single foaming station allowed for easy mould changeon one side of the upper rotating platform holding the plugs, whilethe other, below, was in Polymerisation phase. In the new version ofthis successful device, called , the rotation of the upper frameinvolves the complete fixture, plug and lateral walls, and brings a newlyfoamed cabinet to polymerise in the upper floor of the plant.This allows for a doubled foaming capacity per single production line:while the service operations are performed in the lower floor (a curedfridge is demoulded from its fixture, a new empty shell is introduced,the fixture closes, the mixing head injects foam from the compressorarea, the foam starts rising and fills the cabinet until it is mechanically

Sharp

EasyDrum

RotoJig

In the new Cannon RotoJig polymerization system the rotation of the upperframe involves the complete fixture, plug and lateral walls, and brings a newlyfoamed cabinet to polymerize in the "upper floor" of the plant.

The EasyDrum, a rotary 6-stations machine, is used as a simple carrier for the polymerization of the foam:the door's closed moulds are automatically handled in and out at every foaming cycle.

stable) the polymerisation occurs in the upper floor. A dry cycle of 60”has been achieved, which allows for a very high production rate perfoaming line. Actual part-to-part cycle, of course, must be calculated inaccordance with the reactivity of the used formulation: the gel timewill set the moment when the fridge can be safely rotated withoutspoiling the foam's quality, and the curing time will set the momentwhen the fridge can be safely extracted from the jig without riskingpost-expansion deformation.The proposed solution is very convenient for manufacturers of largelots of the same model: in this case, in fact, the mould change willoccur as it was done many years ago, before the Rotoplug revolution,by translating the old plug out of the jig in a service cabinet, andfitting the new one in place with the same method. For large serialproduction the RotoJig brings numerous advantages, in terms ofinvestment, space occupancy and plant's energy management:

A of all loading and unloading lines and

ventilation systems (a particularly expensive item in case ofHydrocarbons-blown foams)

A in mixing heads and related hardware, controls

and software, when using fixed injection heads.

A when buying a double foaming jig

rather than two simpler single stations.

A much , an

especially valuable saving where industrial buildings are sold – andheated - at a premium price.

An optimised use of the polymerisation jig, where all the service

times are “hidden” behind the longer polymerisation phase and.

Innovation, at Cannon Crios, continues as usual, in spite of fluctuantworld's economics: designing efficient and easy-to-use energy savingsolutions is the mission of the Company.

“ at Cannon!

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50% reduction

50% reduction

significant cost reduction

smaller plant's footprint and total volume

productivity per line nearly doubles

The Evolution Continues”

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Starting from 2010 Cannon have been very successfulin the supply of plant and foaming machines to therefrigerator market in China. Wong Lee Meng,Managing Director of Cannon Far East, gives moredetails.

Wong Lee Meng:

WLM:

WLM:

Cannon News: Can you tell us the history of therelationship between the Chinese refrigerator industryand Cannon?

CN: What is the situation nowadays?

CN: Any interesting development that you candisclose?

Chinese refrigerator manufacturers havebeen using Cannon foaming equipment since the 1980's;then local manufacturing of similar equipment has takenplace for several years, for budget reasons. When, a fewyears ago, China became the world largest manufacturerand a net exporter of white appliances, new technologieswere demanded, to keep up with the innovation proposedby their westerner competitors.This technology was not available locally, then the whitegoods producers started looking west again, to theirhistorical suppliers. Cannon has never quit the Chinesemarket, and our response has been prompt.

The market has been investing since the beginningof 2010 till today. We have successfully commissioned thepatented Pascal™ plant in Haier Chongqing and it is nowrunning with full capacity. We are supplying many A-Pentamachines and Premix equipment, several RotoPlug fixtureslines for the cabinets, and numerous Drum units for thedoor production.So far, till now, we are going to commission more that sixtycabinet foaming fixtures, more than one hundred Pentametering system and more than fifty premixing machines,with a market share evaluated in more than 80%. Thistremendous success put Cannon in a leading position inthis market.

The PASCAL™ system has created much interestin the market , and we look forward to some exciting yearsahead. We foresee that the market will slow down in thesecond half of 2011 and consolidation will take placethereafter. By then – in spite of local attempts to copy thissolution – we will have done our homework properly, Ihope!

China refrigerator

makers look again

for western

innovative solutions

This line of refrigerators - made by with the new Dow-Cannontechnology - features an extremely low electrical consumption.

HAIERPASCAL™

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In VIETNAM : One A-System100PT dosing unit and oneA-System40PT, with four FPL mixing heads and two completepremix systems PentaEasyFroth.In THAILAND : Three A-System100PTW dosing units, withsix FPL18 mixing heads and one complete premix systemPentaEasyFroth for Cyclopentane.In THAILAND : Two EasyDrum made by Crios, oneA-System100PTW metering unit with four FPL24 mixingheads and one PentaEasyFroth premix system.In THAILAND: for Industrial refrigerators, oneA-System100PT machine with two FPL mixing heads.In BRAZIL : Ten RotoPlug-2 fixtures by Crios fed by oneA-System 100PTW and one A-System 40PT dispensers, withfour FPL mixing heads and several premixing units.

The Japanese customers are actively looking for new products,therefore they are very interested in Cannon new technologies.Several examples can be mentioned, all referring to ordersdelivered in 2011:

PUR SPRAY - a plant for Automotive interior parts.CLEAR COATING - a machine for Automotive interior parts.JL18 MIXING HEAD - for Insulation sandwich panel.

As a consequence of the terrible disaster of March 11 all theJapanese companies had to stop their production activity, eitherbecause of parts delivery delays or of electric power supplyshortage. But Japanese were not sleeping. All the automotivemanufacturer restarted their production soon after, with theusual production rate almost recovered by August, usingovernight and weekend production to compensate the shortstock. NCI is handling all the above mentioned project with thesupport of the other involved Cannon Units confirming thealready proven validity of the “Cannon Global Network”.

th

7

NCI (Nippon Cannon Inc.) has recently secured manyorders from Japanese customers worldwide. Large andfamous Japanese brands – mainly manufacturingautomotive interior parts and refrigerators – are extendingtheir market share not only in Japan but also around theworld. Promptly adapting to their customer's strategy,Nippon Cannon reorganised their resources to become aninternational player with them.

