Idra Group

Last updated

Idra Group
Formerly
  • Idra Presse
  • Idra
  • Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Bresciane
Company type Private
Industry Die casting
Founded1946;79 years ago (1946) in Brescia, Italy
FounderAdamo Pasotti
Headquarters
Travagliato
,
Italy
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Riccardo Ferrario
Products
Revenue€87 million (2015)
Number of employees
161 (2015)
Parent LK Machinery
Subsidiaries Idra North America inc. - Idra Mexico - Idra Pressen GmbH - Idra China ltd.

Idra Group (Idra S.r.l.; originally Idra Presse S.p.A.) is a manufacturer of die casting machinery, founded in 1946 in Brescia, Italy. [1] The company is notable for producing the largest high-pressure die casting machines in the world. [2]

Contents

History

The company was originally founded by Adamo Pasotti in 1944 or 1946 with the factory located on via Triumplina in Brescia. [3]

By 1956, Idra was seeking to export its die-casting machines outside Italy. [4]

By 1971, an Idra OL-1200 S machine was being used to cast motor components weighing 7 kilograms (15 lb) for Porsche cars. [5]

Idra General Manager John Stokes (left) with Sandy Munro in front of the 9000t Giga Press for the Tesla Cybertruck Sandy Munro with John Stokes.jpg
Idra General Manager John Stokes (left) with Sandy Munro in front of the 9000t Giga Press for the Tesla Cybertruck

In March 2024, Riccardo Ferrario retired as general manager of Idra, with the role being taken over by John Stokes. [6] [7]

Hot years

During Italy's Years of Lead in the 1970s, Giovanni Maifredi worked at Idra as a warehouse worker, having been provided with a job without having any qualifications. [8] Following the Piazza della Loggia bombing in Brescia on 28 May 1974, Idra factory workers organised a fifteen-day strike action and picket line outside the Idra factory. [9]

Original site

The original factory site at via Triumplina 43 in the north of Brescia was developed into the Triumplina Retail Park, requiring construction of new roundabout junctions. [10]

Ownership

Sunrise over Idra factory 2021-10-23-idra-presse-brescia-sunrise-over-factory.jpg
Sunrise over Idra factory

As of 2006, Idra was 30% owned by the Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, with 70% of the remaining shares acquired by LK Machinery, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. [1]

For the year 2015, Idra employed 161 people, and had a turnover of €87 million, with a profit of €3 million. [3]

By 2016, LK Machinery had acquired the remainder of the outstanding shares. [1]

Development

Boxed up Giga Press die casting machine outside Idra factory 2021-10-23-idra-presse-outbound-giga-press-boxed-up.jpg
Boxed up Giga Press die casting machine outside Idra factory

In 2000, Idra filed a patent application for die casting machine designed to produce two separate castings simultaneously from a single injection of liquid metal. [11]


On August 20, 2020, the first Giga Press installed at a U.S. electric-car-only manufacturer customer produced good castings, astounding the market and sweeping away skepticism about the viability of the final product: a light alloy structural component weighing more than 100 kg. Today IDRA continues to amaze the world with its innovations and impressive die casting machines, which reach capacities of up to 9,000 tons. From the launch of the first manual press in 1947 to the introduction of the Giga Press in 2019, the company has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to excellence and leadership in the industry. Its history is a testament to the strength and determination that characterize the industrial fabric of Brescia and its impact on the global manufacturing landscape. IDRA’s technological insights and achievements have changed the foundry world by helping propel it toward the goals of sustainability and decarbonization.

As of May 2025, Idra were providing sponsorship to Prema Racing starting with the Indycar 2025 Indianapolis 500. [12] The Idra-sponsored car driven by Robert Shwartzman took pole position in qualifying. [13] [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Idra baut Führungsposition aus" [Idra expands leadership position]. Giesserei (in German). 8 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Conserva, Mario (11 June 2019). "Idra Thinks Big: Growth, New Strategies and an Order for the Largest Press in the World". Alluminio & Leghe. PubliTec. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Idra, un bilancio 2015 da record" [Idra, balance sheet record in 2015]. Brescia Today (in Italian). 6 June 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Machinery: Italy". World trade leads. Foreign Commerce Weekly. 56 (20). United States Department of Commerce: 12. 12 November 1956. Retrieved 15 January 2022– via University of Illinois; Google Books. IDRA Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Bresciane (manufacturer, exporter), Via Triumplina 13, Brescia, wishes to export direct or through agent very good quality die-casting machines. Correspondence in Italian preferred.
  5. ↑ "Pubblicità IDRA Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Bresciane" [Advertisement of IDRA Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Brescia] (in Italian). Fiera di Milano. January 1971. p. 34. Retrieved 15 January 2022– via Fondazione Fiera Milano. Stampate di un semi-carter motore e di una scatola cambio velocità pressofuse in lega di magnesio su una macchina IDRA a camera fredda orizzontale tipo OL-1200 S.
  6. ↑ "Management change at Idra Group". Foundry Daily News. Foundry-Planet. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024. retirement of Riccardo Ferrario … On 31 March 2024, John Stokes takes over the role as General Manager …
  7. ↑ IDRA announces that as of March 31 John Stokes will be stepping into the role of General Manager (video). Idra Group. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024– via Youtube.
  8. ↑ Brutto, Mauro (4 June 1974). "Il missino Degli Occhi di nuovo interrogato a Brescia Diecci ordini di cattura per gli attentati nel centro-Italia" [The missino Degli Occhi again questioned in Brescia Ten arrest orders for the attacks in central Italy](PDF). L'Unità . p. 5. Retrieved 25 October 2021. Giovanni Maifredi è dunque un campione della provocazione antisindacale, assunto all'Idra senza alcuna qualifica
  9. ↑ "Brescia". Autunnocaldo (in Italian). 31 October 2019.
  10. ↑ Gorlan, Pietro. "Strade e rondò, rigenerazione a nord: L'ex Idra porta lavori per 3,2 milioni" [Streets and roundabouts, regeneration in the north: the ex-Idra development brings works for €3.2 million]. Corriere della Sera . Brescia.
  11. ↑ EP 1333948,Mortari, Graziano,"Pressure die-casting machine",published 13 August 2003, assigned to Idra Presse S.P.A, since withdrawn.
  12. ↑ "PREMA Racing announces Indy 500 partnership with IDRA Group" (Press release). Prema Racing. 17 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025. IDRA Group … identity … on the … IndyCar Series machinery driven by Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott. … IDRA has been based at its traditional North American home in Kokomo, Indiana for the last 27 years,
  13. ↑ Horrow, Ellen J. (19 May 2025). "Robert Shwartzman becomes first rookie driver to win Indy 500 pole since 1983". USA Today . Retrieved 19 May 2025. Shwartzman averaged 232.790 mph in his No. 83 Chevrolet over his four qualifying laps to become the first rookie to qualify for the pole position since Teo Fabi in 1983.
  14. ↑ DeGroot, Nick (19 May 2025). "Rookie Robert Shwartzman earns shock Indy 500 pole with Prema Racing". Motorsport.com . Retrieved 19 May 2025.

Further reading

45°32′07″N10°06′37″E / 45.5353°N 10.1103°E / 45.5353; 10.1103


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.