Case Studies Major European Chemical Producer Implements Planning and Scheduling Software for Elastomers and Styrenics

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	Major European Chemical Producer Implements Planning and Scheduling Software for Elastomers and Styrenics

Major European Chemical Producer Implements Planning and Scheduling Software for Elastomers and Styrenics

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Chemicals
Applicable Functions	Discrete Manufacturing Procurement
Use Cases	Demand Planning & Forecasting Inventory Management
Services	System Integration
Challenge	The company initiated a production planning and scheduling project as part of a major initiative focused on process re-engineering and automation. The overall goal of the production planning and scheduling project was to support several business initiatives. These included replacing the manual scheduling process, improving customer service, optimizing raw material and finished products inventories, reducing costs associated with off-specification quality, campaign transitions, packaging, and logistics and distribution, sharing information and improving cooperation between marketing/sales and production planning functions, and integrating planning and scheduling with the ERP system. Read More
About Customer	The customer is a major European petrochemical leader that manages four business divisions—Styrenics, Elastomers, Polyethylene, and Basic Chemicals. The company coordinates the production and sales of their whole portfolio of products and brands. It has over 77,000 employees in more than 77 countries across the world. The company initiated a production planning and scheduling project as part of a major initiative focused on process re-engineering and automation. Read More
Solution	After evaluating several vendors, AspenTech’s aspenONE Supply Chain Management solution was chosen for production planning and scheduling. AspenTech was selected based on its software’s built-in scheduling and task sequencing capabilities, its user-friendly interface, and the ease with which it could be configured to address this customer’s specific business process requirements. The planning models are used for multi-site batch and continuous production planning over a rolling three-month horizon. Production and distribution groups, located at the company’s headquarters, develop plans based primarily upon sales forecast data. The scheduling models, which include detailed production parameters and constraints for each plant, are then used by plant planners to generate a multi-week production schedule with day-by-day detail. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Chemicals

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing

Procurement

Use Cases

Demand Planning & Forecasting

Inventory Management

Services

System Integration

Challenge

The company initiated a production planning and scheduling project as part of a major initiative focused on process re-engineering and automation. The overall goal of the production planning and scheduling project was to support several business initiatives. These included replacing the manual scheduling process, improving customer service, optimizing raw material and finished products inventories, reducing costs associated with off-specification quality, campaign transitions, packaging, and logistics and distribution, sharing information and improving cooperation between marketing/sales and production planning functions, and integrating planning and scheduling with the ERP system.

About Customer

The customer is a major European petrochemical leader that manages four business divisions—Styrenics, Elastomers, Polyethylene, and Basic Chemicals. The company coordinates the production and sales of their whole portfolio of products and brands. It has over 77,000 employees in more than 77 countries across the world. The company initiated a production planning and scheduling project as part of a major initiative focused on process re-engineering and automation.

Solution

After evaluating several vendors, AspenTech’s aspenONE Supply Chain Management solution was chosen for production planning and scheduling. AspenTech was selected based on its software’s built-in scheduling and task sequencing capabilities, its user-friendly interface, and the ease with which it could be configured to address this customer’s specific business process requirements. The planning models are used for multi-site batch and continuous production planning over a rolling three-month horizon. Production and distribution groups, located at the company’s headquarters, develop plans based primarily upon sales forecast data. The scheduling models, which include detailed production parameters and constraints for each plant, are then used by plant planners to generate a multi-week production schedule with day-by-day detail.

Impact #1	The company can quickly identify potential problems with product availability that would impact the level of service it can deliver to its customers.
Impact #2	The implementation of AspenTech’s supply chain solution has improved the planning and scheduling activities of this company’s Elastomers and Styrenics divisions by standardizing and improving their business processes—from the automation of data management through the optimization of the production schedule.

Impact #1

The company can quickly identify potential problems with product availability that would impact the level of service it can deliver to its customers.

Impact #2

The implementation of AspenTech’s supply chain solution has improved the planning and scheduling activities of this company’s Elastomers and Styrenics divisions by standardizing and improving their business processes—from the automation of data management through the optimization of the production schedule.

Benefit #1	97% on-time accuracy for deliveries
Benefit #2	10-20% reduction in inventory
Benefit #3	10-20% reduction in the number of campaign transitions

Benefit #1

97% on-time accuracy for deliveries

Benefit #2

10-20% reduction in inventory

Benefit #3

10-20% reduction in the number of campaign transitions

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Overview

Major European Chemical Producer Implements Planning and Scheduling Software for Elastomers and Styrenics

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit