Idra Group
Idra Group (Idra S.r.l., originally Idra Presse S.p.A.) is an 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]
![]() Idra Factory at Travagliato, near Brescia, Italy | |
Formerly |
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Type | Private |
Industry | Die casting |
Founded | 1946Brescia, Italy | in
Founder | Adamo Pasotti |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Riccardo Ferrario |
Products |
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Revenue | €87 million (2015) |
Number of employees | 161 (2015) |
Parent | LK Machinery |
Subsidiaries |
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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]
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.[6] 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.[7]
via Trumplina
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.[8]
Ownership

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

In 2000, Idra filed a patent for die casting machine designed to produce two separate castings simultaneously from a single injection of liquid metal.[9]
References
- "Idra baut Führungsposition aus" [Idra expands leadership position]. Giesserei (in German). 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- Conserva, Mario (2019-06-11). "Idra Thinks Big: Growth, New Strategies and an Order for the Largest Press in the World". Alluminio & Leghe. PubliTec. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
- "Idra, un bilancio 2015 da record" [Idra, balance sheet record in 2015]. Brescia Today (in Italian). 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- "Machinery: Italy". World trade leads. Foreign Commerce Weekly. United States Department of Commerce. 56 (20): 12. 1956-11-12. Retrieved 2022-01-15 – 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.
- "Pubblicità IDRA Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Bresciane" [Advertisement of IDRA Costruzioni Idromeccaniche Brescia] (in Italian). Fiera di Milano. January 1971. p. 34. Retrieved 2022-01-15 – 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.
- Brutto, Mauro (1974-06-04). "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 2021-10-25.
Giovanni Maifredi è dunque un campione della provocazione antisindacale, assunto all'Idra senza alcuna qualifica
- "Brescia". Autunnocaldo (in Italian). 2019-10-31.
- 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.
- EP EP1333948A1, Mortari, Graziano, "Pressure die-casting machine"
Further reading
- "Valutazione ambientale strategica" [Strategic Environmental Assessment]. Piano attuativo Ambito di Trasformazione ex IDRA Violino – Unità di Intervento D.1 [Implementation scope plan for transformation of former IDRA headquarters - Intervention Unit D.1]. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2021-10-25.