- Tony Van Herbruggen, General Manager, Power Technique, Atlas Copco India

How has the second wave of Covid-19 impacted the market of mobile compressors?
The construction sector has been again impacted by the onset of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Construction sector in India is very important as it contributes to around 60 per cent of the total investments; so it needs to come back strongly to support the economy revival.

India is a growing economy, and the construction and infrastructure segment today requires speed and focus in all areas of core infrastructure such as roads, metro rail, expressway, airports and expansion on existing highways.

While demand has slowed down, we expect a better recovery in the coming months as during the second wave, construction activity in some sectors was permitted to continue.

In the current difficult market conditions, how are you taking on the challenges in terms of production, sales and aftermarket operations?
We have the products to match with our upgraded portfolio and technologically-advanced portable air compressors and waterwell compressors, which will continue to support key applications in infrastructure, mining and construction projects.

Our main focus was and continues to be safety of our employees and our customers. We have taken the necessary steps early on to ensure social distancing and hygiene norms in our production facilities in Chakan and Dapodi located in Pune. We maintain the highest norms for employee care while ensuring our equipment meets the quality and performance which our customers have come to know and expect.

Besides this, our service team follows strict predefined SOP for on-site visits, which are necessary to ensure our portable air compressors are always up and running. We also manage service requests remotely wherever possible with our Power Connect mobile app designed to support customers online with the help of Parts manuals and step-by-step assistance over the computer or phone.

What are the key applications of portable air compressors in construction, mining and drilling operations? What is the current demand trend?
Portable air compressors play a pivotal role in mining, infrastructure and construction applications. The mining application specifically, is a segment of paramount importance, looking at the amount of aggregates which is required for infrastructure and construction projects. Similarly, the extraction of minerals such as iron ore, manganese, coal, limestone, etc. with reliable portable air compressors with the lowest possible energy consumption is an important application under metal mining. Similarly, all the infrastructure and construction projects start with excavations where portable compressors are required and then the entire work chain starts.

Infrastructure, mining, quarrying and waterwell are the four major segments of portable compressor business. With the increased focus on road development and the revival in the mining and quarrying segment, there is continued demand for portable compressors. Besides this the waterwell segment also contributes to the demand of large compressors for borewell applications.

The years 2020 and 2021 have been an exceptional year and the pandemic has impacted projects worldwide. In the coming years, we look forward to infrastructure and mining projects getting kick started giving us continued opportunities to touch lives and improve infrastructure needs of people in India. We expect a slow and staggered growth in the short term but expect stability and better growth in the long term.

We have a state-of-the-art factory in Chakan, Pune which is twice the capacity of our earlier set up and has a possibility to get doubled if required to meet increasing customer demands.

What are the new products and solutions offered? What are the features to meet extreme working environments?
Making the life of drillers easier in key application segments:
The XRH 1100 PLUS is a product tailor-made for specialised applications like water well drilling, foundation drilling, coal mining and blast-hole drilling. Key features:

Reengineered technology for higher efficiency:
The XAS 450-650 cfm range portable air compressor with four variants in it’s class is the new technology driver in the 450 – 600 650 cfm range of compressors to cover a wide range of applications.

Key features:

Further, it’s new sleek canopy and separator design, single side service and common drainage points ensures ease of service and higher machine running hours.

One compressor, many applications:
The XAS300-100 portable air compressor is an upgraded version of the current XA 157 model.

Key features:

XAWS 550 portable air compressor:

First portable air compressor to operate at 15 bar pressure

Impact on overall productivity/efficiency:
Cost of ownership is low: Higher resale value, low logistics cost and low service cost with better fuel efficiency by 8 per cent

Breakthrough technology for shallow waterwell drilling and coal mining:
The XRS750 offers higher flow and pressure, which is suitable for 6 inch drilling upto 500 feet resulting in the lowest liters consumed per meters drilled. The XRS 750 is developed to have a low foot print, increased reliability and the low fuel consumption as compares to competition.

Drilling made easier, faster and cost effective:
The XRW 1250 offers higher pressure range from 17 bar to 24.5 bar makes the compressor the only waterwell compressor with this drilling efficiency at higher depths with higher pressure.

What are the key productivity parameters of portable air compressors?
We cannot ignore that customers are also scaling up in terms of quality and service expectations, and we will continue to provide them with the time-tested Atlas Copco technology. Atlas Copco is a big investor in R&D in India. As leaders in innovation, we focus on localisation and developing new technology.

We have a good mix of compressors in our diesel range with the following productivity parameters:

The range combines lightweight compressors with small dimensions, making it easy to manoeuver on site. Other key productivity parameters are pressure and flow and we deliver both as what we commit so fuel efficiency and return on investment is ensured.

What are the environment-friendly features in your product range?
Our electric range of portable air compressors deliver no emissions and low sound levels. With no fuel usage, there are no emissions while the hood type canopy of the Atlas Copco electric compressors is designed to ensure low sound levels on site, making them ideal for usage within city limits. We also now offer a new E-Air range of electric driven mobile compressors from 90 KW to 132 KW which are more energy efficient machines.

For all upcoming and existing portable air compressors, we continuously monitor the emissions as well as focus on reducing the carbon footprint. Infact in all the new products launched in 2020-2021 the aim is to reduce the carbon foot print by 8 to 10%. Additionally, other product categories like the light tower segment also focuses on 40% reduction of carbon in our new HiLight V5+ 2 Cylinder light tower.

Do you offer customised products and solutions? If yes, what are the key parameters involved in the process?
We offer options such as:

Customer choices depend on the demands of the working site as well as application and project requirements.

What are your future plans in the changing market and operational conditions?
In terms of the future market requirements we foresee demand for:

The challenge for manufacturers is to bring in new technology on a consistent basis. We as market leaders will launch advanced technology products to grow faster than the industry; for that, we will continuously innovate.

Collaboration is going to be important for a faster recovery for all sectors. Take for example the waterwell compressor segment. The rig owners association in Tiruchengode is going to play a key role in restarting drilling operations and at Atlas Copco, we stay connected and understand their concerns while shaping up our portfolio for their upcoming needs. Our close co-ordination with engine manufacturers and key component suppliers is also what we focus on to ensure there is a good understanding on scope of supply in their challenges if any which we can support on.

With continued focus to power the future with innovative technology, Atlas Copco sets new benchmarks in the portable air compressor segment, with the launch of forward thinking compressors.