Continuous Improvement: The USG Westlake and Donn® Brand Story

The Westlake, OH USG manufacturing plant has an important place in USG history, marking one of the company’s foremost acquisitions of the past five decades: the purchase of Donn Corporation.

Donn Corporation Joins USG

The history of Donn Corporation starts back in the early 1950s with Don Brown, an inventor and entrepreneur in ceiling grid best known for inventing the drop ceiling. Brown got his start in the industry producing suspended ceiling grid out of a small building located about a mile from the current plant location in 1952.

By 1955, the Westlake plant was founded, constructing a 10,000 sq. ft. building with one rolling mill and eight employees dedicated to manufacturing Donn® Brand grid. Over the following decades, Brown aggressively grew his business, and Donn Corporation would soon become the largest ceiling suspension manufacturer in the world.

Don Brown eventually sold his namesake business to USG in 1986, which allowed USG to combine Donn® Brand grid with its expanding acoustical ceiling tile portfolio. This acquisition made USG a leader in ceiling suspension systems, offering pre-designed, pre-engineered, and fully integrated ceiling systems.

One of the most unique, signature features of Donn® Brand grid is the cross-tee clip. When the cross-tee is installed correctly, there is an audible click to indicate that the connection is tight and secure: the Donn Click™. This simple yet invaluable feature gives installers additional assurance that the installation is correct so they can move on to the next step.

USG continued to innovate and enhance the Donn® Brand ceiling suspension systems by introducing the quick-release clip in 1996. USG was awarded a patent for this unique clip design which allowed grid to be easily removed and re-installed without use of a tool, giving Donn® Brand another major draw for suspended ceiling projects.

A Flagship Operation

Today, almost 70 years after the plant began operating under the Donn Corporation, the Westlake plant remains the flagship ceiling grid operation at USG.

The Westlake plant produces over 60 different profiles of grid and specialty products, providing raw materials to each of USG’s grid operations across North America, including cap and molding coils and quick-release clips.

Additionally, the plant’s Specialty Department has the capability to manufacture and paint custom grid and specialty ceiling components, which provides architects and designers with the ability to specify custom colors, sizes, and other details for their ceiling systems. In addition to design support, the Westlake Specialty department also offers robust technical support, working with USG sales representatives to help contractors plan their installation and order the required materials. This full-service approach makes USG a partner in your project from start to finish.

The Westlake plant has been a driving factor in recent successes with innovation and growth within USG’s ceiling offerings, supporting several new product launches over the last two years, including Donn® Brand DX24 Intermediate Duty Main Tee, also known as Agili-Tee™. Production of this reengineered main tee launched at Westlake in 2022, introducing many product innovations to make installation even easier, such as an advanced integral splice for tighter connections, 88 oblong-shaped hanger holes 1” off flange for less hanger wire interference and installation flexibility, and an easier to cut and stitched tee body to allow tees to lie flat.

Roll Design/Training & Mill Precision

Through several of these new product launches, USG has grown an understanding of roll forming, especially with lighter gauge steel.

This continuous process converts sheet metal into engineered shapes using a series of metal rollers that gradually form a complex profile in the metal as it moves down the production line. Some of these key learnings are the importance of the roll set design, the precision needed with mill set-up, and the value of proper mill alignment.

The Westlake plant has been investing in design simulations, which run a complex analysis of roll sets to identify the stresses and strains on the metal as it is being roll formed. Additionally, the plant has invested in roll form training for operators and proper mill head alignment and maintenance for technicians. This training has supplied USG employees with the tools and knowledge necessary to be successful, while also improving efficiencies and reducing set-up times.

Learn more about the innovation behind USG Donn® Brand Acoustical Suspension System below: