Advanced manufacturing for key products (IA) (Made in Europe partnership)

Expected Outcome:

• Advanced manufacturing technology and machinery becomes available in Europe for the manufacturing of key and high-performance products;
• Where relevant, production becomes increasingly circular through the reuse of secondary raw materials; and/or innovative advanced materials are incorporated in manufactured products, leading to better performance and quality;
• Resource efficiency in terms of materials and energy is increased significantly; and
• Circularity, productivity and competitiveness are increased, and hence resilience of European industry is enhanced.

Scope:

This topic addresses technologies and machinery for advanced manufacturing, focusing on manufacturing excellence and on increasing circularity, including through the better use of innovative advanced materials and secondary raw materials. The focus is on key manufactured components and products that are competitive and have enhanced performance, and contribute to Europe’s technological leadership in manufacturing, but which are at risk of being lost to Europe or rely on raw materials or parts whose supply is mostly coming from outside Europe. Proposals should develop technologies and machinery to enable the manufacturing of these components with a minimal use of critical raw materials [reference to overall targets] or imported materials. This includes an increased use of secondary raw materials or biobased materials or revalorised components. Where appropriate to enhance performance and quality, proposals should target the use of innovative advanced materials (such as lightweight, functionalised or self-healing materials). In this case, the development of the advanced materials should not be the main focus of proposals, nevertheless the necessary steps to adapt such innovative advanced materials to the needs of the manufacturing application should be included. These can include digital twins for materials as well as SSbD-design steps. Examples of advanced manufacturing technologies and machinery include, but are not restricted to:

• Innovative additive manufacturing;
• Hybrid manufacturing (additive, subtractive);
• Photonics;
• Advanced joining technologies;
• Polymer composite manufacturing;
• Advanced technologies for surface treatment and structuring, to tailor surface properties for specific applications;
• Manufacturing of components with lightweight materials; and
• In-line testing.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination. Applications in the automotive industry may be considered. However, the production of batteries is not within the scope of this topic . [1] International cooperation is encouraged, especially with Japan or Taiwan. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership Made in Europe. null Activities are expected to start at TRL 5 and achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

[1] The production of batteries (including for automotive use) is addressed by topic HORIZON-CL5-2026-05-D2-03: Integrated Production and Product Development for Next-Generation Lithium-based Batteries for Mobility.

Part of call HORIZON-CL4-2027-01

Type of action: HORIZON Innovation Actions

Programme period: 2021 - 2027

Priorities: AI, DigitalAgenda, INCO, PART-COPROGR

"> General conditions

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

In order to include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination, the page limit in part B of the General Annexes is exceptionally extended by 3 pages.

Admissibility conditions are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide .

3. Other Eligible Conditions

described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual .

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annex