MagneticsPro.com is pleased to launch our Magnetic Technology Leadership Series — candid, in-depth conversations with executives shaping the global magnetics industry.

First up: Robert Bunting Jr, President/CEO of Bunting Magnetics & Magnet Applications, on the state of the domestic rare earth magnet supply chain, Bunting’s $150M Project Walker initiative, and where he sees the biggest growth opportunities in the years ahead.

Part 2 and the complete interview will appear in an upcoming Sponsored Special Edition of Magnetics Professional Magazine.

Q1. Tell us about your company and the primary products or services you offer.

Bunting is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer that has been engineering magnetic solutions since 1959. We operate across two primary business segments: magnetic separation, metal detection, conveyor equipment, and permanent magnet manufacturing and assemblies.

On the equipment side, we build the systems that protect food, pharmaceutical, plastics, and recycling lines from metal contamination — everything from drawer magnets and plate magnets to eddy current separators and metal detectors. On the magnetics side, through our Magnet Applications division, we design and manufacture custom permanent magnet assemblies — NdFeB, SmCo, ferrite, and AlNiCo — used in motors, sensors, medical devices, and defense systems.

We have facilities in Newton, Kansas; DuBois, Pennsylvania; and two locations in the United Kingdom — Berkhamsted and Redditch. Combined, we employ roughly 250 people and serve customers across North America, Europe, and beyond. Our UK operations give us a strong global footprint in magnetic separation.

What makes Bunting different is that we sit at the intersection of magnetic materials science and application engineering. We don’t just sell magnets. We solve problems.

Q2. How did you come to lead this organization, and what drew you to your industry?

I joined Bunting in 2007 in inside sales, which, looking back, was the best possible place to start. You learn what customers actually need — not what we assume they need. I worked through different parts of the business and became CEO in October 2022, succeeding my father, who led the company for roughly 15 years.

I didn’t set out to run a magnetics company. But the longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve come to appreciate what magnetics actually represents — it’s a foundational technology. Permanent magnets enable electric motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, precision guidance systems, defense platforms. There is almost no high-tech industry that doesn’t depend on magnets in a critical way.

What I didn’t fully understand when I started was how dependent the entire Western world had become on Chinese-sourced rare earth magnets. Once I understood that supply chain vulnerability — and what it would take to rebuild domestic capability — I realized this wasn’t just a business. It was a strategic national challenge. That’s when the job got genuinely interesting to me.

What changed my perspective entirely was understanding the rare earth magnet supply chain — how completely the United States had offshored not just NdFeB magnet production but the engineering knowledge that goes with it. That realization turned this from a family business succession into something with real national stakes. Domestic rare earth magnet manufacturing resilience isn’t just a business opportunity. It is a supply chain security imperative, and it’s the lens through which I make most of our strategic decisions today.

Q3. What’s the most significant shift you’ve seen in the industry over the past few years?

The single biggest shift is the acceleration of supply chain risk awareness. For decades, the assumption was that China would remain a reliable, low-cost source for rare earth magnets — NdFeB in particular. That assumption is now under serious pressure, and it’s forcing every OEM, defense contractor, and motor manufacturer to ask a question they’ve avoided for years: what do we do if that supply gets disrupted?

The DFARS compliance deadline — requiring domestic sourcing for rare earth magnets in defense platforms — is creating a real forcing function. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act, and increasing DOD investment in the defense industrial base have all elevated the conversation around critical mineral supply chains and permanent magnet manufacturing.

But what I’ve also seen is a gap between the policy conversation and operational reality. There is broad consensus that the United States needs to rebuild domestic rare earth magnet capability. What gets far less attention is what that actually requires on the ground. It’s not just mining. It’s not just refining. The last mile — designing, cutting, finishing, coating, and magnetizing finished magnets to the precise tolerances required by each application — is genuinely hard work that requires years of process knowledge, application engineering expertise, and capital.

The shift I’m watching most closely is whether policymakers and OEMs will actually invest in the full supply chain — mine to magnet, not just mine — or whether they’ll check the box on upstream and leave the downstream underfunded again.

Q4. Where do you see the greatest growth opportunities in your market segment right now?

Three areas stand out to me.

First, domestic rare earth magnet finishing and manufacturing. The United States currently has virtually no commercial-scale, sintered NdFeB magnet finishing capacity. Everything from the raw alloy to the finished, magnetized magnet is almost entirely done offshore — predominantly in China. With DFARS 252.225-7052 compliance deadlines approaching and significant DOD demand for domestically sourced magnets, the opportunity to build that capability here is enormous. At Bunting, we are actively pursuing what we call Project Walker — a proposed domestic NdFeB sintered magnet finishing and Grain Boundary Diffusion facility, targeting our DuBois, Pennsylvania location. We’re talking roughly $150 million in total capital, targeting around 100 skilled manufacturing jobs, and commercial operations by mid-2028. GBD technology is particularly compelling because it reduces dysprosium consumption by approximately 70 percent — which is significant when you’re trying to reduce dependence on Chinese heavy rare earths.

Second, the transition from Chinese-sourced to domestically produced magnets is not simply a procurement swap. It requires deep application engineering work — redesigning specifications, re-qualifying materials, and often re-engineering the device itself to accommodate different magnet geometries or performance curves. That application engineering capability is extremely scarce right now in the United States. Companies that build it will have a durable competitive advantage.

Third, the European market for magnetic separation is strong, and we’re actively pursuing inorganic growth there. We have existing operations in the UK, and we’re in discussions that could meaningfully expand our European footprint.

Q5. What broader trends are affecting demand for your products?

On the equipment side, food safety regulations and sustainability pressure are both tailwinds. Every time there is a recall, food processors get a reminder of why magnetic separation and metal detection matter. The growth in plastics recycling and the circular economy more broadly is also creating new demand for our separation systems — you can’t effectively recycle mixed material streams without getting the metals out.

On the magnetics side, the megatrends are electrification and defense modernization. Electric vehicles, e-bikes, electric motors for HVAC and industrial equipment, wind turbines — all of these require permanent magnets, and demand is growing faster than domestic supply. The DOD is simultaneously accelerating investment in platforms and systems that rely on high-performance NdFeB magnets, at a time when supply chain security is a national security priority.

The MVCS Act and related Congressional action around domestic magnet production are important signals. The question of whether that legislation creates meaningful Tier 1 and Tier 2 coercivity thresholds — and whether it treats bonded and sintered NdFeB differently — will have significant commercial implications for the whole industry.

Longer term, I think the rare earth magnet recycling and reclamation industry will be a meaningful demand driver for our equipment and a strategic resource for domestic magnet supply. The loop from magnet production to end-of-life reclamation is one of the most important pieces of a truly resilient domestic supply chain.

Watch this space for Part 2, coming soon!