Singapore Cuts Propeller Production Time in Half with 3D Tech

Planning a production run at a beverage factory used to take days of tedious manual work, while designing a ship propeller meant weeks of guesswork and adjustments. Today, Singapore manufacturers are completing these tasks in hours, proving that innovation partnerships can deliver real results.

Coca-Cola Singapore's plant in Tuas Bay produces beverage concentrates for 24 markets across Asia-Pacific, processing hundreds of orders weekly. Working with Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research, the company built a smart scheduling system that cut planning time from days to under one hour.

On the factory floor, robotic arms equipped with vision detection now identify and handle ingredient bags of different sizes automatically. The system uses advanced algorithms to adjust grip positions, ensuring safe handling while freeing workers from repetitive lifting tasks.

The results earned Coca-Cola Singapore a spot in the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network in 2024, joining only 12 other food and beverage companies worldwide with this recognition. Since 2021, the plant has boosted throughput by 28 percent, lifted labor productivity by 70 percent, and cut carbon emissions by 34 percent.

Meanwhile, Mencast Marine tackled a different challenge in Singapore's marine sector. For over 40 years, the company designed and manufactured propellers using traditional sandcasting, a labor-intensive process requiring imported bronze materials and lengthy production cycles.

Partnering with the same research agency, Mencast turned to 3D printing technology to reimagine how propellers get made. In 2023, the company produced Singapore's first additively manufactured marine propeller, slashing production time in half while meeting rising customer demands for customized, greener designs.

These collaborations represent Singapore's broader Manufacturing 2030 vision, which aims to grow the sector by 50 percent through deeper technological capabilities. Manufacturing already contributes 18.5 percent of the nation's GDP, supporting thousands of jobs across traditional and emerging industries.

The Ripple Effect

When one manufacturer proves that AI and 3D printing work in real production environments, others take notice. The dynamic scheduler developed at Coca-Cola Singapore is now being deployed globally across the company's network, while the vision-powered robotics system is being assessed for wider rollout.

For Singapore's plant manager Gerardo Artavia, the innovations demonstrate why the city-state remains a strategic manufacturing hub. Locally developed solutions that respond to real-world challenges can scale to benefit operations worldwide, he notes.

The propeller breakthrough at Mencast opens similar possibilities for marine manufacturers across Southeast Asia facing the same constraints around labor, materials, and customization demands. What starts as one company's solution becomes a proof point for an entire industry.

Singapore is showing that even traditional manufacturing sectors can leap forward when research institutions and businesses work together on practical problems.