EMCO-TEST

Our success is founded on the vision of Karl Maier to build hardness testing machines that "do everything simply, rather than simply everything". In the form of simple testing tools that implement the most complicated functions. This is why Salzburg businessman and mechanical engineer Maier decides to establish a hardness testing department in his company, Maier & Co Maschinenfabrik (later EMCO Maier GmbH), in 1954.

When Karl Maier dies in 1978, his innovative testing products have long since made a name for themselves. The founder's son, Ernst Alexander Maier, takes over the company, which under his leadership becomes a technological leader in the field of hardness testing, not only in Austria, but far beyond its borders. 1989 marks a milestone with invention of a closed-loop control system for load application in hardness testers. For the first time worldwide, it enables testing with all test methods and many load levels in a single universal hardness testing machine. Patent applications are submitted for this revolutionary invention not only in Europe, but also in the USA and Japan, and it still represents the technological basis for all modern hardness testers. In 1996, the hardness testing department becomes a separate company and EMCO-TEST Prüfmaschinen GmbH is founded.

In 2001, EMCO-TEST finally moves into the new plant in Kuchl. All our hardness testing systems have since been developed and produced here. The death of Ernst Alexander Maier in the same year is a grievous loss, because his extraordinarily visionary spirit has not only shaped the development of the company, but also its employees and milieu. His humanity and sense of responsibility with respect to the region and the environment are also sorely missed. The figures  for themselves: Approximately 40 employees at the company headquarters in Kuchl are responsible for our international commercial success. Together with our motivated and talented team, we have turned Karl Maier's vision into a living reality – his idea has become our mission. Or to put it another way: "We don't make simply everything for hardness testing, but we do make everything in hardness testing simple."