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.