AUTOMOTIVE

Instrument Panels Calsonic Kansei'

REFRIGERATOR

NCI started to supply equipments for closed-mould injection offoam in to s overseasplants since 2008. At this very moment the following equipmenthas been added for installation and start up during 2011 or thefirst quarter of 2012:

In CHINA (Guangzhou) : Two fixture stations. One dosingunit and two multi-component mixing head.In THAILAND: Two fixture stations. One dosing unit and twomulti-component mixing head.In MEXICO: Three fixture stations. One dosing unit and threemulti-component mixing head.In CHINA (Xiangyan): Four fixture stations. One dosing unitand eight multi-component mixing heads.In TAIPEI: One fixture station with one dosing unit.

The major Japanese refrigerator manufacturer have been usingCannon foaming equipment in their overseas factories since2009. NCI have recently supplied them a significant number ofcomplete plants for commercial and industrial refrigerators.

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Another success storyfrom CFE Malaysia!The 2011 has been another remarkable year for Cannon FarEast operation in Malaysia, particularly in the Automotiveindustry. One of the world leading auto interior trimsuppliers in Malaysia has recently invested in a totally newcar seat plant and headrest Pour-In-Place plant fromCannon.

One of the largest manufacturing conglomerates inTaiwan, producing all kind of petrochemicals, plastics,fibers, electronic material and door/window products, witha 2010 turnover of USD 7.3 billion, is a loyal Cannoncustomer since many years. One of their Divisions produceand sell globally all kind of SMC/PVC doors and windows.

For the seat plant a combination of dosing and mixingequipment from Cannon Afros in Italy and a well-proven mouldcarrier's carousel system from Cannon Shinnon in China wascoupled with a head-carrying robot from KUKA German.The plant is capable of producing dual-density flexible foamusing one double-formulation FP2L mixing head.The “dry side” comes initially with 16 mould carriers, with thepossibility of future extensions, thanks to the unique design ofCannon carousel system where the addition of more mouldcarriers is made possible easily and economically.In the second quarter of the year the headrest plant was againawarded to Cannon Far East. A traditional field of activity ofCannon, the PIP (Pour-In-Place) technology used for headrestsallows for the direct introduction of the Polyurethane flexiblefoam in the textile “bag” constituting the final headrest – thatalready contains the U-shaped metal insert needed to fix it onthe car seat – without further manual operations required.Another effort made possible with a strong teamwork betweenCannon Afros, Cannon Far East Malaysia and Thailand whichjoined forces in a strong team able to supply an integratedproduction system that comes with one A-Compact 20CLdosing unit, a turntable with 14 stations (working with a stop-and-go system) and one mixing head holder for the pouringoperation.

Since 1992 they make use of five Cannon high-pressure foamingmachines to fill rigid Polyurethane foam into the SMC door.When, four years ago, they decided to produce fire-retardantSMC doors to meet the strictest fire regulations, since Cannondid not have a low-output machine for Phenolic foams at thattime, they brought in one high-pressure dosing machine from alocal supplier. Their nightmare started since the poorly-designedand built local machine arrived. They were facing a lot ofproblems both in the quality of machine and of the endproducts. When their market was at risk, due to the strongconfidence on the Cannon technology they finally decided to gofor a Cannon solution, and selected a dosing unit and mixinghead specifically designed and built to handle the corrosivechemicals used in Phenolic foams.The new Cannon machine arrived in July, 2011 to solve theirproblem: a foam of superior quality and aspect was immediatelyproduced, with great relief for the customer and satisfaction forthe CFE Taiwan office that handled the business..

Windows & Doors:Phenolic foams meetTaiwan's strict fire regulations

Thailand: growthin the turmoil

The political conflict seems to be a part of Thai's cultureand society. During the past 3-4 years several groups ofpeople with different political and social orientation haverallied the country, marching, calling and demandingreforms beneficial to their political interest. This turmoilslowed down the government activity in general, as it seemsto be a hard task to find a definite solution able to meet therequirements of each group. Among the conflict, the showmust go on.

The private sectors (foreign and local investors) are keen tocontinue in a policy of heavy investments, to catch not only thelocal demand but also that of foreign markets.

s the campaign aimed to the promotion ofThailand as the new hub of the automotive industry.This fundamental sector of the industry has generated massiveinvestments from the automotive-related network into thecountry. The Cannon Group – which bears in Thailand a stronglocal presence since many years that benefits from the technicaland commercial support of the Singapore-based Cannon FarEast – have significantly contributed to the growth of thisbusiness sector.

“Detroit of East” i

Refrigerator

panelmanufacturers

In spite of turmoil, a multi-coloured Thailand keeps growing!

is a very labour-intensive product. This has forced allthe famous Japanese refrigerator brands to relocate their productionfacilities outside Japan and Thailand has been selected as a majorproduction base. Nippon Cannon have been actively working inclose cooperation with their customers, to make their transplant asmooth and successful operation.A relevant number of complete plants, for both commercial andindustrial refrigerators, has been installed in Thailand in the past two-three years, with complete satisfaction of the Japanese headquartersand of the local production management.Another important sector of the industry caring about global energysaving and reduction of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, is theone producing insulation panels and commercial refrigerators andcool displays, dominated by local investor. Some leading

have upgraded their traditional non-temperaturecontrolled presses to world-standard temperature controlled,hydraulic Manni presses, distributed and assisted by the CannonGroup. Since then, the quality of their product has improvedsignificantly, providing them important benefits and a wider marketshare. Beside the quality improvement, the whole low-density rigidfoam sector is quickly going to convert their non environmentally-friendly formulations to other more friendly types of blowing agent,for instance Cyclopentane. Cannon Far East have grown significantpositive conversion experiences in Far East Asia – in China,Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, – delivering many retrofitting projectswith successful results.

Numerous car seat manufacturers in Far East Asia are using complete Cannon cushion-molding lines, built by Cannon Shinnon in China with technology imported from Europe.

Several leading panel manufacturers in Thailand have upgraded their presses toworld-standard temperature controlled, hydraulic Manni presses, distributed andassisted by the Cannon Group.

Nippon Cannon goes worldwide

with their Japanese customers

CN: And, to conclude, can you disclose what's going on in the“engine room”?FA:

We like tohandle complex foaming problems

More projects – some of them involving innovative solutions –are being currently discussed with existing and potential customersin USA, Far East Asia and Middle East, but let me keep themconfidential until the contracts are signed!I can only tell you that the increasing interest towards the economicand quality results provided by our complete production linestestifies that Cannon is recognised by the market as a leadingsupplier for PUR/PIR sandwich panel equipment.

, and we like to solve themfor the interest of our customers!We can't have success unless they do, at the end!

8

Francesco Abbà, Corporate Marketing Manager of theCannon Group since 2008, has been assigned Salesresponsibility for the Insulation Panels market segment.Cannon manufactures equipment and turn-key solutions forboth continuous and discontinuous panel-manufacturingtechnologies, and we ask him to report about his activity andthe current state of this important segment of thePolyurethanes market.

