Cutting emissions and cutting costs at Tierp Works

The Atlas Copco production facility “Tierp Works” is located in the Swedish town of Tierp, an hour’s drive north of the capital city Stockholm. Approximately 500 people work at the plant that covers an area of 14,000 square meters. Tierp Works runs one of the world’s most efficient operations for the production of electric and pneumatic industrial power tools. Equipped with the latest production machinery, 120,000 tools offered in 2,500 different models and variants are manufactured annually representing a large proportion of the total Atlas Copco output.

The focus on lean manufacturing started already in 2006 and engages all employees. There is a common understanding among all involved that this is a continuous, never-ending, improvement initiative and process that is making a big difference for the environment but also the profitability of the factory.

“At Tierp works we started early on with our journey towards a more sustainable manufacturing facility.  One of our success factors in this transformation has been the close cooperation between Facility Management and our Safety Health, Environmental and Quality (SHEQ) departments. Our common objective has been on continuous improvement,” says Anna Ahlin, SHEQ Manager.

The first energy mapping of the production facility was conducted in 2006 which in turn led to a series of energy reduction initiatives. And from there on, the work has continued and involved different areas of the production and facility.

“In 2014 we installed new and more energy efficient compressors, enabling a yearly saving of 580 MWh of electricity. Since 2016, almost all process water is recirculated back into production. As of 2020 we now recycle 98% of our waste from production and we also reuse some of the steel bar scrap from our component workshop in our sockets and bit production,” Anna Ahlin continues.

One of the success factors mentioned by Anna Ahlin is the close cooperation with the facility management team.

“In 2020 we secured 100% renewable energy in the plant. We achieved that by buying electricity generated by hydropower, and district heating produced by biofuels, investments with measurable environmental benefits. We want our production to grow in a profitable and sustainable way and are excited to continue this journey going forward,” says Thomas Lundin, Facility and Maintenance Manager.