Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale/Evansville. At the change of month April/May, Preh IMA Automation GmbH (PIA), Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, has acquired EVANA Automation, Evansville (Indiana/USA) from Phillips Service Industries Inc., Livonia (Michigan/USA). Preh IMA Automation, the automation division of the Preh Group thereby enters the US market  and  continues the expansion of its global positioning as an all-round provider in the field of assembly systems  and  production lines. The new location in North America will also lead to sustained growth of the international service capacities of PIA. EVANA Automation is a specialist for assembly systems in the automotive, industrial  and  medical technology markets with 50 years of experience in special machine construction. In the context of the growth strategy of the Preh Group, the acquisition is to lead both to the establishment of the North American business of PIA  and  to the development of the European market for EVANA products  and  assembly solutions. The app. 100 employees of EVANA will be retained  and  the location in Evansville will be acquired. To ensure a uniform image of the group, EVANA Automation will in future present itself under the brand name PIA  and  be incorporated as Preh IMA Automation Evansville Inc. 

“For our automation business, the partnership with EVANA Automation is an optimal extension  and  reinforcement”, says Preh Group CEO, Christoph Hummel. “The new location in the state of Indiana closes our strategic gap in the automation business in North America  and  at the same time strengthens our market positioning in Europe  and  Asia because the EVANA know-how which was acquired over 50 years will also be of interest to our existing customers in the established markets. With the support of our Chinese partner Joyson we will develop Preh IMA Automation into an important global player in the automation industry.” 

PIA Managing Director Günter Brosch says: “We are looking forward very much to the cooperation with the colleagues from Evansville. PIA  and  EVANA are active in similar market segments,  and  we speak one ‘language’ at the technical level. Our different regional focus areas – PIA in Europe  and  China, EVANA in North America – mean that we supplement each other perfectly in terms of market access. Together, we will write a successful international growth story in the automation business  and  already cross the magical EUR 100 million threshold in the current financial year.”

 The performance range of EVANA Automation extends from manual workplaces to complete manufacturing cells which also permit the integration of robots. The majority of EVANA’s customers come from the automotive sector, followed by other industrial applications. For roughly three years, the Health Care sector has been growing in importance. With the takeover of EVANA Automation, PIA can meet customer requests for a service location in the NAFTA region immediately.