Francesco Abbà:

high efficiencyenergy production environmental sustainability

Energy Production & Energy Saving

produce energy in a very efficient way

reduce their emissions efficientlythe best thermal insulation tools

FA:

• Architectural Market”

garage and sectional doors

Commercial-Industrial Market”

Cannon News: Can youdescribe the strategyimplemented by theCannon Group in theInsulation Market?

CN: Can you tell us something more specific about thecharacteristics of this market, and how you approach it?

Ourstrategy stems fromsimple considerations, andit develops as a logicconsequence. It is wellknown fact that wecannot keep going onindiscriminatelyconsuming energyresources of our planeton a global basis.Therefore, a part fromutilising energy sourcesdifferent from oil and

natural gas, the most effective way to grow in a “sustainable way” issimply to save energy wherever it is spent. Usually it requires timeto develop - or even simply to scale-up – new technologies, but theapplication of the “energy efficiency” concept is a cheap, clean, andquick process.As a matter of fact Cannon is strategically present in this marketwhere national governments promote energy efficiency on aworldwide basis to achieve healthier economies, a cleanerenvironment, and greater energy security. If we consider thatanother major activity of our Group deals with

and , then,according to our CEO Marco Volpato opinion, the Cannon strategyof “ ”, implementedthrough our network of local offices with a global approach, isperfectly matching the above mentioned concepts. We want to helpour customers to , usingrenewable resources whenever this is economically wise, we want tohelp them , and we want toprovide them with to avoidunnecessary waste of produced energy.I have played the first time of this game for many years at BonoEnergia, leading the Sales and Marketing Group in charge ofEnergy Plants, and I am now trying to play the third time dealingwith the insulation panels plants.

In the developed countries (Europe, USA, Japan) we often hearthat new “Energy Standards for Buildings” are set in order topromote energy efficiency improvements, which will be of at least25% within the next 5 years and of up to 75% in the next 10 years.In this frame, Polyurethane sandwich panels bring essentialsolutions to the design, construction and plan for operation of highperformance “green buildings” in the developed countries as well asfor basic construction of “affordable houses” in the developingones. The potential growth of this market is justifying Cannonpresence in this strategic sector forecasting double digits growths innext few years. While in developed countries architectural andaesthetic aspects are predominant in the design of energy-savingbuildings, in developing countries economy, quick and easyinstallation are fundamental aspects for local standards.Therefore the market segmentation could be described as follows:

, where form leads function and theaesthetics is driven by architects and designers; manufacturersprovide design and details for integrated systems and solutions.The products can be horizontal or vertical with very goodflatness, finishing and innovative design. In this market segment

are playing an important role.The sandwich panel in this market segment is mainly with rigidfacing including, but not limited to, pre-painted steel sheets forcover but not excluding aluminium, stainless steel, copper orother valuable finishing materials.

, where function leads

form, product decisions are driven by owners or contractorsand architects have only a marginal involvement. The growth inthis segment is really high, driven by big retailers, car dealers,manufacturing plants, warehouses etc. It requires minimaldesign and detailing but competitive prices and fast “time to

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market”. Panels are usually made with rigid facing including pre-painted steel sheets; sometimes one facing is flexible to reducethe costs as much as possible.

, where the function and insulation properties are

the key features and no importance is given to form, since veryoften these panels are hidden by other construction materials.Contractors and architects have an involvement here just togrant the right performances in term of isolation properties.Normally these panels are designed to be coupled with othermaterials and are made with flexible facing in order to reducethe cost.

, where specialized owners and

contractors are leading the market, usually a niche for theCommercial-Industrial sector. Function and form are equallyimportant ; very high thicknesses are necessary in order get theright insulation properties required for food conservation.

, where function leads form, product decisions

are driven by owners or contractors. Architects will have moreinvolvement due to the aesthetics taking part to the decision.In Europe “tile roof ” style is taking place in the market in thecountries where historical reasons are matching the isolationfunction.

, where economic, aesthetic, functional

aspects are sharing equal importance in order to allowcontractors and engineers to design effective ducting atreasonable or low costs. This technology is slowly taking placesince it needs an efficient distribution network.

In terms of panel-making technologies Cannon can offer thewidest product portfolio: counting on the proven experience of asolid staff of technical and process engineers, we are able to offer,design, manufacture, test and run the most sophisticated continuousand discontinuous production lines for sandwich panels. When thetargeted panel market is identified, the continuous lines, due to theirhigh productivity, are the most effective solutions for satisfyinghighly demanding panel producers. Crios, the Cannon Divisiondedicated to continuous sandwich panel production, can benefit ofthe customer's opinion about the qualifying points that can besummarized according to:

of the most critical and sophisticatedparts of the plant, including the dosing machine, decoilers, rollforming machine, double belt, cutting and stacking equipmentand, last but not least, the control system for supervising theline. The quality of the final products strictly depends on theprecision applied in manufacturing the whole line. Engineeringand design of the equipment together with machining accuracyand quality controls allows for effective panel production.

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Insulation”

Cold Storage Market”

Roof Market”

Air Ducting Market”

FA:

Complete “in house” production – in our Italian qualifiedmechanical shops –

CN: Then the products required by these various segments arequite different: how do you approach these different needs?

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Dosing equipment

Double Belt, patented “screw driven” driving system

Decoilers automation for cutting, joining,matching, embossing, “on the fly” presses, roll formingequipment

produced by Afros, Cannon Group's

Division for metering machines, is worldwide recognised the“state of the art” in this sector. New development concerningthe mixing head, air nucleation, foam distribution system shallbe soon available on the market for those demanding customersasking for consistent performance.

(a

unique feature in this field), machining precision and strictquality control avoid undesired surface markings due topolygonal effect to the movement of the panel through thepress.

and relevant

are designed to reduce as much as possible thelength of the line, nevertheless granting easy access for

Continuous sandwich panels:a global marketing goal for Cannon!

maintenance. These hidden costs for the clients are taken in dueconsideration during the design phase of the project startingfrom the proposal phase.

precision, and design

allow for a clean working environment, easy maintenance andequipment reliability.

for the chemicals required by the continuous

production are engineered and built for optimal storage andtemperature control.

The capacity to handle , from the large

storage tank farms for the raw materials to the panels packingequipment including all the safeties, production planning andcontrol protocols.

