Atlas Copco Celebrates 150 Years of Innovation

A Brief History

This week Atlas Copco is celebrating its 150^th birthday. When Atlas Copco was founded in 1873, it was to make products for Sweden’s railways. The company was named Atlas after the Titan in Greek mythology who carries the skies on his shoulders. When recession hit in the 1880s, the company changed its name to Nya Atlas (New Atlas). Production shifted to more advanced products, such as steam engines and boilers. By 1901 a new business area was formed making and selling the pneumatic and compressed air products that were used to make the steam engines and boilers.

In 1917 Nya Atlas merged with AB Diesels Motorer to become Atlas Diesel and moved into Diesels Motorer’s production plant in Sickla, just outside of Stockholm’s city borders. This is where Atlas Copco Group still has its headquarters today. In 1948, Atlas Diesel stopped making diesel engines and focused on pneumatic tools, compressors, and drilling equipment.

In 1950 Atlas Diesel opened its first two locations in the US. In 1956 when Atlas Diesel acquired a Belgian compressor company, it changed the name replacing “Diesel” with an acronym of a Belgian sales subsidiary in French, Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale, becoming Atlas Copco. 

Today Atlas Copco has operations on all continents except Antarctica and has four main business units, Compressor Technique, Vacuum Technique, Industrial Technique, and Power Technique.

To learn more about our history, click here.

Thank You

On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Atlas Copco president Mats Rahmström, and a team of Atlas Copco executives and long serving employees were on hand to ring the opening bell of the NASDAQ. This milestone would not have been possible without the support of our amazing customers. It is because of your loyalty and trust in our brand that we are able to do what we love every day, and for that, we can’t thank you enough.

Our mission is to achieve sustainable, profitable growth. As part of that mission, we are always looking for ways to make our customers’ operations more efficient. Our customers are our number one priority, we are successful when our customers succeed.

The Future

Looking back over the last 150 years is amazing. To see where we started and where we are now is truly an unbelievable journey. However, the real excitement lies in the next 150 years. We can’t wait to see where technology and innovation take us along with the support of our employees and customers. With our goal to reduce carbon emissions from our direct operations by 46% by 2030, compared to 2019, Atlas Copco is moving towards a sustainable future. We also aim to reduce its value chain emissions primarily targeting the carbon impact of its products in use by 28% by 2030 compares to 2019.

Together with our customers, we will continue to develop new products that meet the lofty goals we set for ourselves: on how we use natural resources, on safety, ergonomics, and productivity. This is how we ensure that the Atlas Copco Group will continue to play a leading role in shaping the future. 

If you have any questions, please contact us today!