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Idra Group

Coordinates: 45°32′07″N 10°06′37″E / 45.53538°N 10.11026°E / 45.53538; 10.11026 (Idra Group factory, Via dei Metalli)
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Idra Group
Formerly
  • Idra Presse
  • Idra
  • Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Bresciane
Company typePrivate
IndustryDie casting
Founded1946; 78 years ago (1946) in Brescia, Italy
FounderAdamo Pasotti
Headquarters,
Italy
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Riccardo Ferrario
Products
Revenue€87 million (2015)
Number of employees
161 (2015)
ParentLK Machinery
Subsidiaries
  • Idra Pressen GmbH

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]

History

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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

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

Hot years

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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

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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 2003-08-13, assigned to Idra Presse S.P.A , since withdrawn.

Further reading

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45°32′07″N 10°06′37″E / 45.53538°N 10.11026°E / 45.53538; 10.11026 (Idra Group factory, Via dei Metalli)