Atlas Copco

Early development

The company AB Atlas, as it was first named, was founded in 1873 by Edvard Fränckel, who was a Swedish industrialist, politician and senior official at the Swedish State Railways. Early investors were Andre O. Wallenberg and David O. Francke. Johan W. Arnberg, Carl G. Cervin and Fredrik Didron also contributed to the establishment of the company.

Initially, the company produced railway equipment, including railway carriages, in factories in Stockholm and Södertälje. After some profitable years, a general recession in the 1880s induced heavy losses and prompted a diversification into steel and iron parts for general construction purposes, as well as marine steam engines and boilers. Manufacturing was eventually concentrated to Stockholm. In 1890, the company was reconstructed as Nya AB Atlas (the New Atlas company), with the Wallenberg family as the principal owner and products that included steam engines, locomotives, machine tools and central heating components.

1898 to 1948

In the early 20th century, the focus moved towards oil-driven engines, pneumatic machinery and compressors. By 1915, compressed air products constituted 50 percent of sales. Meanwhile, in 1898, the Wallenberg family had founded the company AB Diesels Motorer to produce engines based on Rudolf Diesel's patent. From early on, there was collaboration between the companies, and in 1917, Nya Atlas merged with Diesels Motorer to form AB Atlas Diesel. The First World War disrupted international sales of compressed air products but provided opportunities for exporting marine diesel engines, mainly to the Allied nations.

The post-war period was characterized by weakening sales, a reduced workforce and financial reorganization. The factory space in central Stockholm was sold and the production of pneumatic equipment moved to the diesel engine factory in the Sickla suburb. By the late 1920s, sales had improved, but the company was nevertheless hit hard by the 1930s depression. However, from the late 1930s, the company was profitable again, and pneumatic tools were the largest driver of growth. The system that was introduced in 1936 and became known as the "Swedish method" was first used at full scale in a Stockholm tunnel in 1945–46; combining lightweight pusher-leg rock drills with tungsten-carbide bits, it allowed one worker to operate one machine and became a foundation of Atlas Diesel's postwar international expansion.

During the Second World War, sales to the Swedish Armed Forces kept the production of diesel engines and hydraulic gears going, but by the end of the war, the focus had decidedly shifted to compressed air products, and in 1948, the diesel engine division was sold off.

Post-war international expansion

After the war, the company, still called Atlas Diesel although no diesel engines were produced, set up an international sales network and increased its production capacity through domestic acquisitions. In 1956, it did its first significant foreign acquisition, the Belgian compressor company Arpic Engineering NV, and in the same year, the company name was changed to Atlas Copco AB. The word "Copco" was derived from Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale, a Belgian subsidiary whose name, in its abbreviated form, had been used in several countries. Production was also established in Finland and the UK.

In the 1960s, factories were acquired in several additional countries, and more than 80 percent of sales were outside of Scandinavia. Important products besides rock drilling equipment included portable compressors and pneumatic hand tools. The company decentralized its organization and increased its research and development investments. In 1970, it had 13,000 employees and was present in 34 countries. The 1970s was a continued period of expansion and acquisistions, and sales increased fourfold.

In the 1980s, the international recession prompted the company to close factories and decrease its workforce, but the end of the decade was marked by significant acquisistions in the industrial tools sector, notably Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company in 1987.

In 2024, the geographic distribution of employees and revenue was as follows.

Business areas

Since the split-off in 2018 of parts of the business into an independent company, Atlas Copco has been organized around four main business areas: Compressor technique, Vacuum technique, Industrial technique and Power technique.

Compressor technique

The Compressor technique business area produces, markets and services compressor, expander and treatment equipment for air and gas, as well as air management systems, for industrial and other applications.

The products are used in industries such as air separation, carbon capture, chemicals, electronics, food, health care, hydrogen production, LNG, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, power generation, textile, vehicle batteries, and wastewater treatment. The main competitors are Hitachi, Ingersoll Rand, Kaeser, MAN Turbo, Parker Hannifin, and Siemens.

Controversies

Atlas Copco has faced criticism for its operations in Russia during the geopolitical tensions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the company announced plans to discontinue operations in Russia in line with international sanctions, concerns persist about the timing and ethical implications of its business activities during the conflict.