History

Since the foundation of the company in 2006 (at that time still under the name “Energy Consulting Allgäu”) ECA Concept has consulted about 1,000 companies from almost all industrial sectors. The basic principles for carrying out consulting for more efficiency in production were developed by ECA as early as 2006 within the framework of a consulting concept for analytical energy efficiency consulting sponsored by the Bavarian State Government during consulting for Salamander Industrie-Produkte GmbH and have been continuously improved since then. The approach is universal and applicable to all industries and complies with the requirements of both DIN EN ISO 50001 and DIN EN 162471. From 2008 onwards, the team around the founding duo grew visibly. At this time, the initial consultations and detailed consultations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) funded by the KfW were carried out, with a regional focus on the Allgäu. Accompanying this time, plant surveys focusing on energy efficiency were carried out again and again in order to obtain as holistic a picture as possible of the energy generation, supply and use of the respective companies under investigation. Even then, the aim was to support customers as far as possible in the long term and to master the energy challenges of the future together with them. In 2011, ECA’s work as an energy technology consultant for a LEEN network in East Westphalia-Lippe enabled it to apply the knowledge gained so far to structured energy analysis for companies at companies such as Miele, Phoenix Contact and Bertelsmann. Here, too, it was shown that ECA is capable of obtaining a comprehensive view of the energy situation within a few days, regardless of the size of the company, and can present meaningful results despite the short time. In the context of the network work, the structured and standardized approach was particularly important, which leads to resilient results for a wide variety of starting points, but at the same time leaves enough room for creativity and individuality. This quality still characterizes ECA today. Since the publication of the energy management system standard DIN EN ISO 50001 (and its predecessor DIN EN 16001), ECA has been supporting companies in the introduction and continuous improvement of their energy management systems. All project managers underwent further training to become energy auditors according to ISO 50001 in order to be able to take the view “from the other side” and thus optimally support the customer. Shortly after, further specializations in the field of management systems took place, especially for environmental management systems, but also in the field of quality or integrated management systems. Even today, ECA supports many companies and organizations in the implementation and operation of their management systems and has excelled especially in the area of performance measurement systems according to ISO 50006 and ISO 50015. Parallel to the management systems, a focus on the topics of material and resource efficiency has been taking place since 2013 in order to be able to realize the immense savings potential in the areas of process efficiency, scrap, etc. from an economic point of view together with the companies advised and to take the logical next step for all those who have already harvested the low-hanging fruit in energy efficiency. Today, ECA mainly deals with energy, material and resource efficiency and management systems. In recent years, it has also added sustainability and climate management, from determining carbon footprints for companies or products to sustainability reporting together with companies and developing long-term energy strategies.