REProMag was an European project, financed by the European Commission under the call programme ‘Factories of the Future.’ The project was presented under the topic FoF-02-2014: Manufacturing processes for complex structures and geometries with efficient use of materials.

The objective of the REProMag project was to develop and validate an innovative resource efficient manufacturing route for Rare-Earth magnets that allows for the economically efficient production of net-shape magnetic parts with complex structures and geometrics while being 100% waste-free along the whole manufacturing chain. RE-magnets produced in this way can be applied in a wide range of applications such as for electrical motors, sensors, actuators, grippers and fixations in the fields of (electro-) mobility, energy, aerospace, industrial, mechanical engineering and medical technologies. This new manufacturing route is called SDS process (Shaping, Debinding and Sintering).

The SDS process allows a new level of sustainability in production of magnets, as the energy efficiency along the whole manufacturing chain can be increased by more than 30% and the material charge of RE-materials reduced by 30-40% compared to conventional production routes. Furthermore, the used raw material is 100% recycled and can be recycled in the same way at the end of the lifetime of the products. Finally, the magnetic energy products can be increased by 10-40%, allowing the use of 3D structured parts in miniature applications. This leads to an extremely resource efficient closed material loop for Rare Earth magnetic materials