CASE STUDY /

Ansys Discovery
Quantifying the Return on Investment in
Simulation-Led Design Exploration
Benefits of 3D Design at a Top Renewable
Energy Services Company
 CASE STUDY

/ Executive Summary
This case study was undertaken by Ansys and Mediafly to quantify the financial impact a renewable energy services company, a synthetic
client, realized from an investment in simulation led design exploration through the implementation of Ansys Discovery software.
The findings are generally applicable to similar profile companies across other industries because comparable program data from
sources beyond the baseline company was carefully selected and included in the financial model to enhance its scope and granularity.
Organizations that intend to use this case study to estimate benefits for their company should compare their profile data, investments,
costs, and labor rates to the detailed tables in the Appendix of this case study to
identify differences. Benefits will vary on a case by case basis with dissimilar input
data. For more information about the development of the energy services synthetic
client used in this case study, see Methodology, Synthetic Client Overview. This case With simulation-led
study analyzed engineering labor costs and productivity, prototype and testing design, engineers can
costs, warranty claims and engineering change order costs, incremental net value, explore different designs
and return on investment.
and understand product
The synthetic client, designated ACME WIND POWER, Inc (see profile in Appendix),
represents a top energy services company (ESCO) with over 30 years of experience
performance during the
in design, development, manufacture, and sale of sustainable energy technologies, concept and early design
including wind turbines, wind farm equipment, and installation services. With phases. Compared to the
annual revenues of $3.8B and a product engineering staff of 2,298 people
traditional iterative method
worldwide, this case study considers the full production lifecycle (3 years) of its
third-generation family of onshore IEC Class IIA and IIIA/S wind turbine systems as of beginning with a model,
the data source for calculating specific metrics on the benefits of simulation led simulating it and then
design during the first year of this program.
going back to refine the
In prior years, the company implemented initiatives to improve margin and model, using Ansys software
increase scale by focusing on innovative research and development for its robotic,
aeronautic, microelectronic, and composite materials based products. But
for simulation-led design
persistent challenges caused the leadership team to reason that the company’s considerably shortens
traditional engineering design and development process was inefficient, costly, and the time from concept to
hindered time to market.
completion.
The company faced increasing costs, competitive pressure, complex environmental
safety regulations, burdensome warranty claims and an increasing number of
engineering change orders. To resolve these challenges, the company identified
consolidating on a rapid 3D design exploration toolset from Ansys that enabled
simulation-led design exploration, as a means to support the following business initiatives:

• Reduce design and development time and costs.

• Lower product prototype and engineering analysis costs.
• Reduce warranty claims by increasing quality and reliability.
• Improve cross-engineering team collaboration and reduce data management costs.

As with earlier generations of this program, the company’s engineering team included a seasoned staff with varying levels of experience
and specialization – design, electrical, mechanical, optical, and product safety. The management team included several project managers
and business analysts. On any given day during the product design cycle, about eight FTE’s were actively working on this program, which
was one of seventeen sponsored programs company-wide. With labor costs referenced to hourly rates for similar salaried professionals in
the United States, this case study shows that the implementation of Ansys Discovery Software saved 27% of the design team’s labor time
(1,850 hours totaling $122,923) when compared to earlier generation programs. This benefit is included in Year 1 Design and Development
Labor Cost savings, as shown in line 5 of the table below. The rationale for breaking it out here is to show that better product designs
have a direct positive impact on downstream development costs that result in substantial savings in both phases of the design and
development cycle.

