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• Ford’s Advanced Industrial Technology and Platforms (ATP) group has helped Sharrow Marine make a boat propeller in two weeks rather than 130 days. Thanks to the Michigan Central program, Ford...
Additional Context
Ford’s Advanced Industrial Technology and Platforms (ATP) group has helped Sharrow Marine make a boat propeller in two weeks rather than 130 days. Thanks to the Michigan Central program, Ford and Sharrow were brought together, with prototypes produced at Newlab Detroit. The proprietary propellers are now made using binder jetting, with a sand-banding jetting sand-casting solution, replacing older methods like lost-wax casting and slip casting, which previously created lead times of up to 130 days. Working with Ford and a local foundry, Sharrow can now produce the parts in a fortnight. Debuted in 2020, the Sharrow propeller is designed to lower noise while improving efficiency.
Additive Manufacturing Operations Supervisor at Ford Dan Michalski said,
“Ford has been at the leading edge of 3