The capacity to

, proposing solutions tailored to their actual needs are keyfactors for conscious and fulfilling technical investments.

and offices offering

qualified service engineers and spare part from stock.All above mentioned features and the care for the complete designof Cannon continuous sandwich panel lines is positively effectingthe result: our plant's efficiency is allowing our customers for areduced level of downtime for line configuration, shutdowns, scrapand trimmings – sometimes below 2 % even with a complexproduction mix – and optimal utilisation of the raw materials.This is counting for our customer competitiveness on a marketmore and more demanding for optimisation, that basically means“reducing the panel cost”, and quality assurance.

Sure, speaking only of the most recent ones I can say that– the St. Petersburg, Russia, based panel manufacturer –

confirmed their trust in Cannon signing a for acontinuous line in Nevinnomyssk – about 1,000 km from Moscow– producing wall and roof panels for the southern area of theRussian Confederation. This sophisticated plant that includes

for special panel surface finishing(“ ” and “ ” styles) was delivered during the firsthalf of 2011; it is able to produce about 2 million square meters ofpanels per year, thus covering a larger market share within theRussian Confederation “top” market and adding further capacity tothe Lissant Group, which already successfully operates two Cannoncontinuous foaming plants. Two more plants will be delivered to theMediterranean Area. , a Cannon customer in Turkey,decided to double the existing line for the production of wall androof panel. Another customer based in North Africa decided toenter the continuous panel market due to the local needs that arenot covered, at present, by local production.

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Fast cutting stacking suction hood

Tank farming

“turnkey” projects

speak the customers' language “technologywise”

Local presence with local companies

FA:Lissant

third contract

embossing equipmentstucco wood grain

Tecknopanel

CN: Can you give us some examples of successful installedplants?

Cannon provides complete “in house” production of the most critical parts of theplant, including the dosing machine, decoilers, roll forming machine, double belt,cutting and stacking equipment and the control system for supervising the line.

Precision machined slats guarantee optimum surface aspect to the finishedsandwich panels.

9

Aquatherm introduces PURin their vast range of plastic pipes“The most efficient method to transport energy – either forheating or for cooling – over long distances is the use of pre-insulated buried tubes” states Aquatherm located inAttendorn, Germany. Aquatherm (www.aquatherm.de)a medium-sized family owned company, pushed thetechnical developments in the field of piping technologyover the past thirty years essentially. The production of pre-insulated fiber composite pipe work – whose fields ofapplication include construction of heating systems, climateand chilled water technology, potable water supply, processand industrial water plants – represents one of their mostrecent challenges.

filling with Polyurethane foam, in adiscontinuous process, their pre-assembled fiber compositepipes

blowing agent (Pentane)

Aquatherm's target for this ambitious project was the definition ofa proper solution for

, up to a length of 12 m and in a range of diameters from 32to 315 mm. Considering also the production of pipe elbows andthe bushings, the already ambitious project definition became evenmore complex. In search for qualified partners for the foamingtechnology the first meeting with Cannon Deutschland took placeat the beginning of 2009.

Cannon was highly motivated in starting with this interestingproject, the development of an efficient plant for the discontinuousfoaming of pre-assembled pipelines. A master plan was promptlydeveloped, with some assistance of further partners.After the definition of the main technological focuses, thenecessary performance parameters were quickly established and theselection of the foam's was done incooperation with the Polyurethane's raw material supplier. Finallythe proposed plant concept satisfied the customer completely,comforted in his decision by the long experience of Cannon in thisfield, and the plant was ordered. Only a few months passed by untilthe complete plant was installed. Effectively working was routineactivity for all project partners and so the first pre-insulated pipewas foamed within the same year.

The performed by Cannon included:• Engineering of the complete plant• Raw material storage, conditioning and delivery to the tanks• Premix station for the Pentane-Polyol blend• High-pressure-dosing technology for the working areas, pipes and

bushings• Safety equipment and ventilation system• Plant master control cabinet• Project supervision for all safety aspects and TÜV Certification

The raw materials are stored outside the production hall in aseparate building. The blowing agent is automatically fed by thepremix station from the storagetank, installed underground, directly into the stream of the rawPolyol coming from its tank. The relevant mixing ratio Polyol:Pentane can be set individually via the CPU. While a homogeneousmixing is settled with help of a static mixer and then delivered tothe tank of the high-pressure dosing unit

by a transfer pump, the Isocyanate is on its directway to the dosing machine.

The of the plant relies on the strict control of theconcentration of Pentane in the air. Therefore, to avoid leakages,the dosing pumps and the agitators are equipped with

, which also reduce the maintenance. Additional rotatingcomponents are protected with a liquid barrier monitored withcontrol floating level. The modular concept of the Cannon PentaTwin machine and the on the Polyol-Pentanemodule ensures an efficient and economical air suction. Both thefoaming working areas and the so-called “dry part” of the plant(mould carriers for pipes and bushings) are equipped with aventilation system characterised by different power levels.

technical business activities

The concept of the foaming plant

Cannon PentaEasyFroth 40+4

Cannon “A-System”350 Penta Twin

safety concept

magneticcouplings

ventilation cabin

IR sensors

Nitrogen pressurization

inertisation of the mixing head

Axial-dosing piston pumps

Cannon FPL 24 HP

, installed at the critical points of the process, areconstantly measuring the Pentane concentration. A safety controlcabinet, equipped with alarm logic and special software, processesthe signals of the sensors and controls the correct function of theventilation. of the certified raw materialtanks and automatic inertisation are a must for the pouring process,completing perfectly the Cannon safety system. For the

a Nitrogen storage tank, with acapacity of 2,000 l, is equipped with a flow transducer – which isfeeding the valve integrated in the mixing head – guaranteeing anautomatic monitoring of the supplied quantity of gas.

with a flow rate of 107 cc/round,driven by frequency controlled AC motors, provide a maximumoutput up to 5,000 g/s, depending on the mixing ratio of thechemical components utilised.Two high-pressure mixing heads (high-outputversion) are configured for variable outputs from 800 up to 3.500 g/s.

The output is controlled via the interaction of the flow transducers,the PLC and the frequency inverters and is automatically adjustablein a range between 10 and 60 Hz. It can be assigned to the relevantmixing head, so different output values can be programmed foreach mixing head at the same time. Working in a

guarantees the high repeatability of the shot weights.The is linked toa 10” touch-screen operator panel. Together they allow for an easymodification of the pouring programs and, in combination with thetransfer and storage program, also for the analysis of the mainworking parameters.