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 2

/ Strong ROI for upfront simulation

PRODUCTIVITY INNOVATION QUALITY

EXPLORATION
180 +60%
IDEATION
+43%
160

140

120
COST COST COST COST
-26% -30% -19% -33%
100

80

60

40

20

0
Engineering Physical Ideation Scenarios Iterative Design Physical Test & Engineering
Labor Cost Prototype Cost Evaluated Alternatives Safety Test Costs Change Order Cost

Traditional Approach Upfront Simulation

Source: “Quantifying the Return on Investment in Simulation Lead Design Exploration”, Mediafly, 2020

/ Ansys Simulation-Led Design Benefits (Year 1)

During the first year of the program, focusing specifically on the benefits of simulation-led design exploration, the company invested
$300,474 in Ansys software, services, HPC infrastructure and simulation training for engineers. The company realized total benefits of
$2,777,845 and net benefits of $2,477,371. Of particular significance was a 40.4% increase in ideation/innovation scenario analyses and a
60.7% increase in iterative design alternatives analyses. The impact of all measured metrics is shown in the table below:

Metric (over the 1-year period) Traditional Program New Program with Ansys Impact

Ideation/Innovation Scenarios Evaluated 7 10 40.4% increase

Iterative Design Alternatives Analyzed 5 8 60.7% increase

1 Prototype Materials and Logistics Costs $3,090,956 $2,163,384 $927,572 decrease

2 Physical Test and Safety Test Costs $4,728,719 $3,829,795 $898,923 decrease

3 Engineering Analysis Costs $83,972 $54,791 $29,180 decrease

4 Engineering Change Order Costs $1,428,840 $957,852 $470,988 decrease

5 Design and Development Labor Costs $1,765,018 $1,313,836 $451,182 decrease

Total benefits [1+2+3+4+5] $2,777,845

Based on the total investment made in year 1 on simulation-led design exploration, the net benefit received and assuming a discount
rate of 6%; the following financial results were achieved:

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 3

 Return on Net Present Net Present Investment Payback Analysis Method for
Investment (ROI) Value (NPV) Value (NPV) Period Determining ROI

Standard formula based on net

824% 824% $2,337,143 < 2 months
benefits / net costs
Note: ROI and IRR are the same for Year 1; this is not an error.

The short Payback Period was helped by the management team, who recognized that simulation training was necessary to accelerate
benefits. As a result, simulation training to all engineers was delivered during the first month. When this program began, roughly 19% of
engineers used simulation, 73% used only CAD and traditional tools, and 8% had some exposure to both. By the end of this program, 82% of
the combined engineering and analyst team used simulation. Adoption of the new Ansys simulation tools was swift, as engineers began to
visualize new design alternatives.
Ansys Discovery accelerated the team’s simulation learning curve and helped them function as a cohesive whole by establishing
a set of consistent process templates and workflows. Because all users worked in a collaborative, shared environment with one
process roadmap, it was easy to hand off design tasks to junior engineers and bring disparate components together to produce the
final design specifications. For the first time, analysts and engineers from multiple disciplines, along with marketing and project
managers, shared ideas, iterated potential solutions, and tested various components – all of which enabled innovation, high-impact
collaboration, and ultimately a faster design and development cycle.

/ Ansys Pervasive Engineering Simulation Benefits (Years 1-3)

Over a 3-year period, focusing on the benefits of pervasive engineering simulation for the program as a whole, the company invested
$5,379,899 in Ansys software, services and HPC infrastructure. The impact of this investment was measured against the key metrics
summarized below:

Metric (over the 3-year period) Traditional Program New Program with Ansys Impact

Physical Design, Development and Test Cycles 67 58 13% decrease

1 Labor, Materials, Testing, Misc. Costs $2,366,571,461 $2,321,174,567 $45,396,894 decrease

2 Net Profit $3,275,818,699 $3,321,886,290 $46,067,591 increase

3 Net Value of Reduced Warranty Claims N/A $35,448,756 $35,448,756 increase

4 Engineering Change Order Costs $2,116,800 $1,492,873 $623,927 decrease

Total benefits [1+2+3+4] $127,537,169

It is important to note that the 13% decrease in physical design, development, and test cycles, shown above, not only reduced labor costs
but also significantly reduced materials and testing costs, which improved net profit. Furthermore, as physical analysis and testing cycles
transitioned into virtual analysis and testing using Discovery, product quality improved, which reduced the number of engineering change
orders and minimized the risk of post-production warranty claims, yielding a total benefit of $127,537,169.
Based on the total investment made, the net benefit received, and assuming a discount rate of 6%; the following quantitative results were
achieved:

