History

Founding of the company and first product

Wolfgang Hauck founded ECM GmbH in 1996, advancing his idea to develop and market espresso machines for the upscale household and office sector. Consequently, he joined forces with Friedrich Berenbruch of ECM SPA Co. in Mailand, who up until that time produced commercial machines only. The goal was to utilize professional components in the new home machines.

Development and market introduction of the first Technika

While enjoying an excellent Italian meal, Wolfgang Hauck together with Hilmar Mollo (ECM GmbH), Friedrich Berenbruch and Ennio Berti (ECM SPA) established the project for the first Technika in accordance with our technical and design specifications.

Registration of the EU Trade Mark "ECM"

In October of 2003 the EU Trade Mark 3503869 ‘ECM’, i.a. for coffee makers, was filed. After registry in the EU trademark registry in 2005, the brand name ‘ECM’ was trademarked in each of the 28 European Union member countries.

Termination of the cooperation with ECM SPA

The cooperation with ECM SPA in Milan was terminated in 2005.

The design and construction, and with it the entire product development, was relocated to Germany. The technical development and the quality management from now on are situated in Neckargemünd as well. Merely the assembly of the machines is imparted to a subcontractor as an ‘elongated workbench’.

Takeover of the entire production process

The entire production process was taken over by us in 2007.
From this point on all espresso machines are assembled in Milan by a company we acquired and which had been the production site of our former partner ECM Srl. This company was already responsible for production of the first household series of ECM machines.

International trademarking of the brand "ECM"

In October of 2008 until 2012, our German brand ‘ECM’ was further internationalized by trademarking the brand in Australia, Switzerland, China, Russia and the United States. The brand rights in Canada and other markets were secured concurrently. The brand ‘ECM’ is thus recorded nearly everywhere in the world and we have successfully protected the name against numerous attacks from third parties. Additionally, measures are being taken against unauthorized applicants or users of the brand.

Michael Hauck is named as an additional CEO

Michael Hauck, who has been engaged in the company since his education in England in 2005, is being named as additional director alongside his father.

Patent application of the modified ECM brew group

The legendary E61 brew group is technically improved by us and a patent is applied for.

ECM S-Automatik 64 grinder

We present our very first, self-produced grinder at the World of Coffee 2014 in Rimini/Italy. By this time, this model is manufactured by ECM Milan/Italy. 

 

ECM Commercial Line- Made in Germany

Since the summer of 2014, we not only produce in Milan/Italy, but in our new manufacturing plant in Germany as well This is where our Commercial Line machines are being produced.

Start of our grinders production in Germany

Our production site in Germany is constantly growing:
Since 2015 not only our Commercial Line machines, but also our grinders are manufactured in our production facility in Germany.