Looking back, we have more than 65 years of professional experience.

Our success is based on Karl Maier’s idea of ​​building hardness testing machines that “do everything simply, not simplify everything”. It is important to keep even the most complex functions with simple test equipment. That is why Karl Maier, a businessman and mechanical engineer in Salzburg, decided in 1954 to set up a hardness testing department at his company, Maier & Co Maschinenfabrik (later EMCO Maier GmbH). When Karl Maier died in 1978, his innovative test equipment had already gained a reputation. The founder’s son, Ernst Alexander Maier, took over the management of the company, whose leadership becomes the company’s technology leader in hardness testing, not only in Austria but far beyond its borders. 1989 marks a milestone in the invention of a closed-loop control system for the application of hardness tester loads. For the first time in the world, it allows testing with all test methods and multiple load levels in a single universal hardness tester. Patent applications for this revolutionary invention are filed not only in Europe but also in the US and Japan, and it still represents the technological basis of all modern hardness testers. In 1996, the hardness testing department was transformed into a separate company and EMCO-TEST Prüfmaschinen GmbH was established.

In 2001, EMCO-TEST moves into the new Kuchli plant. Since then, all of our hardness measuring systems have been developed and manufactured here. The death of Ernst Alexander Maier in the same year is a serious loss because his extraordinary visionary spirit has shaped not only the development of the company but also its employees and environment. There is also a great lack of humanity, a sense of responsibility for the region and the environment. The numbers speak for themselves: 40 employees at the company’s headquarters in Kuchli are responsible for our international trade success. Together with our motivated and talented team, we have made Karl Maier’s vision a reality – his imagination has become our mission.

In 2020, EMCO-Test GmbH became a member of the ZwickRoell Group.

EMCO-Test GmbH is represented in Hungary by Senselektro Kft.