Return on Internal Rate of Net Present Investment Payback Analysis Method for
Investment (ROI) Return (IRR) Value (NPV) Period Determining ROI

Standard formula based on net

1612% 1721% $74,292,277 < 2 months
benefits / net costs

Standard formula based on net

2271% 1747% $104,641,326 < 2 months benefits / net costs + incremental net
value benefit added

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 4

/ Conclusion
This case study quantified the benefits of simulation led design exploration achievable through Ansys Discovery software and clearly
showed that when compared to traditional engineering design methods and workflows, the benefits of conducting simulations during
the design phase are significant (see benefit details). With simulation led design, engineers can explore different designs and understand
product performance during the concept and early design phases.
For ACME WIND POWER Inc, Ansys Discovery enhanced engineering productivity and workflow by allowing analysts, design engineers,
marketing managers, and project managers to collaborate iteratively, in real-time, on the design of a product using advanced simulation
and guided workflows that drastically reduce the depth of understanding needed about analysis methodology and the skills required to
use simulation software. This allowed all design participants to collaborate, iterate, and share innovative ideas that would take dramatically
longer and cost significantly more when using traditional workflows and design tools. By using Ansys Discovery, the company lowered
costs and increased quality and performance. They also improved team collaboration, made better use of engineering labor
resources, and accelerated time to market.
Comprehensive details about this case study findings are available in the sections that follow and in the Appendix.

Explore the Ansys ROI Calculator based on the results of this study.

Click here

/ Company Case Study: ACME WIND POWER, Inc.

/ Introduction
Engineering simulation has been deployed in the renewable energy services industry for decades and has contributed clear benefits to the
industry by accelerating innovation, reducing costs and project timelines and helping to deliver the unprecedented levels of environmental
safety the industry has achieved. Yet despite all this success, referenceable studies that quantify return on investment (ROI) utilizing
standard financial attributes are few and far between. As the industry enters a new era of digital transformation, making the business case
for 1) simulation-led design exploration and 2) for pervasive engineering simulation, will be key for engineering teams that are driving to
change their work practices to prepare for the future.
As a result, Ansys Inc., the global leader in engineering simulation, partnered with an independent research group, Mediafly Inc., to develop a
clear and relevant assessment of the financial impact made by both implementations of engineering simulation tools.
To protect source confidentiality and enable the findings of this case study to be scalable across a wide range of company profiles, yet
enable a credible determination, research from a number of real-world, renewable energy services industry companies were aggregated
into a synthetic case study. Hence, while considered realistic and generally applicable to similar profile companies across the renewable
energy services’ supply chain, the findings may vary on an individual case-by-case basis.

/ Methodology
Data gathering interviews were conducted using Mediafly Inc value storytelling and quantification methodology, which analyzes company
sales and marketing messaging from the perspective of Challenge, Loss, Opportunity, Solution, and Evidence (CLOSE) to quantify and frame
unique value propositions.
The collected data were analyzed using standard financial formulas for evaluating and comparing different investment alternatives. While
this report is not intended to be an in-depth dive into business analysis, an explanation of standard metrics is provided in the Financial
Metrics Description section of the Appendix.
The financial model covers a three-year product lifecycle with engineering design and development occurring in the first half of Year 1 and
manufacturing in the second half of Year 1, and all of the Years 2 and 3. Conservative values for calculating benefits realization at a discount
rate of 6% were used in the financial model to account for the opportunity cost of the investment. Supporting analysis was also performed to
determine the net present value of the benefits accrued, the internal rate of return, and the payback period.
Using the standard approach, Return on Investment (ROI) was determined as follows:
Standard ROI = (realized net benefits) / (investment in Ansys simulation tools and supporting infrastructure)
ROI = (realized net benefits + incremental net value benefit) / (investment in Ansys simulation tools and supporting infrastructure)