This compact designed Cannon plant is consisting of, the first one for pouring the composite pipes up to a max.

length of 12 m and the second for the production of elbows andbushings, and offers a high production efficiency, an ideal handlingand a reliable functioning. Moulds and mould handling system havebeen designed by Aquatherm technical department, withengineering consultancy from Cannon Deutschland. The parallelproduction of the composite pipes and the relevant bushings,synchronized with the necessary capacity, leaves the door open for

of the plant.

The complete satisfaction of the customer was reached by aconclusive master plan and professional support by Cannon and apurposeful cooperation of all involved parties.

closed-loopsystem

process data visualization system Cannon OVS

two workingareas

further extensions

aluplast:all within the frame!That was a long time ago that the requirements to themodern insulation technology in the constructionindustry and building architecture were limited to thehouse top or facings. Even doors and windows arestanding in the front line showing room for improvement.Polyurethanes are offering flexible solutions in all fieldsof insulation. The unprocessed fluid gives the possibilityto be injected also into tight cavities with complexgeometries, providing an endless spectrum of solutions.

The Customeraluplast GmbH,

The requirement

The solution

one of the leading manufacturers of windowsystems with extruded plastic frames, located in Karlsruhe, wascasting about possibilities to optimize the process and toincrease the thermal insulation value. They realised very soonthat using PUR would have given them a competitive edge andthey were dead set on going new ways in producing windowframes: it should be all-welded window elements in differentdimensions filled with foam all the way round.

aluplast therefore needed a very small but effective PURdosing unit for this special use.The main difficulties in implementing this project were two:• They required a foam injection in welded window elements

with different dimensions, leaving the smallest possibleinjection hole

• Only a small floor space, between other existing plants, wasavailable

Cannon Deutschland supported this project from the verybeginning, in close cooperation with the right raw materialsupplier.

The high-pressure dosing unit series Cannon AP meets therequired characteristics, as compactness, flexibility and an easyintegrability, and allows for both manual and automatichandling of the mixing head. In combination with the smallestCannon mixing head, the LN 5, the AP 10 dosing unit coversan output range from 20 to 120 g/s – according to thePolyol:Isocyanate ratio. This type of machine is always used

A valve integrated in the mixing head controls the inertisation of the mixingchamber with Nitrogen.

Aquatherm fill with Polyurethane foam their pre-assembled fiber compositepipes, up to a length of 12 m and in a range of diameters from 32 to 315 mm.

Easy and safe junction of the buried pipes is obtained using the proprietary fittings.

when small but powerful solutions are demanded. In case ofhigher desired output another model of this series is available,the AP 30. Equipped with two 24 l tanks, axial piston pumpswith 6 cm³/round and a high-pressure LN 5 mixing head, theAP machine offers to the operator the comfort which isexpected from a modern dosing unit nowadays.The self-cleaning mixing head enables the clean and preciseworking requested for the frames production by the windowsspecialists. Washing operations are not necessary. The mixinghead has very small dimensions and is ultra-light: with justabout 1.1 kg a comfortable manual handling is ensured tooperators of all sizes and strengths.The control unit is equipped with a standard SIEMENS PLC.In combination with the process data visualisation CannonOVS as well as a touch-screen operator panel and additionalinterfaces, aluplast and their partners – located in France,Belgium, Slovenia and Germany –are able connect peripheralunits according to their special needs. With hardware andsoftware modifications Cannon integrated the possibility totransfer external data. All relevant process data can beautomatically transferred to the PLC, including those comingfrom a state-of-the-art barcode system.

The cooperation with Cannon grew continuously and thesuccess reached up to now speaks for aluplast. Up to now 13machines were supplied to the Group, most of them used inKarlsruhe and the other installed in their European subsidiariesand partners.The advantages obtained with the change-over of the serialproduction to the new process technology improvedsignificantly their position on the market.

The success

All Within The Frame: With Cannon You Can!

10

With the ever increasing costs of polyurethane foam raw materialsCannon Viking have been focusing in recent years in machineryefficiency to maximise foam yield and profitability for our clientsKey areas of concentration with equipment design have been to

1) Further improve the foam block shape to enable theproduction of perfect rectangular shaped foam blocks.

2) Reduced bottom, side and top skins and therefore less rawmaterial waste.

3) Reduce foam Pinholes and gas bubbles with Liquid Laydowntechnology available as an addition on all Cannon VikingMaxfoam continuous machinery

4) Create a Uniform and Regular Cell Structure available on bothLow Pressure and High Pressure continuous foam productionmachinery with better mixing and pre mixing as well ascustom made injectors on High Pressure continuous CannonViking foam plants

5) Further refine and develop Foam Plant Controls to ensureprecision and yet simple foam plant operation

:Cannon Viking offer various solutions to produce rectangularshaped foam blocks which can be part of a new continuous foamblock production plant or added as a later addition to existingcontinuous machinery, the solutions are as follows:-

– thistechnology works on the basis of pulling the side shoulders of theforming foam block to improve the rectangular shape.

Foam block Shape

RS ( Rectangular Section) Side Film Equipment

Planiblock Top Paper System – this technology works byapplying a Top Paper or Top Film on to the top of the foamblock during production with counter balanced ski's to flatten thetop of the foam block. This technology also greatly reduces topskin waste and ensures that the block is totally rectangular inshape

Cannon Viking Maximises

Raw Material EfficiencyConveyorised Moving Sidewalls - High density flexible foams,Speciality foams such as Viscoelastic and HR foams as well asSemi Rigid and Rigid foams tend to be more difficult to processon a continuous foam block production plant. For this reasonCannon Viking provide the option of conveyorised movingsidewalls on all their continuous foam production plants. Theseconveyorised sidewalls are electronically synchronised with thebottom conveyor to ensure a smooth and uniform support to thefoam. The Conveyorised Moving Sidewalls can also be varied inangle to counteract the trapezoidal block effect on heavy foamssuch as HR foams.

Reduced Pinholes and Fewer Gas Bubbles –Maxfoam Liquid Laydown ModuleCannon Viking has undertaken extensive work to further improvethe foam quality and therefore have less pinholes and gas bubblesin the foam. On our range of Maxfoam continuous machineryone major development has been the introduction of the additionof a Liquid Laydown Module known as LLM as a standard optionwhich has proved very popular. Rather than just use the traditionalMaxfoam Trough process with this LLM option the customer alsohas the capability to simply add an additional aluminium pourplate and attach the existing mixer unit to a liquid laydown unit fordirect foam pour prior to the Maxfoam fallplate. This system givesthe added benefit of allowing any gas bubbles to escape from thereacting foam prior to formation on the Maxfoam Fallplate.

