Inside Our Manufacturing: How People, Process, and Technology Come Together at the EVAL Plant
Credit: Kuraray America, Inc. Marketing.
Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) is recognizing National Manufacturing Day and World Standards Day by highlighting our people, processes, technology, and quality practices behind manufacturing across our U.S. sites.
Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) EVAL Plant in Pasadena, TX, is home to the world’s largest EVAL™ Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH) resin production facility, with an annual capacity of 58,000 tons. This production capacity is supported by more than equipment and infrastructure. It reflects the technical expertise of our EVAL team, continued investment in plant technology, knowledge sharing, and a culture of continuous improvement that strengthens manufacturing performance.
For decades, Kuraray’s EVAL™ EVOH resin has been delivering high gas-barrier performance for packaging applications. With oxygen barrier properties up to 10,000 times stronger than polyethylene, it keeps food fresh, preserves flavor, and extends shelf life.
This superior protection can support:
- reduced resource consumption;
- less food waste; and
- improve resource efficiency throughout the value chain.
Typical co-extrusion multilayer structure illustrating how a layer of EVAL™ EVOH resin functions as a barrier layer within packaging.
The technology behind it has been developing for more than 50 years. Kuraray Co., Ltd. became the first company in the world to produce and commercialize EVOH in 1972, under the trademark EVAL™, with production later expanding to Texas in 1986 and Antwerp, Belgium in 1999 as demand grew.
Today, manufacturing EVAL™ EVOH resin in Texas provides a U.S.-based source within The Kuraray Group’s global production network.
Manufacturing EVAL™ EVOH resin
The manufacturing process at EVAL begins with two primary raw materials: ethylene and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM).
These materials are introduced into a controlled polymerization process, where they react to form an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. The material then goes through a saponification process, which converts it into ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), the high-performance barrier resin marketed as EVAL.
Following the reaction, the EVOH material is processed into pellets. These pellets undergo washing and drying to remove residual process materials and moisture, ensuring the finished resin meets established quality requirements. Throughout production, operating conditions are carefully monitored and controlled to maintain consistent product quality.
Once the pellets have completed processing and passed the required quality checks, they are transferred to finished product storage before being packaged and prepared for shipment to customers.
Packaged EVAL™ EVOH resin staged for shipment at the EVAL Pasadena, TX Plant, 2026.
Growing Around a Live Process
Since opening in 1986, the EVAL site has continued to grow alongside new applications and markets for EVAL™ EVOH resin, doubling in size in 1996 and expanding production again in 2006, 2013, and 2024.
Every expansion happens around a live process, requiring significant planning and communication to keep the existing plant operating safely. Operations gets involved early to review how new equipment will connect with the existing process and how the process will behave during the transition.
Edward Navarro, Assistant Production Manager, has spent 24 years on the site, starting as an outside operator.
Edward Navarro, Assistant Production Manager, at the EVAL site in Pasadena, TX.
That work has also created opportunities to rethink how turnarounds are managed.
Digitizing Turnaround Operations
Richard Jackson, Manager of Project Engineering at EVAL, developed with his team, the Shutdown, Transition, Outage Program (S.T.O.P.), an in-house digital turnaround system built on the Microsoft Power Platform. The system replaced more than 15 manual spreadsheets and whiteboards with an 18-module platform designed around KAI’s turnaround workflows. During execution, it provided teams with real-time visibility into labor, cost, and risk, supported mobile field entry, and improved coordination across disciplines.
Richard Jackson, Manager of Project Engineering at the EVAL site in Pasadena, TX.
Read the full case study authored by Richard Jackson here: Digital Exclusive: Turnaround digitalization with enhanced digital tools - A case study
Built for the Gulf Coast
Operating on the Gulf Coast means planning for conditions that can change quickly.
In 2023, the site earned StormReady® certification from the National Weather Service, making KAI the first U.S. petrochemical company to earn the designation.
Quality Standards in Practice
Consistency starts with a process condition sheet.
Each grade has a dedicated process setting sheet, prepared by process engineers and shared with technicians, outlining the required operating conditions and parameter specifications for a given production rate. Field technicians conduct routine rounds and collect samples. QC laboratory results provide critical data to support process monitoring and operational decisions.
Before shipment, each finished batch undergoes quality verification in the QC laboratory, with full traceability maintained throughout the process. Any batch that does not meet established specifications is isolated and evaluated through a formal review process to ensure only products meeting quality requirements are released for shipment.
Sergio Cortina Ortega, Quality Manager, oversees the quality management system and compliance with standards at the EVAL site. He has spent six years with the EVAL business and more than 20 years in quality management systems across nuclear power, oil and gas, and chemicals.
Sergio Cortina, Quality Manager at the EVAL site in Pasadena, TX.
The EVAL plant is certified to ISO(1) 9001:2015 and to IATF(2) 16949, the automotive industry's quality standard, both valid through March 2028. It also holds Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification under European Community 2023/2006 for food contact materials through March 2027 and ISCC(3) PLUS certification through November 2026.
(1) ISO – International Standards Organization; (2) IATF - International Automotive Task Force; (3) ISCC – International Sustainability & Carbon Certification
EVAL team members review part of the laboratory testing process in the site’s quality control lab, 2026.
During audits, the production lines, control room, packaging, and quality control laboratory are key areas of focus. Auditors assess how quality standards are applied in daily operations through employee interviews, process observations, and reviews of supporting documentation, including specifications, control plans, equipment calibrations, and standard operating procedures.
This commitment to quality is also reflected in customer performance metrics. Since 2021, the customer satisfaction score has increased to 99% for key automotive customers.
From Training to Operational Readiness
New operators complete a competency program of training courses, practical evaluations, and qualification requirements before they are assigned to a role, and every employee completes annual quality management system awareness training through internal training courses.
A new process technician progresses through structured classroom, field, and console training, completing required demonstrations and qualifications before independently performing each assigned role.
EVAL team members collaborate during hands-on work at the site, 2026.
Board operators monitor the plant from a control room on a distributed control system. Every shift starts with a safety topic, and everyone on site holds stop-work authority.
Where People and Standards Come Together
That hands-on approach extends beyond training and into the culture of the EVAL Plant. Employees learn from one another as they move through different roles, while leaders remain visible and accessible throughout the site.
That openness is especially important when it comes to safety. Speaking up, sharing what employees are seeing on the field, and looking out for one another are all part of how the EVAL site operates day to day. In 2026, that commitment was recognized by the Texas Chemistry Council and Texas Chemistry Alliance with 4 industry awards:
- Zero Incident
- Caring for Texas
- Distinguished Service
- Dr. Mannan Award for Zero Process Safety Incidents
Team EVAL at 38th Annual TCC and TCA Annual Awards, 2026.
For Plant Manager Thomas Mathew, that culture of recognition and collaboration helps employees support one another in daily operations.
“One of EVAL’s strengths is the way our teams stay connected across functions and work together to solve problems,” Mathew said. “Communication is direct and frequent, and safe, stable operation depends on sharing information, supporting one another, and following through on commitments.”
Thomas Mathew, Plant Manager at the EVAL site in Pasadena, TX.
Just as EVAL’s culture is shaped by the people behind it, the site’s standards rely on those same people to carry them out consistently every day.
Kuraray Group celebrated its Centennial milestone in June 2026.