Atlas Copco Podcast

“Adopted with pride and further improved” may be the best description of the origin of Atlas early pneumatic tools and machines. Atlas bought tools for its own use in production and then further developed them in an interactive collaboration between users, designers, and metalworkers.

Industrial marketing is not about signing contracts whatever the price, but about an appreciation of what is best for the customer. It is about building long-term relationships and developing products that fulfill customers’ needs.

When Walter Wehtje was appointed managing director, the intention was to change Atlas Diesel from a technology-based to a market-oriented production company. He introduced a policy in which customer needs became the starting point for the development of product lines and sales strategies.

Atlas Diesel developed a light rock drill about the same time the swedish steel industry began developing tungsten carbide drill bits through Sandvik. the salesman in erik Johnsson realized the advantage of marketing the two simultaneously as the swedish method. the customer buyers, who found it difficult to negotiate prices for a method, were obligated to let the salesmen deal directly with their technicians, who had a greater understanding of the matter.

A major effort was needed to quickly utilize the potential of the swedish method. diesel’s production was phased out and Atlas diesel became a specialist company in compressed air that took huge world market shares, thanks to the obvious superiority of its methods.

Atlas Copco’s international breakthrough was based entirely on the swedish method and all business was with the mining industry, which was sensitive to economic fluctuation. during the 1960s, efforts were focused on local construction and industrial sectors.

Atlas Copco’s innovative compressor technology exceeded the demands and expectations of its existing customers. simultaneously, the foundations were laid for new applications of compressed air in altogether unexplored areas and market sectors.

Since the mid-1970s Atlas Copco, once a company concerned solely with compressed-air products, has broadened its business. through strategic acquisition of companies and a well-reasoned brand-portfolio strategy, customers have been offered ever-greater choice and more complete system solutions.

Closeness to customer´s businesses is fundamental to all thinking in the group. technical and marketing innovations, which play their part in laying a firm foundation for the future, derive from customer-oriented development, which will become increasingly important as the group expands into more and new markets.

Climate change appeared high on the global agenda in the beginning of the 21st century and the continued challenge to develop more energy-efficient products that use fewer resources, became a key driver for design and development departments. Atlas Copco took on the mission to create value while contributing to solutions for sustainable, profitable development and to do business in an ethical way.