Improved Foam Cell Structurefor Low Pressure Continuous MachineryTo further improve cell structure Cannon Viking introduced aspecial patented mixing unit back in 2008. The design of thispatented unit is to give better mixing and control of nucleation airon Low Pressure continuous foam production machinery.This additional mixer unit is fitted prior to the main continuousmachine mixing head and is used to create a homogeneous blendof air and activators which has proven to greatly improve thefoam cell structure and quality.The equipment has been delivered as part of a large number ofnew Cannon Viking foaming plants as well as can be supplied asan addition to existing Cannon Viking Low Pressure foammachinery. This equipment is now in operation on Cannon Vikingfoam plants throughout Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East andSouth America. Great improvements are seen in the overall cellstructure which is much more regular as well as the added benefitof better control of nucleation air in low pressure machinery.

Improved Foam Cell Structure for High PressureContinuous Machinery

Foam Plant Control:OMEGA - The Latest Generation

Cannon Viking have for many years been producing high pressurecontinuous foam production machinery with LLM liquid laydowntechnology know as our C-Max equipment range.From experience a key part of this technology to help ensure finecell structure is the control of the high pressure injection wherethe material enters the mixing head, these units are critical toensure good quality mixing but can be very difficult to set and

maintain especially on key streams like TDI andWater. To overcome this very common problemCannon Viking have developed their ownsolution with a range of custom made injectors.These injectors are very simple to use andmaintain and can be manually controlled ormotorised dependent upon the end clientrequirement. These injectors are manufactured ina range of sizes from very small chemical outputfor materials such as Stannous Octoate throughto very high output materials like TDI and MDIwith the added of benefit and simplicity of oneinjector unit being used for each metering linemaking set and operation much easier.

Cannon Viking continues to set the standard inFoam Slabstock technology with the latest versionof the highly successful OMEGA computercontrol system which is now in operation withmore than 170 clients worldwide. The OMEGAsystem has been developed in house by CannonViking with our own team of four specialistcomputer and software engineers and is fullysupported from within the company

The latest enhancements to the OMEGA system include:• An easy to use industrial touch screen, designed for chemical

environment from which full plant control and monitoring isundertaken

• A Modem to allow direct remote access via a phone line or viathe internet – this allow our clients to observe and monitorproduction remotely - an invaluable tool in the modern factorywhere production is across different sites or even differentcountries. The Modem also enables direct support andassistance to be provided by Cannon Viking if necessaryA UPS is provided as standard where power supply to thefactory or foam plant may be an issue and problem

• Raw Material Tank Farm display can also be included to showtank levels and temperatures on the OMEGA control system

• Cannon Vikings VCO Block Cut Off Machine can also beintegrated with the OMEGA control system which allows theBlock Cut Off Machine to be configured and set up from thefoam plant to cut the required number and lengths of foamblock based upon the production and formulation database.

• A completely modular and upgradeable Control System whichcan be easily expanded as further features such as additionalmetering units, square block equipment etc. are added to theexisting foam plant

• All existing key features - such as closed loop control,formulation management, full plant control and monitoringwith data reporting - remain.

•

An OMEGA retrofit package is also available to enable the earliestversions of OMEGA control systems to be upgraded to the latestgeneration of controls, a specialist Cannon Viking controlsengineer is provided with the retrofit package to install,commission and retrain the plant operators on site.With the increasing costs of raw materials set to continue for thelong terms future Cannon Viking is hard at work trying tomaximise efficiencies and developing cost saving initiatives whichcan be an integral part of a new foaming plant or can be added toexisting machinery of Cannon Viking or non Cannon Vikingsupply. Please contact Cannon Viking or our local representativeto discuss your requirements in more detail.

RS ( Rectangular Section) Side Film Equipment

Planiblock Top Paper System

Conveyorised Moving Sidewalls

Maxfoam Liquid Laydown Module

OMEGA - Foam Plant Control

11

Closed mould injection has been selected by Breckle for their new mattressfoaming plant.

The fully tiltable presses guarantee optimum access to both plattens to theDunlopillo operator.

A person spends one third of his life asleep in bed.Mattresses have to withstand high stresses and strains

and keep their shape for many years.It is very important that a mattress keeps its qualitycharacteristics and supports us every night as muchas possible, so that body and brain can relaxoptimally. A silent night enhances the personal well-

being and increases the effectiveness during the day.Therefore the manufacturers of mattresses are

permanently controlled by the industry with qualityinspections. New Cannon manufacturing plants for mouldingPolyurethane foam mattresses have been installed recently inGermany, after many years of successful use in other world'scountries: the high quality of the produced mattresses hasbeen certified by the leading German institutes as “StiftungWarentest”, “Ökotest”,”LGA” and “Blauer Engel” (“BlueAngel”).

• Use of several foaming systems at the same time to cover thecomplete range of different volume weights and degrees ofhardness

• The load profile of a mattress has to be divided into a multitudeof hardness zones, either with complex contours or with themultiple zone pouring technology

• Zones with a different hardness has to be signed with a differentcolour

The solutions for the foaming technology of the two plants aretotally different, while the approach for the mould's manipulation isvery similar. The alternatives for the introduction of the reactiveblend of Polyurethane chemicals into the moulds are two: open-mould pouring and closed-mould injection. When pouring in openmoulds the foam is dispensed with two mixing heads travelling veryquickly across the mould: defined foam grades, hardness andeventually also special zones can be colour-marked. For closed-mouldinjection technology the entire quantity of foam must to be quicklyintroduced into the mould via an injection hole drilled in the mould.With a optimum inclination of the mould a perfect part is produced,with complex contours and no voids, often created by air pocketsstagnating in some blind cavities of the mould's surface. Also herespecific qualities can be colour-marked to ease the work of logisticsand assembly personnel.

One raw material (PUR) as input – One ready product (a mouldedmattress) as outputNo need to transport and stock different grades of block foamsNo time-consuming intermediate steps as block production andcontour cut (a capital lock-up)Storage areas and waste are considerably lower.

In the production of moulded foam cores in different gradesIn the processing of orders, as it is possible to change the foamquality from shot to shot while the mould is still installed – aminimal lot size of one part will become economically feasibleThe production capacity can be adapted to the incoming orders inany momentEnergetically a very positive production process

Cannon supplied to both customers a similar set of basic equipment,although positioned differently in their production halls, due to thedifferent foaming technique:

the turntables handling the mould carriersthe mould carriers an their energy suppliesthe automatic pouring processthe dosing technology as two- or multi-component plantthe several auxiliary units for colours and activatorsthe automatic release agent sprayingthe suction hoodsthe safety equipmentthe plant control unit

A with four stations proved to be the mostreasonable configuration, allowing one “place” for each foreseenfunction: automatic application of release agent, foam pouring orinjection, polymerisation and unloading.The are planned to carry moulds for all establishedmattresses sizes – for widths from 800 to 1,400 mm and lengths upto 2,100 mm. The operation of both types of plant can be run fromone person only. Therefore a lot of designer's efforts were spent toensure an easy and ergonomic access to both mould halves, for fast,easy and painless demoulding and cleaning operations.

