“We’re not just sitting in marketing shouting to our colleagues in R&D: ‘Build me this!’ It’s a close collaboration and we often challenge each other as to whether the idea is right,” says Alexander. “In Atlas Copco, product development is always based on existing or anticipated customer needs and we visit and discuss with customers to get a thorough understanding of the application and the environment in which the product is used.”

“Marketing often bring home the ideas, but we brainstorm together,” adds Rachid. “We in R&D also make suggestions of what and how to improve. In this case, marketing came with the idea of the product being controlled by a smartphone, and we in R&D felt we could also make the machine run faster and increase its performance. It’s a win-win. It works in both directions.”

Alexander adds, “Here, both sales and engineering understand the customer need, and that’s a big strength. We really strive to be the best, to go beyond the competition. And don’t underestimate the drive for innovation in our production, purchasing, quality and logistics teams. This kind of teamwork is not just about reaching the market standard, but setting it in the first place.”

And the market standard that Atlas Copco has set is truly impressive. The customer can simply commission the machine and set its three parameters via a Bluetooth connection. The designated VSD+ app allows the user to commission, control and monitor his vacuum pump. The fact that the drive is connected to the pressure sensor allows the pump to temporarily slow down or shut off in periods of lower load from the process, a big change from the on/off binary of traditional vacuum pumps.

“A vacuum pump is an installation that’s often overlooked,” says Alexander. “But often smaller pumps are a significant part of the energy bill when you add them all up. That’s a significant driver for this particular product as well as the smart software. If, for example, you can match the pump’s performance to the actual demand and instead of an 11kW fixed speed pump only consume 8kW, you can save 35% on energy. That will have a huge impact on your costs and on your CO₂ footprint.”

The customer is the ultimate judge, and so far the reaction has been good. “Our customer base is growing every month,” says Alexander.

“Just think - two years ago this kind of vacuum pumps were running 24 hours non-stop. Now you have the possibility to adapt the speed to your need, and in the future we’ll have even more possibilities using data, controlling via Wi-Fi,” says Rachid.

The surest sign of a winning idea is when it’s picked up elsewhere. Rachid and Alexander’s colleagues have been watching closely.

“Our idea led the way, and the competition have started to develop the same sort of thing. That shows we’re doing a great job and besides - we already have new things cooking in our kitchen.”