DMP and Designing the Impossible: How DfAM is Reshaping What We Make — and Who Makes It

For decades, design has been limited by what machines could manufacture. But with Direct Metal Printing (DMP) and Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), those limits are vanishing fast. Engineers, innovators, and even startups are discovering that parts once deemed “impossible” to produce — due to complexity, cost, or constraints — are now fully within reach. More than a new toolset, DfAM represents a shift in who gets to innovate, not just what they can build. It’s democratising product development, levelling the field between legacy players and bold new thinkers. At Quickparts, we’re watching that transformation unfold every day.

What is DfAM?

Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is more than just designing parts to be 3D printed — it’s an entirely new mindset. Traditional manufacturing methods like CNC machining, casting, or injection moulding often force designers to make compromises. Undercuts, internal channels, or complex geometries are either impossible or prohibitively expensive. But DfAM flips that script.

With DMP, parts can be printed in metal with internal structures, conformal cooling channels, organic shapes, and lattice geometries that would never survive conventional fabrication. This opens the door to lightweighting, functional integration, and supply chain simplification — without sacrificing performance.

Who Benefits?

• Aerospace teams designing lighter components with fewer assemblies.
• Automotive innovators improving fuel efficiency with optimised part geometries.
• Medical device engineers creating patient-specific implants and surgical tools.

What’s exciting is that DfAM is not only changing what gets designed — it’s also redefining who gets to design. Small teams and startups, once priced out of advanced manufacturing, can now compete with industry giants. The speed and flexibility of DMP and DfAM empower rapid iteration, allowing bold ideas to be tested and proven in record time.

According to a recent report by Deloitte, companies that adopt additive manufacturing and DfAM see a 20–25% reduction in product development time. This acceleration is not a future promise — it’s already here. And Quickparts’ customers are living proof.

How did DMP + DfAM Help a Formula1 Team go full throttle? 

When it comes to proving performance, few industries are more demanding than motorsport. In high-stakes, high-speed environments, every gram matters — and so does every minute of design and production time. That’s why one Formula 1(F1) team turned to Quickparts for help with a complex aluminium manifold that conventional manufacturing simply couldn’t deliver fast enough.

The Challenge: Complex Geometry Under Pressure

In motorsport engineering, airflow management can mean the difference between podium placement and mid-pack frustration. The team needed a highly optimised manifold that could withstand extreme thermal and mechanical stress, fit into a tightly packed engine bay, and be delivered on a compressed timeline. Traditional methods like casting or CNC machining would require multiple parts, complex tooling, and significant lead time — not to mention the additional weight from assemblies and fasteners.

That approach wasn’t going to cut it. The team needed a solution that didn’t just match the spec sheet — it needed to outperform it. Fast.

The Solution: Designing for the Unmakeable

F1 engineers turned to Direct Metal Printing combined with Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) principles to break free of the usual constraints. With additive manufacturing, particularly in metals, you’re no longer subtracting material from a block — you’re building it layer by layer, which allows for unmatched design freedom.

By applying topology optimisation, Quickparts was able to help the F1 team to re-engineer the manifold’s structure from the inside out. Internal features, such as complex flow channels and support geometries, were designed directly into the component, eliminating the need for assembly. A lightweight lattice structure was added in low-stress zones to reduce mass without compromising strength.

The final design wasn’t just a lighter version of an old part — it was a reimagined component tailored for additive. One that leveraged every advantage DMP could offer.

The Results: Performance that Speaks Volumes

The printed aluminium manifold delivered results on three key fronts:

• Weight Reduction: By removing redundant material and integrating multiple parts into a single unit, Quickparts helped the team achieve a meaningful drop in overall weight — contributing directly to performance gains on the track.
• Functional Integration: The part included multiple features — mounting points, internal ducts, and structural supports — all built as one. This reduced the risk of failure, improved reliability, and simplified the supply chain.
• Faster Turnaround: With DMP, what would have taken weeks or even months with traditional tooling was delivered in a matter of days. That speed meant the team could test, validate, and implement before the next race — a critical edge in a sport defined by tight margins.

More Than Speed — It’s About Innovation Agility

This story isn’t just about a Formula 1 racing car, it’s about what’s possible when the boundaries of design are removed. By combining DMP with DfAM, Quickparts didn’t just help a racing team gain an edge, it helped them rethink what was even possible.

This level of transformation isn’t exclusive to elite motorsport. The same approach is now being applied across industries, unlocking better outcomes at every level:

• In aerospace, fuel nozzles and heat exchangers are designed with internal channels optimised for thermal performance that were previously nonmachinable with conventional methods.
• In medicine, surgical tools and implants are being custom-designed based on patient scans, ensuring precision and comfort that mass production simply can’t match.
• In robotics and automation, structural parts are printed with built-in wiring channels, reducing assembly complexity and improving robustness.

Each of these success stories is made possible by embracing a different design philosophy — one where function drives form, not the limitations of fabrication.

Enabling the Underdogs

Perhaps most compelling is how DfAM and DMP are levelling the playing field. You no longer need a seven-figure tooling budget or a sprawling production line to bring world-class products to life. With the right design thinking and the right partners, startups and scale-ups can move at the speed of thought — iterating rapidly, testing frequently, and launching confidently.

At Quickparts, we believe that access to advanced manufacturing should never be a barrier to innovation. That’s why we work closely with our clients from concept to part — offering not just machines and materials, but engineering expertise and collaborative insight.

In the case of the IndyCar team, it wasn’t just about printing a part — it was about solving a problem through design. And that mindset is what drives everything we do. (Read the Case Study to know more)

If You Can Imagine It, You Can Print It

With DfAM and DMP, imagination is no longer a limitation — it’s an invitation. Whether you’re building for the track, the skies, the lab, or the launchpad, the rules have changed. And those ready to embrace a new design frontier will find the impossible is closer than they think.

Ready to turn your next “impossible” design into reality? Let’s make it happen.