Different approaches

Advantages of both techniques• Less logistic effort

•• High flexibility

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turntable plant

mould carriers

Whether pouring into open moulds or injecting into closed moulds –the foaming technology is heavily affected by the used mixing heads.

For high component's outputs and the option to work with severalPolyurethane systems plus additional components (colours/activators)which can be varied from shot to shot, the mixing head type

is recommended, injecting in closed moulds. A 3-componentdosing unit has been supplied in this case.

For the injection of foam either a commercial robot or a dedicatedCannon head holder, designed to insert the mixing head into few pre-determined fixed positions, can be used.

When pouring in open moulds these large parts – which can weighup to 20 kg each and whose foam must be completely dispensed inthe mould within a time frame of 10 sec – must be produced usingtwo heads pouring simultaneously. Therefore two metering machinesworking in synchronised tandem are required.perform this task, fed by two with unitsfor the colour dosing. The automatic distribution of foam in theopen mould, following repetitively precise and pre-defined pouringpaths, can be done either with a orwith with two mixing head's arms.

The core piece of the plant control system is the, a data base where the required product-

related data records can be easily assigned to the installed mouldcarriers. Each data record is consisting of:• The raw material formulation• The desired shot weight• The traverse path for the pouring robot• The traverse path for the release agent robot

All plants are working with high efficiency, producing qualitymattresses in the required foam grades. The satisfaction of bothcustomers was reached thanks to the supply of a turn-key solutionand by the professional cooperation of all involved parties.The mattresses of our customers are certified and approved by the“Blue Angel” testing institute: is it, maybe, because sleeping on thesemattresses is a real celestial experience?

Closed-mould injection

FP2L32– AN“A-System Servo” 200

Open-mould pouring

Two FPL 24/3 heads“A-Compact” 60 two CCS

commercially available robota cartesian Cannon robot

productmanagement system

Sealing a Quality Deal

ApplicationsFrechem produces gaskets and seals for all kind of electricalenclosures (plastic, metal), filters, luminaries, packaging(plastic, metal, fibres) as well as moulded parts for theautomotive industry. Their Frechfoam® gasket systems arecharacterised by a wide range of viscosity: the thixotropicformulations vary from 35,000 to 100,000 mPas, while theliquid ones go from 1,000 to 5,000 mPas. The final productshardness – in the Shore 00 scale – vary from 30 to 65. Atemperature stability going from -40°C to +90°C allows for awide series of end-uses of their gaskets.

Frechem GmbH & Co. KG (www.frechem.de) have beendeveloping and producing for more than 40 years highquality Polyurethane systems in Frechen, Germany forthe processing industry and for commercial end users.Their innovation potential, flexible development andproduction, as well as certified quality management,have contributed to their success. A new Cannon lowpressure dosing unit with6-axis robot helps them tomaintain their highquality standards,automaticallymanufacturing theirgaskets and seals.

Quality as a way of lifeFrechem is entirely focused on continually improving materials,processes and services so as to always be one step ahead of theindividual demands of the market. Their ISO 9001:2008certifications are the foundation of a quality philosophy, which is away of life in every area of the Company. For the production oftheir gasketing products they recently installed a Cannon lowpressure dosing unit with a 6-axis ABB robot, which preciselyapplies Polyurethane from liquid to high viscosity (thixotropic)systems. The mixing unit is combined with an EcoCleaner washingsystem to clean the mixing head with ecological solvent. Due to therecycle system the cleaner can be used several times. The dosingunit allows for the use of formulations featuring mixing ratio from2:1 to 7:1 (A:B), with a total output capacity from 0.3 g/s to 5 g/s.The working area of the robot, 2,000 x 900 mm, gives them a wideproduction flexibility, allowing for real 3-dimensional application oftheir own Frechfoam®chemicals even onlarge parts.

Conventional production of mattresses

New manufacturing technology

Cannon Deutschland

BreckleDunlopillo

Requirements to be met

Mattresses are produced with different technologies and materials.Until now a combination of latex foam and coil springs as a core,bordered by different surfaces including cut PU blocks, or acombination of different PU foam grades cut in complex contours,is assembled inside a linen cover to make a finished product. In theirown in-house “sleep laboratories” the mattress manufacturers areconstantly working on the extension of their existing product rangeas well as on the development of new innovative solutions. Above alllie characteristics, durability, deformation indexes and elastic force atspecial points, which are verified in successive tests.

Sophisticated technical solutions are often hidden within manycommon articles that we use everyday… and nobody suspects theirintervention! Also the new Cannon manufacturing plants formattresses belong to that kind: thanks to the availability of properly-sized metering and mixing devices, a complete mattress foam corecan be produced in one moulding process even using a fast-reactingfoam. (www.cannon-deutschland.com)installed two of these new plants at two dedicated mattressesmanufacturers in Germany - GmbH (www.breckle.de)located in Northeim and GmbH (www.dunlopillo.de)located in Hanau. For both Companies the ultimate target was toreach the same high ergonomic level of comfort with that newmanufacturing process as they did with the conventional technologyand moreover to reach higher cost-effectiveness.

• Production of the whole range of mattress measurements has tobe possible

• Filling of different weights into the same moulds• Obtaining different hardness grades in the same moulds

Blue Angel mattresses – because

sleeping is a celestial experience!

12

Cannon Thermoformers for the

“Van of The Year 2011”

Forma (Cannon's thermoforming machinerymanufacturing division – www.cannonforma.com)has recently delivered two thermoforming machines tothe Martur Group, a tier one supplier to FIAT.These machines are dedicated to the manufacture of setsof interior trim (co-ordinated dashboard, front and backdoor panels) for the FIAT Doblò model year 2010, thathas been awarded of the title “Van of the Year 2011”.

Vacuum Covering Lamination

thermoforming machine

The production technology is “thermo covering”, a specialtechnique of thermoforming. An injection moulded insert

in ABS is treated with reactive hotmelt adhesives developed especially for the automobile'slaminating processes. A PVC

More on the process: .A wide variety of substrate materials are used including PVCand TPO-foils, textiles, wood and plastics. This process allowsproduction of parts with the ideal combination: perfectsurface with a structure giving mechanical properties andconnections for the assembly.

