Alexander Pavlov describes himself as a “world citizen” – and with good reason. Over 15 years of working for Atlas Copco’s Compressors business area has seen him travel the globe. Born in Russia, Pavlov began his Atlas Copco career in 2003 at the company’s head office in Antwerp, Belgium, a place he now calls his “home city”. From there, his career has taken him to Greece, where he was regional business line manager for the Balkans, Cyprus and Israel, and onto Ireland before joining the company’s UK HQ in Hemel Hempstead this April.
This globetrotting is no accident: it’s part of what Atlas Copco call their ‘mobility policy’. “A lot of people do assignments for the company around the world for three or four years at a time,” Pavlov says. “This is designed to exchange best practice and bring new ideas to each location. Our former boss from Hemel Hempstead has moved to Germany, for instance. You have to ensure that the people who undertake the mobility policy have a change-centric mentality.”
Pavlov explains how the role, and indeed the entire industry, has changed since he first joined Atlas Copco. “I’m a software engineer by trade, and began in Antwerp as a manager for IT projects relating to remote control and monitoring of compressors,” says Pavlov. “At the time, we had linked about 50 compressors to the internet and were sending data to our servers – there wasn’t a cloud at the time. Customers and engineers would have to log onto a website to look at the performance of the products. Today, we have over 100,000 units worldwide connected to our cloud. That’s something customers are looking for now – simplicity of access is key.”
Navigating the uncertainty
Since taking the reins at Hemel Hempstead in the spring, Pavlov has identified a number of areas the company, and the wider industry, will be looking to target in the coming years. However, he says, the key priorities will be navigating the company through Brexit.
“In the UK it’s a very turbulent time, and it’s hard to forecast any future performance,” he explains. “The key is to be flexible and change our focus accordingly. We feel that the company structure, where every division is distinctly separated, gives us a lot of flexibility.
“One of the key issues that could arise from Brexit is that of customs duties. The majority of the products we produce here originally come from Belgium, but we have significant manufacturing capacity at Hemel Hempstead that we mainly use for customisation now. There is nothing to say that we can’t do more manufacturing here in the future if we need to. It’s how we operate in Brazil, where high import tariffs make sending compressors from Belgium financially unviable. If in a few years we decide it would be beneficial to assemble compressors here in the UK using locally sourced products, then it’s a possibility. That said, domestic business in the UK is strong, despite the uncertainty of Brexit. There is a lot of investment and no sign yet of any slowdown.”
Still room for investment
In spite of the uncertainty, Pavlov is adamant that Atlas Copco remain at the forefront of compressed air technology, and is investing heavily in new technologies – including virtual reality (VR). “We are looking to use [VR] for a number of different applications,” he explains. “One of the key ones is a virtual shop, especially for some of our smaller products. In a couple of years we envisage that our distributors will not need to invest in an expensive showroom – they can just use VR to display all the products and their features.”
Already, Atlas Copco use VR at trade shows to demonstrate their largest products. “These are massive compressors, which would be impossible to show off to customers,” says Pavlov. “Instead, we have a simulated compressor room. When you put the VR glasses on, you walk through a simulation of that room. You can take parts off the compressor and explore individual elements – it’s so much more effective than a leaflet.”
As well as the marketing angle, Atlas Copco is also starting to use VR for training purposes. “VR will help us speed the training process up,” says Pavlov. “We are launching so many new products that it’s becoming a challenge for our engineers to keep up. In the past, we had to send engineers to the head factory in Antwerp to learn about the new products. This will be changing soon with the launch of VR training courses. This is great for our staff, as it improves their efficiency.”
The fourth utility
Another innovation Pavlov is keen to highlight is the growing trend for what he calls ‘servitisation’. He compares this to streaming music from the internet, instead of buying CDs. “People don’t tend to ‘own’ things anymore,”
he explains. “This means that manufacturers are wondering whether they actually need to own their compressors any more. We see compressed air as the fourth utility, after electricity, gas and water. The only difference is that it’s one you produce yourself in the factory. Manufacturers are now beginning to wake up to the idea of buying compressed air as and when they need it, and not having to worry about the maintenance and running costs of the compressor itself. They just pay for the air by the running hour.”
The best part of a servitisation model, continues Pavlov, is that the air soon begins to pay for itself – especially if you are running an older compressor and can’t afford the outlay of a new one. “Servitisation involves a smaller initial cost and guarantees the best, most efficient air supply into your site.”
This efficiency drive runs through everything Pavlov and Atlas Copco do. And for good reason: “manufacturers’ focus on efficiency is growing year on year,” says Pavlov. “Industry is becoming more demanding: factories and compressors have to run longer hours than ever before, which makes having an efficient site vital. If a compressor is running as much as 8,000 hours a year continuously, then a saving of even one or two percent is going to add up, especially considering that the UK’s energy costs are amongst the highest in Europe.
“Imagine, then, when we start talking about variable speed drives that can save up to 50% of the energy used, or energy recovery systems that can reuse all the heat that you would otherwise waste. Your air becomes essentially free-of-charge, and the energy you use can be recovered to heat the water in your boilers.”
Pavlov’s final message is one of openness between manufacturers and their suppliers. “It’s very important for all parties to communicate with each other so that everyone understands the full picture and the challenges they face,” he says. “If there are any intermediate channels, they tend to be more focused on the budget, and other considerations, like energy efficiency or the need for new technology, may be lost.”
