Growth of the handheld tools market in India is expected to be fueled with the introduction of the ergonomic handheld tools like the TE range of hydraulic, pneumatic and motor driven handheld tools – all of which promise enhanced performance during their application.

Atlas Copco is continuously innovating to meet the ever-changing market needs and keeps upgrading its products to offer the latest technologies. In India’s mini construction market for hand-held tools, the company’s products are seeing high demand due to the following benefits:

• Electric hand tools are easy to use and can be connected via the available power source.

• Ergonomic pneumatic breakers are becoming popular as they ensure operator safety and comfort.

• Where compressed air is available, pneumatic hand tools play an important role. They are mainly used in mining, workshops, and assembly lines, as they offer ease of use, high power, and can do heavy and continuous duty jobs.

• Dust is a major cause of concern at sites, both for the equipment’s optimum performance and operator health. In view of this, the Dust Collector is an upcoming high-tech product that will minimize the risk to man and machine due to excessive dust.

Atlas Copco’s first product - the rock drill model RH 658 5L was developed in the 1960s. It became one of the most popular rock drills in the 1900s and is still available for the mining industry. The company later introduced pneumatic chipping hammers and breakers for brick wall chipping and RCC breaking applications. Its pneumatic breaker range starts from 2.5kg and goes up to 42kg.

The company offers a complete range of hydraulic powerpack driven breakers of 11 kg to 39 kg. Having upgraded its tools over time, the products are now mostly ergonomic, silent, and vibration-free to protect the environment and the operators. In fact, the company is leading the shift towards ergonomically designed handheld tools with vibration-reduction handles that reduce vibration intensity and noise, allowing operators to use the breakers comfortably for more than 8 hours. Its medium weight 25 kg breaker RTEX 25 consumes 50 percent less air, while its powerful heavy breaker 37kg -TEX 33PE has four times less vibration than the non-ergonomic breaker.

Atlas Copco is the only manufacturing company which can also provide hydraulic power pack driven tools and light engine driven tools, along with pneumatic tools. Its petrol engine driven breakers are of great advantage on remote sites where one cannot use pneumatic and electric tools and are popularly used during the Indian army’s rescue operations and for railway applications.

The company’s high-performance Dust Collectors absorb 99.9% harmful dust. This ensures less dust pollution from rock drilling and less discomfort to the operator working in mining sites. The DCP 30 is ideal to work with three rock drills or breakers and the DCP 10 for working with one rock drill or breaker.

Atlas Copco focuses on three segments: mining, construction and post construction repair and maintenance jobs. In the mining application, pneumatic tools are preferred as they are required to complete the job along with drilling and air flushing. For general construction and repair jobs, its pneumatic tools compete with electric tools. Pneumatic tools are application- specific and are mainly used for continuous duty jobs where electric tools are not recommended.