office in nacka 2015 type public aktiebolag traded as nasdaq stockholm atco a atco b industry industrial equipment founded 1873 ; 143 years ago 1873 headquarters nacka sweden key people hans str berg chairman ronnie leten president and ceo products compressors vacuum solutions generators construction and mining equipment industrial tools and assembly systems revenue sek 102 billion 2015 number of employees 43 588 end of 2015 subsidiaries atlas copco chicago pneumatic edwards henrob beaconmedaes quincy compressor sca schucker and more . website www.atlascopcogroup.com footnotes references 1 2 3 atlas copco is a swedish industrial company that was founded in 1873 . 4 it manufactures industrial tools and equipment . 3 the atlas copco group is a global industrial group of companies headquartered in nacka sweden . in 2015 global revenues totalled sek 102 billion and the company employed more than 43 000 people . the company manufactures products at about 100 production sites in more than 20 countries . citation needed as of 2015 the united states is the company s largest single market followed by china . 5 not in citation given the firm s shares are listed on the omx stockholm exchange and both a and b classes form part of the benchmark omxs30 index . atlas copco companies develop manufacture service and rent industrial tools air compressors of which it is the world s leading producer 6 construction and mining equipment such as rock drills 7 assembly systems . the group operates in four areas compressor technique mining and rock excavation technique construction technique and industrial technique . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 early development 1.2 war time development 1.3 post war international expansion 2 business lines 2.1 compressor technique 2.2 industrial technique 2.3 mining and rock excavation technique 2.4 construction technique 3 operations 3.1 manufacturing 3.2 distribution 3.3 brands 3.4 structure 3.5 board of directors 4 corporate social responsibility 5 charity 5.1 water for all 5.2 innovation 5.3 business ethics 5.4 safety and health 5.5 resources 5.6 teams 5.7 internal awards 5.8 external awards 6 references 7 external links history edit early development edit ab atlas as it was previously named was founded by edvard fr nckel who was a swedish industrialist politician and senior official at swedish state railways . the company was established along with andre o. wallenberg johan w. arnberg carl g. cervin and fredrik didro . in its inauguration phase atlas dealt with the manufacturing purchasing and selling of all types of material for railroad construction and operations . after the hard hit of the recession in the 1880s and the decline in railroad construction atlas diversified its undertakings and branched off into locomotives central heating and tool machinery . in 1899 atlas began developing their first air compressors and established itself as a compressor manufacturer . as older production branches started phasing out atlas teamed up with diesel motors in 1917 and the new company of atlas diesel emerged with two primary divisions ; diesel engines and compressor air products . 8 war time development edit the atlas diesel merger experienced significant growth during the first world war and towards the end of the war export dominated 40 50 % of production . the depression years caused significant losses for the company which led to several financial reconstructions in the 1920s and 1930s . the economy began recovering and demand started growing again in the mid 1930s and atlas diesel experienced a boom in sales where compressed air operations was the most expansive area.the second world war remained an active period for the firm and an epoch where strategic planning for development played a principle roll . manufacturing capabilities were embellished and the purchasing along with the acquisition of manufacturing subsidiaries in sweden and other countries was a key component to atlas diesel s continued growth post wwii . the swedish method was an another war period strategy that strongly influenced the firm s pneumatic program consisting of lightweight rock drills and drill bits with carbide tips . in 1948 the company terminated its diesel manufacturing and the name atlas diesel was no longer pertinent . the name atlas copco became official in 1955 and was inspired by the belgian subsidiary compagnie pneumatique . 9 post war international expansion edit the swedish method that was founded during the war period laid the foundation for the international expansion atlas copco engaged in starting in the 1950s . the purchasing of the belgian compressor company arpic engineering in 1956 was the firm s first major international acquisition . eventually arpic s plants carried out a majority of atlas copco s compressor production . in 1960 another important acquisition was made with the purchasing of craelius . it was in the 1970s when international expansion accelerated dramatically due to various structural reforms and efficiency measures brought on by weakened economic conditions and increased production costs . these conditions meant that atlas copco had to accelerate and brake simultaneously in order to keep profitability up . a number of strategic acquisitions were therefore made including the french compressor manufacturer ; maugui re . in order to strengthen their position in the united states several strategic acquisitions were made in the airpower business including the key purchase of worthington compressors . 10 in the beginning of the 1980s atlas copco was the world leader in rock drilling and pneumatics . seeing the potential in industrial tools they purchased chicago pneumatic tools in 1987 which opened up to the important american french and british markets . atlas copco then became one of the world s largest manufacturers of pneumatic tools and monitoring systems . at the end of the 1980s the company s geographical foothold grew and assortments expanded due to several acquisitions including the french company ets . georges renault that manufactured pneumatic power tools . the british company desoutter brothers plc. that supplied industrial tools and monitoring systems was purchased in 1990 . in 1992 aeg elektrowerkzeuge was purchased and in 1995 milwaukee electric tool was acquired which further strengthened the company s reach . in 1997 atlas copco made its biggest and most important acquisition with the purchasing of the prime service corporation which was the largest machine leasing company in the united states . the north american rental service corporation was purchased in 1999 . 