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 5

The analysis recognized that by using simulation led design exploration, supported by Ansys pervasive engineering solutions during
development; the company increased quality, improved performance, and reduced warranty claims. This created additional benefits for
yearly cost avoidance and incremental net value that were not available with the traditional design and development process. So a second
ROI was calculated and reported as follows:
ROI = (realized net benefits + incremental net value benefit) / (investment in Ansys simulation tools and supporting infrastructure)
By including the second ROI analysis in the financial model, the company ensured numerical accuracy. Further, it clarified the broader
business value and benefits of using Ansys pervasive engineering simulation over the 3-year product lifecycle to address challenges the
company faced with manufacturing costs, warranty claims, and net profit. Ansys pervasive engineering draws on the capabilities of an
integrated portfolio of Ansys solutions.

/ Synthetic Client Overview

Case studies are often limited in scope by a lack of accurate baseline data from which to drive the financial analysis. Generally, this results
from the need to protect sensitive information about a particular company’s operations, finances, and profitability for a specific product.
This case study overcomes this challenge for ACME WIND POWER, Inc, a synthetic client, by augmenting real-world baseline data from the
product lifecycle of one company with real-world supplemental data from another company with a product having similar characteristics.
There are guidelines, of course, for selecting supplemental data to ensure a good fit. For example, the companies product design,
development, and manufacturing processes must be similar. The size and mix of experience levels of the engineering and program
management teams must be comparable. The scope of investment and expense allocation must correspond. But with proper alignment
and agreement of these inputs, the accuracy and detail of the financial model can be enhanced while maintaining the anonymity of the
source companies.
This analysis approach is logical and valid if the same financial model (specifically the data definitions and formulas) can be applied to all
companies to derive benefits and compare alternative projects. One must consider that apart from specific data input values, the business
value and benefits analysis process is reasonably consistent across companies with similar products. If this were not the case, consulting
companies would have to create an entirely new financial model from scratch for each of their customers without reusing any formulas.
Surely this is not the case!
A simple example may clarify things. Suppose the baseline company had reliable historical data about investments, costs, and the
composition of its design and development team for the 2nd generation of their product, but they did not track before and after labor
utilization data. Also, suppose a supplemental company with similar team composition had reliable labor utilization data on the impact
of a new engineering tool for the 3rd generation of their product. With proper scrutiny and alignment, the supplemental company’s data
can be inserted into the baseline company’s model to create a synthetic client. Why? Because the two company profiles, products, and
design and development scenarios are comparable. The resulting financial model would be useful as “a guide” for both companies. For
more information about the development of ACME WIND POWER Inc, the energy services synthetic client used in this case study, see
Methodology, Synthetic Client Details.

/ Company Profile & Key Business Initiatives (KBIs)

A top renewable energy services company (ESCO) supplier with over 30 years of experience in producing sustainable energy technologies,
such as wind turbines, wind farm infrastructure, installation and optimization services. Over the years, the company’s strategy helped them
gain efficiency, improve margins and increase scale by aligning its capabilities with sustainable and green energy producer requirements.
The company is a multi-national supplier with annual revenues approaching $3.8B, an average of 17 on-going programs at any one time, and
a full-time engineering staff involved in product design and development of 2,298 people.
A summary of ACME WIND POWER, Inc., is provided in the table below. A more detailed description is provided in the About ACME WIND
POWER, Inc., section and the Company Profile section of the Appendix.

Wind turbines, wind farm infrastructure, installation and optimization

Core Products
tools, and services for the renewable energy services industry.

Average number of ongoing programs 17

Europe (Headquarters), international business unit operations, multi-

Geographic Location
site manufacturing facilities (Europe, North America, and Asia).

Annual Revenue $3.8B USD

Engineers in Product Development 2,298

Limited to a core group of experts who use a set of disconnected

engineering tools for specific applications on an ad-hoc basis. Roughly
Current simulation usage 73% of engineers in product design and development use CAD tools,
and 19% use simulation, but engineering workflow is serialized, and
collaboration across engineering groups is limited.

