news, press | 09. December 2009 Celebrating 90 years of EVVA
Innovation based on tradition: the history of a successful company.
Three men. One idea. EVVA.
Laxenburgerstrasse 28, the birthplace of a certain Karl Jindrich in Vienna. It is 1919.
Three engineers, among them Karl Jindrich, have a vision firmly fixed in their mind which they wish to turn into a reality. Together the engineer friends draw up a manifesto for progress: they want to invent (in German, erfinden - E), try out (versuchen - V) and evaluate (verwerten - V). They put their idea into practice: they decide to set up a company, an institute (Anstalt- A). This is the moment EVVA is created.
EVVA experiences highs and lows.
EVVA is granted its licence to trade in 1923. In the 1920s, it finally develops the first cylinder rim lock (M.A.F.).
By the 1930s, EVVA already employs 150 workers. The quality in security products is first-rate. However, trouble is on the horizon: mismanagement and adverse circumstances result in serious financial difficulties in the early 1970s.
1973: EVVA reinvents itself and starts anew.
EVVA is faced with the most serious crisis in its company history. However, one man recognises the potential in the long-established business: accomplished businessman Nikolaus Bujas, at that time CEO at Gebrüder Grundmann, one of EVVA's competitors. He is exactly the type of manager which EVVA now needs, with unbelievably extensive experience - nobody knows the sector better than he does. At that time, the Grundmann/Bujas family has already been active in the lock industry for seven generations.
Nikolaus Bujas takes over EVVA on December 21, 1973 at the age of 63. His family dynasty has successfully run the company ever since. The export expansion strategy is launched.
A new era begins as Nikolaus Bujas includes his son-in-law, accomplished businessman Sven Berlage, in executive management. From now on, Bujas's future successor will attend to EVVA's market position in Europe, which he does with great success. In the 1980s, Sven Berlage sets up cooperative partnerships worldwide and promotes exports and expansion of subsidiaries.
However, things often don't go as planned. Mr Berlage, who was supposed to take over the company, dies suddenly and unexpectedly in 1999, six months before his father-in-law, 28 years his senior. The deaths of both managers within a short space of time deeply affect the employees. The next generation, Mr. Stefan Ehrlich-Adám, is ready to take over and rises to the challenge. He exudes confidence and offers reassurance to the employees once more. Mr Ehrlich-Adám is already on EVVA's executive board; he runs the electronics department and is heavily involved with exports.
Mr Ehrlich-Adám takes over the family business before the year is out. His wife, Mrs Nicole Ehrlich-Adám, Mr Berlage's daughter, is in charge of human resources.
Our values determine our actions.
An established enterprise is taken over, but a wind of change is also blowing through the company. New questions are being asked: What kind of vision are we working towards for the future? First and foremost, EVVA's CEO, Stefan Ehrlich-Adám, sees success linked to a sense of team spirit amongst his workers: 'A key component is our vision of the future, the vision of where our shared journey should lead. Another equally important aspect is a good team which also consistently pursues and achieves its ambitious goals.'
This process of development has ensured EVVA is perceived for what it is today: an international group of companies with subsidiaries in 11 countries and over 850 employees.
'90 years of EVVA also signify 90 years of team work, since we can only achieve our stated goals and success as a result of joint effort,' says Stefan Ehrlich-Adám, summing up the successful history of the EVVA family enterprise.
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