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Faced with growing demand, Sharrow Engineering is reviewing its industrial organization to speed up the manufacture of its special geometry propellers.
Demand-driven ramp-up
Since its launch in 2020, the Sharrow propeller has seen a steady increase in orders. This particular configuration, with no open blades, is designed to improve efficiency and reduce tip losses.
But this architecture imposes more complex manufacturing constraints than those of a conventional propeller. The main challenge lies in the ability to produce in volume while maintaining high dimensional accuracy.
To meet this demand, the company has undertaken a major expansion of its industrial capacities, notably in the United States, with the opening of a new site in Michigan.
The choice of sand casting in additive manufacturing
The partnership with Ford is based on the use of sand-molding processes in 3D printing. This technique enables the rapid production of complex molds, adapted to the specific shapes of the Sharrow propeller.
Traditionally, mold manufacturing took several months, especially for tool design and production. With this approach, lead times are reduced to around two weeks.
This time-saving is based on the elimination of certain intermediate steps and faster validation of geometries. The teams worked for several months to adapt existing designs to this process.
An industrial collaboration with Ford
Ford's involvement mainly concerns expertise in additive manufacturing and industrial processes. The automaker has over 20 years' experience in 3D printing sand molding. This collaboration has made it possible to optimize mold manufacturing and integrate local foundries into the process. The aim is to stabilize production and achieve higher volumes
One of the direct effects of this evolution is on lead times. Where it used to take up to 130 days to manufacture a propeller using traditional methods, the cycle is now reduced to just a few weeks. This reduction makes it easier to absorb orders and improve product availability on the market.
For worksites and distributors, this means better supply management, particularly for high value-added technical products.
Applications beyond boating
While the Sharrow propeller is primarily intended for the marine industry, the technology is also attracting interest in other sectors. Processes developed around molding and additive manufacturing can be transposed to applications in mobility, defense or energy.
This openness is based on the ability to produce complex parts with controlled tolerances and reduced lead times. With this industrial evolution, Sharrow is structuring its production around processes adapted to larger volumes, while retaining the technical specificities of its propeller.