10 business lines edit atlas copco has four main business areas ; compressor technique industrial technique mining and rock excavation technique and construction technique . 11 they all focus on the design manufacturing and marketing of a large range of products for different industry segments . compressor technique edit atlas copco s compressor technique area creates products such as industrial compressors and vacuum solutions oil and gas treatment equipment air management systems and gas and process compressor expanders . the products are mainly used in the manufacturing oil gas and process industries . their compressor solutions are used in ships trains and hospitals and in other facilities and applications . their main market competitors in this area are ; ingersoll rand kaeser hitachi gardner denver cameron sullair and parker hannifin . 12 industrial technique edit atlas copco products in industrial technique are mainly developed for the automative and aerospace industries but are also used in industrial manufacturing and maintenance and vehicle service . products manufactured include ; assembly systems industrial power tools quality assurance products and various types of software . their main competitors in this area are apex tool group ingersoll rand stanley black & decker uryu and bosch . 13 mining and rock excavation technique edit these products are developed for underground mining infrastructure development and geotechnical applications such as ; blasthole drilling for ground engineering and aggregate production & drilling for oil water energi and gas . drilling and rock excavation is the main industry the products are manufactured for but is also manufactured for work in underground open pit mines and mineral exploration . the company s main competitors in this area are caterpillar sandvik furukawa and joy global . 14 construction technique edit this area produces portable compressors lighting towers pumps and generators paving equipment compaction equipment demolition tools and construction tools for a wide variety of infrastructure projects . these include ; civil works road construction gas and oil and drilling construction projects . main competitors in this are include ; doosan infracore kaeser sullair volvo caterpillar and wirtgen . 15 operations edit manufacturing edit atlas copco manufactures critical equipment components in house and co operates with business partners for non critical components . approximately 75 % of the production cost of equipment represents purchased components and around 25 % are internally manufactured core components assembly costs and overhead . equipment represents less than 60 % of revenues and the manufacturing of equipment is primarily based on customer orders and only some standard high volume equipment is manufactured based on projected demand . 16 distribution edit atlas copco has customer centers in over 90 countries and sales in 183 countries . sales and service are primarily direct but also channeled through alternative sales mechanisms e.g. distributors . sales of equipment is performed by engineers and service and maintenance are performed by technicians . service is the responsibility of divisions in each business area . the responsibility includes development of service products sales and marketing technical support as well as service delivery and follow up . about 40 % of revenues are generated from service spare parts maintenance repairs consumables accessories and rental . 16 brands edit the atlas copco group has dozens of brands around the world including chicago pneumatic for compressors and tools edwards for vacuum beaconmedeas for medical gas solutions and sca & henrob for automotive assembly solutions . 17 abac agre kompressoren alup kompressoren american pneumatic tools apt beaconmed s shanghai bolaite compressor co. ceccato aria compressa chicago pneumatic cirmac creemers compressors desoutter tools dynapac edwards ekomak fiac air compressors fuji air tools gazcon gesan grassair compressoren henrob houston service industries hsi guangzhou linghein compressor co. leybold gmbh liuzhou tech machinery co. lutos mark compressors maugui re perfora pneumatech medical gas solutions pneumatech puska aire comprimido quincy compressor rand air rodcraft sca seti tec line shenyang varisco worthington creyssensac wuxi shengda air gas purity equipment co. structure edit atlas copco s organization is based on the principle of decentralized responsibilities and authorities . their operations are organized into four business areas and more than 20 divisions . the organization has both operating units and legal units . each operating unit has a business board which reflects the operational structure of the group . the duty of a business board is to serve in an advisory and decision making capacity concerning strategic and operative issues . it also ensures the implementation of controls and assessments . each legal company has a legal board focusing on compliance and the legal structure of the group . board of directors edit the board of directors has overall responsibility for the organization administration and management of atlas copco . the board sees to it that all applicable rules are followed and that control systems are in place.the board regularly evaluates the long term growth incentive program based on the current financial situation and the financial legal social and environmental risks . ronnie leten president & ceo hans str berg chairman sabina nuess anders ullberg staffan bohman margareth vrum johan forssell gunilla berg peter wallenberg jr. bengt lindgren mikael bergstedt ulf str m board kristina kanestad deputy corporate social responsibility edit atlas copco has five elements in their corporate social responsibility approach innovation business ethics safety & health resources and teams . charity edit water for all edit atlas copco s main community engagement initiative is water for all . http www.water4all.org us the charity which builds infrastructure for clean drinking water in countries in need worldwide was founded by atlas copco employees in 1984 and it is still driven by employees . it is financed by employees together with the company . 18 innovation