More on the characteristic:• Production rate 110 sec on the PVC skin• Automatic cycle and computer control of the process

parameters and fast tool change facilities• Working from reels, automatic material transfer• Single station concept with servo electric plug assist for best

movement control• Grippers to pull material. Automatic cutting to length,

special care to minimize material usage• Manual loading of the substrate• Substrate pre-heating and dedicated heating panel• High degree of control of the heating system, by

- high quality IR heating elements,- automatic control of heating power and compensation of

the voltage fluctuations,- embedded thermocouples to monitor actual temperature

of heating elements- feed back control on heating system- multiple pyrometer reading on substrate temperature and

skin surface• special design of the structure of the machine to increaseergonomics during loading and unloading

(also called “substrate”)

skin is thermoformed on top ofthe insert, which an operator places during the process on acarrier in the thermoforming machine. This carrier is clampedon the lower platen of the thermoforming machine, in thesame place of a conventional thermoforming mould.Special care has to be observed in the heating process both forthe skin and for the substrate. The skin, according to the highquality standards defined in the automotive industry, has to beperfect in the appearance, free from any marks orcontaminations and formed without deformations or thinning.The forming accuracy and material distribution has beenparticularly demanding in this particular case, due to thegeometry engraved on the surface of the skin: small circlesthat were highlighting any excessive elongation.

In the same way, the insert need a precise control in theheating cycle: it is covered by glue, plasma treated and activeonly in a narrow process window of a temperature range.The adhesive is a bi-component PU water based, produced bySika (Sikatherm 4206 + Sikacure 4202), widely used for carinterior trims, especially designed for the lamination of dashboards, door panels and so on, made from an ABS/PCsubstrate and a PVC foil.

Martur Group has selected Cannon Forma thermoformingmachines because of the state-of-the-art configuration for thespecific application, the sophistication of the heating controland the reputation of the Cannon Group.

Cannon Forma: the thermoformingspecialists for refrigerators

The Compact Line is the perfect choice for medium volume requirements.

Semi-linear (SL)

In-line machine (LF)

fast cooling system, plug assist,hydraulic movements for maximum control and speed,and a fast mould change system

See us at www.cannonforma.com:we have the tailored solutions that you require!

Designed for high production volumes with top qualitystandards, Semi-Linear is responding to these needs with a linecomposed by single/double sheet loading station, heatingstation by quartz or ceramic small heaters, forming and coolingstation and unloading in-line. The highest standard isguaranteed by an innovative pre-stretching vacuum bell with apatented solution to favour the independent control of freezerand refrigerator bubble liners in a flexible manufacturingenvironment.

The ultimate in-line solution to reach a maximum productivityof more than 100 liners per hour, it includes the in-linethermoforming machines with double sheet loading station,pre-heating, final heating, forming, peripheral trimming andpunching station or in alternative double liner separation.The pre-heating station is equipped with ceramic elements,controlled in pairs. The final heating station features 125 mmquartz elements, controlled individually, with a closed-loopcontrol of the heating power working on the actualtemperature of the heating elements. Heater bank movementsare hydraulic to preserve the delicate quartz elements.

Several dedicated solutions have been implemented to speed-up the production:

with 4+4 air and waterconnections for high degree of control of the mouldmovements and of the temperature.

These machines are completed by an overhead pick-up system,with four stations and three heads, and are equipped with thesame Windows-based PC interface of the Siemens controldescribed before.

In the last years Cannon Forma has focused itsinvestment to the sector of the industry that manufactureinner liner and door liner for domestic and commercialrefrigerators. Developing and providing a wide range ofsolutions, meeting different customer needs - from amanually sheet loaded single station machine to two-three stations machine up to a high production in-linethermoforming and trimming system - Cannon Formaoffers the widest range of different machine concepts.

Single station machine

sheet sag control

sheet clampinga pre-stretching bubble

blowingplug assist

innovative Direct Closed Loop

Two-station machine

Compact line (CL)

For those customers producing up to 40-50,000 refrigeratorsper year in one shift and/or requiring high equipment'sflexibility a single station machine with manual loading andunloading can be the right solution. The machine can beequipped with all options to reduce time for model change andto obtain the highest product quality standards, through aprecise and automatic process control. This machine - as allother configurations - features , thatachieves optimal heating for best material distribution and costsaving, , by vertical moving to grip the sheetfirmly during the forming process,

, to reduce local stress and increase materialdistribution to the forming sheet, and to eliminatewebs. A fundamental feature is their closed-loop control of theheating power, acting on the actual temperature of the heatingelements. This allows a constant replication of the heatersettings and a power saving, as minimum power is fed to theheating system in order to maintain these conditions. Cannonhas recently developed ansystem which control directly the material's temperature.

The first station includes a loader with automatic centringdevice, to avoid the manual pre-alignment of the plastic sheetson the pallet and a pre-heater that allows an increase inproduction of at least 20%. In the second station the finalheating, the forming and cooling occurs.A typical two-station machine achieves an hourly productionrate of 32 liners, starting from HIPS sheets of 2 x 1m.

A stepless adjustable reduction plate system, adjustable in oneaxis, characterises this machine, dedicated to the production oftwo families of refrigerators, each one having the same width(in total, two widths). Sag control requires a reduction plateaperture equal to the size of the mould, fitted on top of themould box. In order to reduce the number of these reductionplates (correspondent to the number of mould sizes) CannonForma has adopted its adjustable reduction plate system. Everyoperation is very easy to command, thanks to the touch-screenpanel, a Cannon- developed Windows-based PC interfaceinstalled in the Siemens control.

This machine configuration stems from Cannon Forma's longexpertise in various applications which permits to applyadvanced solutions to the refrigeration industry. It includes aloading station with upper and lower pre-heater, a station forfinal heating, forming and cooling and then unloading in-line.The transfer between the stations is featured by a spike chainsystem. This concept is the perfect choice for medium volumerequirements.

A two-station machine provides 20% higher productivity than a single station one.

The In-line machines reach a maximum productivity of more than 100 liners per hour.

The Semi-linear machine features a pre-stretching vacuum bell to favour theindependent control of freezer and refrigerator bubble liners.

PRODUCTIVITY DATA with HIPS/ABS material

Single station from 20 to 30 inner liners/hour

Single with loaderand pre-heater

from 30 to 40 inner liners/hour

Compact line (CL) from 35 to 45 inner liners/hour

Semi-linear (SL) from 65 to 75 inner liners/hour

In Line (LF) from 95 to 105 inner liners/hour