2022 Automotive News Europe Eurostars: Riccardo Ferrario, general manager of Idra, is 2022 Eurostar winner for Innovation.
The executives chosen as 2022 Automotive News Europe Eurostars set themselves apart by exceeding expectations in a year marked by conflict, supply issues and rising costs.
REASON FOR WINNING
“Imagine a single piece of cast aluminum that can replace about 60 separate components that are progressively assembled before becoming a complete sub-assembly. Riccardo Ferrario’s idea for a casting tool that could complete such a task was initially met with skepticism when he revealed it in 2019.
Fast-forward three years, and Idra’s Giga Press, as the machinery is known, is now on the cutting edge of aluminum casting technology, used by major automakers to save weight, time and money. Idra estimates the new production technique can deliver three vehicles in the time it takes for one vehicle to be make using today's typical processes, saving money and making the production process more sustainable. Idra has now sold 24 Giga Presses, in use in the U.S., China and Europe by various companies, reportedly also including a famous EV maker that wants to remain unidentified”.
