Swedish ownership boosts National Vacuum Equipment

from TCBN July 2023

BUCKLE UP

By Clark Miller

When publicly-traded Swedish corporation Atlas Copco purchased local manufacturer National Vacuum Equipment (NVE) one year ago, they bought 40-plus years of steady growth from founder Bruce Luoma.

Luoma, who is now retired, insisted he’d sell only to a company that would grow the leading U.S. producer of truck-mounted vacuum equipment used in the oil and gas, liquid waste and excavation sectors.

To help ease the transition, Ken Hall, who has been NVE’s general manager for 30 years, agreed to stay on to ensure a smooth transition.

“Atlas Copco has stepped up with significant investments, but it’s also allowing us to run our business,” Hall said.

The new owner, says Hall, has invested in manufacturing and other requests made by those working locally.

“If we call and say we need a new machine, they support it,” he said. “They know we’re innovative and that we’re market leaders.”

Along with new ownership has come new growth projections. Hall said they plan on doubling sales in a short period of time ... provided they can find the right people.

“I could use another 25 people today, folks at all skill levels from high tech welding and fabrication to basic shop work,” he said.

During the past 12 months, cultural differences have emerged, beginning with the doubling of employee vacation time and other upgrades in terms of benefits.

“I’ll admit, the vacation thing caught me off balance,” said Hall, “but a multi-billion dollar company can do a lot of things that a smaller operation can’t do.”

The transition to more vacation time was a challenge to manage, but switching to partial plant shutdowns during peak vacation times has helped, Hall says.

Being part of a multi-national company like Atlas Copco, which has 43,000 employees, has other upsides. While NVE had five engineers, Atlas Copco has 1,500.

Market reach is another considerable advantage. Until recently, Atlas Copco was traded on the Swedish market. Now it’s listed on NASDAQ.

All of that suggests that an expanded geographic reach is likely in store for NVE, which is now part of Atlas Copco’s industrial vacuum division. Until its acquisition, NVE had relied on domestic markets for about 80% of annual revenues.

Other international connections have been made through a recent purchase of the German firm CVS Engineering, which makes more or less the same kind of equipment as NVE.

Hall says his German counterparts will visit Traverse City this summer.

“We can work together to develop synergies and build a global effort together,” he said.

Although Hall’s original intention was to move on after the purchase and work on his Kalkaska-area farm, he says he is glad he stayed.

“They made it part of the deal that I would stick around for a while,” he said.

“I’m glad about that now. I like their approach to things.” dependentS

The Grand Traverse Area Manufacturing Council (GTAMC) sponsors this column. Its mission is to support a sustainable and globally competitive manufacturing sector for a stronger economy; makegreatthings.org.

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