DFM for Data Centers: How Dynacast Enables Faster, Cooler, More Reliable Scaling

Data centers are undergoing a massive overhaul to keep up with the demands of AI. Because AI requires so much more "brain power" than traditional tasks, it creates more heat, wears out hardware faster, and needs to stay online 100% of the time.

While trying to keep up with these tech demands, companies are also running into real-world roadblocks: there isn't enough electricity available, environmental rules are getting stricter, and building new facilities is becoming harder. This means that every new data center must be built faster, run more efficiently, and use designs that can be easily copied and repeated.

That's why Design for Manufacturability (DFM) is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage for data center equipment manufacturers. A well-run DFM process reduces costly redesigns, improves yield, and aligns part performance (thermal, structural, EMI) with what high-volume production can reliably deliver.

Dynacast—through its engineering-led die casting approach—positions DFM as more than a checklist: it's a front-loaded collaboration that connects part design, tooling strategy, alloy choice, and process simulation to produce parts that are stronger, lighter, and easier to manufacture.

Dynacast's DFM Philosophy: Refine Early, Produce Better

Dynacast's DFM guidance underscores a simple reality: small geometry decisions can have a significant impact on quality, tool life, cycle time, and cost. In Dynacast's DFM FAQ, Senior Application Engineer Max Gondek emphasizes the value of early collaboration, noting how minor adjustments, such as improving wall thickness uniformity, draft angles, and feature placement, can enhance metal flow, reduce cycle times, and avoid expensive secondary machining.

Early collaboration with the Dynacast team is a critical part of an effective DFM process. By engaging Dynacast's application engineers early in the design phase, potential manufacturability challenges can be identified and resolved before tooling is committed. This proactive partnership helps teams make informed design decisions upfront, reducing risk, minimizing rework, and ensuring a smoother transition from design to production.

This DFM approach isn't about redesigning products from scratch. Instead, it focuses on refining existing designs so they can be manufactured consistently, efficiently, and at scale.

What Dynacast Evaluates During DFM (and Why It Matters for Data Centers)

Dynacast's design advice highlights a simple truth: even tiny changes to how a part is shaped can make a huge difference in how well it turns out, how long the equipment lasts, how fast it can be made, and how much it costs.

The following Dynacast DFM principles reflect the manufacturing requirements of high-performance data center components:

• Keep wall thickness even This helps the metal cool uniformly and prevents defects while speeding up production.
• Use the right draft angles Adding a slight taper allows parts to pop out of the mold smoothly without damaging the equipment.
• Round off corners and edges Adding small curves helps the metal flow better and makes the final part and the mold much more durable.
• Build strength with ribs, not bulk Using "ribs" or "webs" adds necessary stiffness without making the part too heavy or prone to air pockets.
• Test with simulations first Running digital tests catches mistakes like bad flow early, which is essential when the final part has to be perfect.

How Die Casting DFM Improves Data Center Components

Dynacast supports high-volume production, enables thin-walled precision, and integrates features directly into castings to reduce assembly steps and cost. Aluminum, zinc, and magnesium alloys further support the strength, thermal performance, and dimensional accuracy required by hyperscale and enterprise data centers.

When combined with DFM, die casting helps manufacturers optimize for outcomes that directly impact scale, performance, and reliability, including:

• Part consolidation: Fewer parts and fasteners through integrated features
• Improved thermal performance: Better heat flow in heatsinks, cold plates, manifolds, and enclosures
• High-volume consistency: Reliable fit and dimensional control across large production runs
• Lower total cost: Higher yield, faster cycle times, and fewer secondary operations
• Faster scale-up: Faster production ramp-up during platform refreshes and periods of market expansion

As a result, Dynacast positions its role in modern data centers as enabling consistent quality and rapid deployment across a wide range of applications, including server and AI hardware, cooling systems, liquid cooling components, PSU housings, fiber optic connectors, and mounting hardware.

Connecting DFM Benefits to Data Center Market Pressures

DFM is valuable in any industry, but it becomes especially strategic in the data center market, where capacity is projected to nearly double by 2030, power availability and speed-to-power decisions increasingly shape deployments, and hyperscalers continue to invest aggressively in new builds. In this environment, manufacturing efficiency, predictability, and thermal performance are no longer incremental advantages—they're critical enablers of scale.

As hyperscale expansion accelerates and AI drives new thermal and structural demands, manufacturers need partners who can translate performance requirements into repeatable production. Dynacast positions DFM as a strategic, simulation-informed collaboration, helping teams to refine designs early, protect tooling, improve yield, and scale high-precision die cast components for modern data centers.