At its site in Forno Canavese close to Turin, A Benevenuta & C SpA produces hot-forged steel components for the automotive industry. The parts are used in suspension systems, transmissions, engines and brakes in passenger cars as well as tractors, trucks and earth-moving machinery.

The press force of the Benevenuta production lines ranges from 1,200 to 2,500 tonnes and has just been joined by another 2,500-tonne forging press supplied by Farina Presse Srl, a Schuler affiliate.

Schuler general manager Frank Klingemann said: “This is the second time that our customer has ordered a Farina press.”

Farina general manager Marco Gritti added: “By investing in our kinetic energy recovering system (KERS), the customer will not only benefit from up to 40% less power demand, but also from increased output and reduced maintenance costs.”

With conventional hot forging presses, a large portion of the energy is converted into heat and dissipates into the environment by the flywheel during the clutch and braking process. With KERS, a switch on the auxiliary drive starts the cycle and takes the strain off the clutch, so that the total energy from the flywheel can be used for the forging process.

Similarly, the energy released during the braking process is supplied to the flywheel which results in a larger number of strokes per min and less wear on the clutch and brake.

The forging dies are developed and manufactured in-house by Benevenuta in Forno Canavese. At the company’s other production site in Valperga, machining and assembly is done with innovative automated processes.

The company was founded in Italy 130 years ago. In 1996 Benevenuta Argentina was set up as a manufacturer of shift forks for passenger cars transmissions. Today, the product range at the Cordoba site includes shift rails, shift lugs and complete sub-assemblies.