Development News From Southwest Indiana

Evana expands plant, work force
Local manufacturer cites growth in business as reason for needing more space
By CAROL WERSICH Courier & Press staff writer, August 19, 2005

An increase in business is prompting Evana Automation Specialists Inc. to expand its plant at 5825 Old Boonville Hwy. by another 43,200 square feet of space.

Ground was broken this week for the addition to the rear of the plant.

The company - a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich.-based Phillips Service Industries Inc. (PSI) - designs and manufactures robot tools and other automated assembly systems for a variety of industries.

Clients range from Whirlpool, General Electric, General Tire, AT&T and Dupont to General Motors/Singapore, Ford Motor Co. and IBM.

Randy Wire, Evana's general manager, credited the local company's quality of work and customer service for the growth in business.

He said the expansion will give the plant a total of 93,200 square feet of space when complete around Thanksgiving.

Plans filed with the Evansville-Vanderburgh Area Plan Commission call for the addition to be one story, or 26 feet high.

Empire Contractors Inc. is the general contractor. Landmark Design & Engineering, Inc., is the project designer and engineer.

Wire said acreage will remain at the Old Boonville Highway location for future expansions.

Evana first moved there in 1977.

Evana's work force is expected to increase from the current 70 employees because of the expansion. The number of new employees is still undetermined, however, said Wire, a 26-year veteran with the company.

The work force now includes 25 designers and 30 manufacturing employees.

Founded in 1963, Evana first created dies, fixtures, molds and some tooling for local manufacturers.

By the early 1970s, it graduated to building small-scale automation, including the manufacturing of cartridge handlers and indexing dials.

As total system integrators today, Evana has extensive experience in automation applications and related areas.

PO Box 20127, Evansville, IN 47708-0127 TEL: 812-423-2020 E-mail: info@swidc.org