Atlas Copco : Excelling through technology innovation
“ As a major market, India will always attract global players. The blend of international and local players will always exist. Inherently India has a vast potential of high-skilled engineers and technicians, so the potential is there to become global players. “
Q. Atlas Copco is being one of the leading manufacturers of industrial compressors in India & has established its brand in the air compressor market, how did in the last few years Atlas Copco achieved remarkable position in Indian market?
Atlas Copco is consistently ahead of technological innovation. We introduce regularly new products to the market which are breakthrough innovations and which are here to stay. There are numerous examples. I will just name a few like our ZR oil-free compressors, the Full Feature concept with integration of dryers within the compressor unit and the Variable Speed Drive compressors bringing energy savings up to 35%. These innovations are strongly established on the market for many years and are state-of-the-art today.
Atlas Copco is close to its customers. Reliability of a compressor is crucial in industrial operations. If the compressor stops, the whole factory stops. Therefore Atlas Copco is present worldwide with extended service operations to support its customers to keep their compressors in optimal condition. Also in India we have a strong after-sales support team with qualified technicians trained on all products. We have a range of service contracts to suit all customer needs. It ranges from a simple inspection plan to the top-of-the-scale premium contracts providing total peace of mind to our customers with Atlas Copco taking over the care for the compressors including parts, labour and remote monitoring of the compressors.
Finally Atlas Copco conducts its operations in a sustainable way taking into account the interests of all its stakeholders including employees, suppliers, customers, the community and the environment. This allowed Atlas Copco to operate since its inception in 1876 up to today and it will allow Atlas Copco to continue operating on the long term in the future.
Q. Can you please brief us about international alliances & Atlas Copco global infrastructure?
Atlas Copco is a Swedish Company with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. The company employs close to 40.000 people and is active in 170 countries. It has its own operations in 90 countries. Besides the Atlas Copco brand there are approximately 35 other brands used throughout the company worldwide.
Q. What are the latest initiatives Atlas Copco has undertaken in industrial compressor space? Which are your focus areas?
In product innovation we are introducing right now the second generation of Variable Speed Drive compressors which we call the VSD+ generation. It realizes 50% of energy saving compared to the traditional load-no load compressors which are still widely used throughout the industry. In India we also invested in 2013 in 100 extra service engineers and service vehicles to reinforce our customer support. We launched an advanced type of service contract not only including parts and labour but also remote monitoring. We can monitor the running hours of the compressors and organize maintenance interventions proactively. It brings peace of mind to our customers. They can concentrate on their core activities.
Q. What are the market opportunities for Atlas Copco products in India? How do you plan to position these products?
India is developping its electrical power production. Today still there are power shortages in many States. Consequently reduction of electrical power consumption is paramount for every industry. Our new generation VSD+ realizes 50% of energy savings compared to traditional load-no load compressors. We will promote the VSD+ generation strongly into 2014.
Q. In order to sustain at frontier position, what are the marketing strategies that are applied & will be applied for Indian market?
Atlas Copco will maintain and strengthen its position as marketleader. New products and services will be introduced continuously. Especially the after-sale service will be brought to the next level.
Q. Can you please elucidate the contribution of technology innovations in the success of Atlas Copco products?
As mentioned earlier, technological innovation is the main contributor to Atlas Copco’s position as market leader. Atlas Copco is the benchmark in the compressor market for customers as well as for competitors thanks to its technological development.
Q. Brief us about the quality policy for the business?
Safety and quality are the number one priorities in Atlas Copco’s daily operations. The company in India achieved the triple certification ISO 9001/14001/18001 for quality, environment and health and safety.
Q. Please highlight more about Atlas Copco’s top line product range? Is there any new launch or in pipeline stage?
The top-line products are certainly the ZR oil-free screw compressors which are the workhorses of the industry. The oil-free compressor technology has been introduced by Atlas Copco in the 1970’s, it has been refined continuously and is today still the benchmark in the market. I also mentioned earlier the second generation of Variable Speed Drive compressors which we call the VSD+ generation. It allows 50% of energy saving compared to the traditional load-no load compressors which are still widely used throughout the industry.
Q. How do your perceive Indian compressor industry against the global market?
The Indian compressor market is a blend of international and local players. All the major international compressors manufacturers are represented together with two major local competitors. Local competition is emulating the models of international companies and developing fast into a wide offering of products and services similar to international companies.
Q. What are the key technological trends that are driving compressor industry?
The main driver for the compressor industry in India and internationally is energy efficiency. The energy requirement can be reduced with VSD and compressor room control technology and the energy consumed can be recovered for drying compressed air or as warm water in the customer’s heating processes.
Q. According to you what is the future of the Indian industrial compressor industry?
As a major market, India will always attract global players. The blend of international and local players will always exist. Inherently India has a vast potential of high-skilled engineers and technicians, so the potential is there to become global players. It will depend on how well and how fast Indian companies will adopt international standards in product development and service.
Q. According you what are the factors affecting to your business?
Currently we have a major impact of the currency effect with the Rupee’s devaluation of roughly 20% against the Euro and Dollar. Also the impact of the power sector investments almost coming to a standstill is very significant on our business.
Q. What are the issues you need to address that are related to compressor industry?
The currency effect has to be countered and the government should strive for stability in investment climate and project execution. Also payments to contractors working on government projects should be stable.
Q. According to you what are the measures to be taken by Indian manufacturers in order to compete with global players?
They should apply global standards in product & service development.