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 6

Faced with increasing costs and competitive pressure — plus complex environmental safety regulations, concerns over quality, and
elongated design and development cycles with minimal engineering team collaboration — the engineering leadership team at ACME
WIND POWER, Inc., established a set of business initiatives to reduce costs, improve profitability and competitiveness, extend reliability, and
fuel growth for their third-generation family of onshore IEC Class IIA and IIIA/S wind turbine systems. Their top initiatives included:
• Reduce design, development, and manufacturing time and costs.
• Accelerate time to market while complying with industry regulatory standards.
• Enhance and accelerate environmental safety testing and certification.
• Reduce warranty claims, rework, and field parts failure by leveraging multiphysics solutions to increase quality,
reliability and performance.
• Improve cross-engineering team collaboration and reduce data management costs.

/ Investment in Simulation to Support KBIs

To support the attainment of these KBIs, the leadership team assessed engineering workflows and the benefits of simulation versus
traditional CAD tools and identified investing more in simulation as a core requirement to enhance their existing design and development
processes.
This required:
• Multiphysics analyses to improve the accuracy of results and workflow efficiency.
• An integrated simulation environment to facilitate efficient data exchange across disciplines.
• Increased exposure of the broader engineering team to simulation capabilities and benefits.
• A standardized simulation platform to improve collaboration, data sharing and knowledge retention.

The leadership team identified Ansys as uniquely positioned in the market to deliver against these requirements. For their third-generation
family of onshore IEC Class IIA and IIIA/S wind turbine systems program, the company purchased new Ansys licenses to add multiphysics
simulation capability and to improve cross-engineering collaboration. Ansys software licenses were shared company-wide between 17
programs and allocated, by percentage, to individual programs. At 18.5% of total license costs, the annual Ansys network license cost (OPEX)
allocated to this program is shown in line 2 of the investment table below.

/ Ansys Simulation-Led Design Benefits (Year 1)

To support an increased level of simulation led design during the first year, the company invested a total of $300,474 in simulation software,
training, services, and associated infrastructure to support the new simulation led workflows for its third-generation family of onshore IEC
Class IIA and IIIA/S wind turbine systems program. Note that costs in this table represent the portion of total Year 1 program costs directly
related to the company’s extended use of simulation during the design and development phase of their 3-year program lifecycle.

Program Investment Costs Year 1

1. Ansys Network License Costs — Company-wide

2. Ansys Network License Costs — This program (18.5% of total)

$2,392,360

$46,456 } License cost allocation details are

shown in the Appendix.

3. Implementation services, labor $56,768

4. Infrastructure (HPC, Storage, Network and other) $98,570

5. Safety Test Equipment $38,780

6. Training (engineering, project management, safety, logistics) $24,900

7. Knowledge transfer (from Ansys consulting) $35,000

Total Program Investment Costs, Years 1 $300,474

Three-Year Total Investment $300,474

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 7

/ Ansys Pervasive Engineering Simulation Benefits (Years 1-3)
The company made additional investments in high-performance computing (HPC) and safety test equipment to fully leverage the new
simulation capabilities enabled by the new Ansys software. The annual hardware costs (CAPEX) allocated to this program for HPC and safety
testing equipment are shown in lines 4 and 5 of the investment table below. The company invested a total of $5,379,899 over three years
in simulation, training, services and associated infrastructure to support its third-generation family of onshore IEC Class IIA and IIIA/S wind
turbine systems program.

Program Investment Costs Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

1. Ansys Network License Costs – Company-wide $2,391,112 $2,443,716 $2,497,478

2. Ansys Network License Costs – This program (18.5% of total) $442,356 $452,088 $462,033

3. Implementation services, labor $205,165 $175,600 $186,500

4. Infrastructure (HPC, Storage, Network and other) $621,080 $776,350 $970,438

5. Safety Test Equipment $267,430 $285,300 $280,110

6. Training (engineering, project management, safety, logistics) $112,450 $33,000 $35,000

7. Knowledge transfer (from Ansys consulting) $75,000 $0 $0

Total Program Investment Costs, Years 1,2,3 $1,723,481 $1,722,338 $1,934,081

Three-Year Total Investment $5,379,899

/ Net Benefits
When compared with their traditional engineering processes, ACME WIND POWER, Inc., identified the following benefits from their
investment in Ansys Discovery specifically and Ansys pervasive engineering simulation tools in general:
• Increase in the number of design scenarios and alternatives analyzed.
• Decrease in the number and cost of design and development cycles.
• Decrease in the number and cost of safety test cycles.
• Decrease in engineering labor costs and direct materials costs.
• Decrease in the number and cost of engineering change orders (ECO).
• Decrease in the number and cost of component failure warranty claims.

In doing this, ACME WIND POWER, Inc., anticipated and measured the savings in labor (internal and outsourced), materials, inventory
management and miscellaneous engineering tasks. They also measured the impact on net profit that any of these savings contributed to.
Their findings are summarized below and described more extensively in the Appendix.

/ Ansys Simulation-Led Design Benefits (Year 1)

The impact on design team productivity of using optimized Ansys Discovery workflows is shown in the table below. The table compares the
results from baseline program management data for the first generation of the company’s wind turbine system program, with similar data
from the third generation of the program. Net benefits were calculated using conservative values and are shown in the table below as both
a Reduction in Labor Hours and as a Savings in Labor Costs.

Traditional Program Labor New Program Labor Average

Engineering Design Team Activity Savings in
Hours without Ansys Hours with Ansys Reduction in
or Workflow Labor Costs
Discovery Discovery Labor Hours

Design and Concept Modeling

Model setup and definition 12,812 1,824 86% $220,691

Solution Calculation 8,281 1,933 77% $142,650

Results analysis and design 5,099 845 83% $87,841

Total 26,192 4,601 82% $451,182

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 8

/ Ansys Pervasive Engineering Simulation Benefits (Years 1-3)
Across the 3-year program, ACME WIND POWER, Inc., tracked the number of physical design, development and test cycles performed
by their engineering team and compared this with the number of typical cycles on similar historical programs. Physical cycles include
development, planning, concept testing, prototyping, business analysis, final design and safety testing. As expected, they found that
the benefits of multiphysics simulation enabled a decrease in the number of physical cycles required to complete a given workflow. But
surprisingly, they also found that engineering productivity improved, allowing a higher number of scenarios to be analyzed and tested
through virtual engineering simulation analysis. In effect, engineering costs were reduced, while productivity and product quality were
increased. This is summarized in the table below.

Metric Traditional New Program Cycle Productivity

Ideation Scenarios Evaluated 7 10 40.4% 40% increase

Iterative Design Alternatives Analyzed 5 8 60.7% 61% increase

Design and Safety Scenarios Analyzed 18 27 52.0% 52% increase

Physical Design Cycles 16 13 19% 38% decrease

Physical Development Cycles 30 22 27% 23% decrease

Physical Safety Test Cycles 29 23 20% 14% decrease

Three-Year Total Cycles 75 58 22% 23%

By understanding the reduction in the number of physical engineering cycles and the increase in the number of virtual engineering analysis
scenarios across the entire product development process, ACME WIND POWER, Inc., was able to directly quantify the savings in labor,
materials and testing. This is summarized in the table below.

New Program with Cost Savings

Metric Traditional Program
Ansys (Impact)

3yr Labor Costs $2,842,156 $2,046,839 $795,317

3yr Materials Costs $2,147,603,801 $2,104,079,309 $43,524,492

3yr Testing Costs $5,517,152 $4,682,847 $834,304

3yr ECO Costs $2,116,800 $1,492,873 $623,927

3yr Manufacturing, Other Costs $210,288,893 $209,999,342 $289,551

Three-Year Total Costs $2,368,368,801 $2,322,301,210 $46,067,591 decrease

A detailed comparison of this program’s volume, sales and costs are shown in the Appendix.

The engineering leadership team at ACME WIND POWER, Inc., recognized that the increase in product quality also improved field
performance and reduced warranty claims when compared to baseline data from previous years. They calculated the savings from avoided
parts and assembly field replacements and identified the savings as a result of increased scenario testing during program design and
development. This allowed the company to bring forward an incremental net value benefit of $35,448,756 in cost avoidance that was not
attainable using the traditional program process.

Incremental Net Value Benefit Year 1 Savings Year 2 Savings Year 3 Savings Total Savings

FRU Replacement and Service Costs $11,037,936 $12,629,946 $11,780,874 $35,448,756

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 9

/ Return on Investment and Cash Flow
ACME WIND POWER, Inc., used conservative values for calculating benefits realization and a discount rate of 6% in their financial model.
Formulas for the financial metrics are shown in the Financial Metrics Description section of the Appendix.

/ Ansys Simulation-Led Design Benefits (Year 1)

Year-1 investments and benefits that supported financial calculations for Ansys simulation-led design are summarized below:

Program Cash Flow and Realized Benefits Year 1

Realized Benefits $2,777,845

Cumulative Benefits $2,777,845

Projected Investment $300,474

Cumulative Investment $300,474

Net Benefits $2,477,371

Cumulative Net Benefits $2,477,371

Discount Rate 6 %

ROI = net benefit / investment = $2,477,371 / $300,474 = 824%

Return on Investment
Internal Rate of Net Present
Investment Payback Analysis Method for Determining ROI
Return (IRR) Value (NPV)
(ROI) Period

824% 824% $2,337,143 < 2 months Standard formula based on net benefits / net costs

/ Ansys Pervasive Engineering Simulation Benefits (Years 1-3)

To better understand the return on their investment for Ansys pervasive engineering simulation over the entire program lifecycle, the
financial calculations were completed using two methods.
Using Method 1, the standard formula is based exclusively on net benefits and net costs. Using Method 1, the measured cost savings that
resulted from the investment totaled $92,088,413 Subtracting the investment of $5,379,899 results in a net program benefit of $86,708,513.
ROI = net benefit / investment = $86,708,513 / $5,379,899 = 1612%

Program Cash Flow and Realized

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Benefits

Realized Benefits $29,886,939 $30,874,368 $31,830,663

Cumulative Benefits $29,886,939 $60,761,307 $92,591,970

Projected Investment $1,723,481 $1,722,338 $1,934,081

Cumulative Investment $1,723,481 $3,445,818 $5,379,899

Net Benefits $27,974,899 $29,002,022 $29,731,593

Cumulative Net Benefits $27,974,899 $56,976,920 $86,708,513

Discount Rate 6 %

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 10

Using Method 2, the incremental net value benefit that resulted from reduced warranty claims and FRU failure is added to each year of the
standard formula. As a result, the cost savings that resulted from the investment totaled $127,537,169 and includes the yearly incremental
net value benefit for cost avoidance. Subtracting the investment of $5,379,899 results in a net program benefit of $122,157,269.

ROI = (net benefit with incremental net value added) / investment $122,157,269 / $5,379,899 = 2271%

Program Cash Flow and Realized Benefits Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Realized Benefits $40,736,315 $43,354,305 $43,446,548

Cumulative Benefits $40,736,315 $84,090,621 $127,537,169

Projected Investment $1,723,481 $1,722,338 $1,934,081

Cumulative Investment $1,723,481 $3,445,818 $5,379,899

Net Benefits $39,012,835 $41,631,968 $41,512,467

Cumulative Net Benefits with Incremental Net Value $39,012,835 $80,644,802 $122,157,269

Discount Rate 6 %

Both financial calculation methods are summarized below:

Investment
Return on Internal Rate of
Net Present Value (NPV) Payback Analysis Method for Determining ROI
Investment (ROI) Return (IRR)
Period

Standard formula based on net benefits / net

1621% 1732% $74,726,801 < 2 months
costs only

Standard formula based on net benefits / net

2280% 1761% $105,075,850 < 2 months
costs + incremental net value benefit added

The combined graph of both ROI formulas is shown below. The graph plots the cost-benefit curves that show the investment payback
period was less than 1 month.

$140,000,000

$120,000,000

$100,000,000
Shows the impact of the
incremental net value benefit
$80,000,000 for cost avoidance savings
each year
$60,000,000

$40,000,000

$20,000,000

$0
Initial

Cumulative Investments Cumulative Benefits with Incr Net Value Cumulative Benefits

Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 11

/ Conclusion
For most companies in the renewable energy services industry, increasing costs, competitive pressure, and regulatory requirements, plus
heightened environmental safety standards, are forcing increased scrutiny of engineering processes with the aim of reducing cost and
time to market while still delivering against high quality, safety and performance targets. Many engineering organizations have a qualitative
understanding that more effective use of, and investment in, simulation can help them meet these challenges and reduce the overall
carbon footprint of the company’s products. Yet the quantified, referenceable evidence required to support the investment business case to
the broader executive team in an organization is often difficult, if not impossible, to identify.
This study, therefore, bridged that gap by synthesizing real-world research into a credible case study that avoids conflicts of confidentiality
and allows the findings to be scaled across a broader set of use cases. The synthetic company analyzed, ACME WIND POWER, Inc.,
measured the return on investment resulting from increased and consolidated investment in engineering simulation tools from Ansys,
Inc., to support key business initiatives associated with their third-generation family of onshore IEC Class IIA and IIIA/S wind turbine systems
program.

/ Ansys Simulation-Led Design Benefits (Year 1)

Total investment in simulation-led design software, services, and infrastructure in the first year totaled $300,474. During that time, the
number of physical design, development and test cycles were reduced by 22% with an associated reduction in labor, prototype materials,
testing and engineering change order costs of $2.8M and an average engineering labor productivity increase of 19%. The time cost savings
that resulted from simulation-led design enabled the company to realize $2.5M cumulative net benefit. Applying a discount rate of 6%
yielded a return on investment of 824% using the standard formula.

/ Ansys Pervasive Engineering Simulation Benefits (Years 1-3)

Total investment in pervasive engineering simulation software, services and infrastructure for the 3-year program totaled $5,379,899.
During that time, the number of design, development and test cycles was reduced by 22% with an associated reduction in labor, materials,
testing and engineering change order costs of $46.3M, and an average engineering productivity increase of 19%. Further, in the 3-year
study window, the time saved during the development phase through multiphysics simulation enabled the company to realize more than
$35.4M in cost avoidance associated with reduced warranty claims and field parts failure. Applying a discount rate of 6% yielded a return
on investment of 1612% using the standard formula, and 2271% if incremental net value realized from warranty claims cost avoidance is
included in the benefits.
ACME WIND POWER, Inc., achieved these results by leveraging best practice simulation attributes available through Ansys Discovery
specifically and Ansys pervasive engineering software in general:
• An integrated simulation environment to facilitate efficient data exchange across disciplines.
• Simulation-led design exploration to exploit virtualization and enable parallel scenario testing.
• Multiphysics analyses to improve the accuracy of results and workflow efficiency.
• Expanded HPC platform capabilities to support sophisticated multiphysics analyses.
• Increased exposure of the broader engineering team to simulation through education, training, and program participation.
• A standardized simulation platform to improve collaboration, data sharing, and knowledge retention.
They selected Ansys, Inc., as their engineering simulation provider as Ansys is uniquely positioned to deliver against these required
attributes. To learn more about how Ansys continues to help the renewable energy services industry accelerate its digital transformation visit
www.ansys.com/a-d.

/ Case Study Addendum

An addendum to this case study is available that provides background information, detailed data tables, and definitions of specific terms
used in the case study, as well as guidance on how to interpret the benefits and results of the financial model.

Please contact us for more details and to learn more about Ansys solutions.

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Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 12

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Ansys Engineering Solution Benefits Guide // 13