innovation. The process industries operate some of the most complicated, interdependent and expensive facilities in the world, spending approximately $500 billion annually in the creation and maintenance of assets. 

The Aspen Engineering Suite is AspenTech’s solution for process lifecycle management (PLM) in the process industries. These applications include process simulation and optimization, economic evaluation, collaborative engineering, conceptual engineering, physical properties & chemistries, and equipment design & rating. Together, they enable companies to maximize returns and make better business decisions throughout the life of a process: at the initial planning stage, during R&D and design, during detailed engineering, and finally in the improvement and optimization of operational performance. By using these applications to create rigorous, engineering-based models, customers can make more informed operating decisions. Examples of the business problems our Aspen Engineering Suite helps companies to solve include questions about plant performance, benchmarking, plant capacity, production schemes and the costs associated with changing a process. 

## Aspen Manufacturing/Supply Chain 

Our manufacturing/supply chain solutions help our customers to maximize operating margins, while balancing operational efficiency with the flexibility required to respond to a demand-driven market environment. These benefits are another key aspect of Operational Excellence in the process industries. 

The Aspen Manufacturing Suite is AspenTech’s solution for manufacturing operations management in the process industries. These applications include advanced process control (APC), real-time optimization (RTO), manufacturing operations and operator training. They enable manufacturers to reduce raw material and energy consumption, improve product yields, and increase plant production. When combined with implementation services, they form our Plantelligence solution and help companies streamline and optimize their day- to-day operational activities from selecting the right raw materials, to improving plant performance to delivering finished products in the most cost- effective manner. 

The Aspen Supply Chain Suite enables manufacturers to reduce supply chain costs and achieve the operational flexibility to respond to an increasingly demand-driven market environment. These applications encompass supply and demand 

planning, production scheduling, order promising and distribution, and logistics scheduling. Reduced inventory and carrying costs are the largest benefits delivered by these solutions. Additional benefits include increased customer service, reduced logistics costs and improved on-time deliveries. 

## Operations Cockpit 

The drive to achieve Operational Excellence across the entire enterprise in an increasingly dynamic and competitive global marketplace is forcing operations personnel to make better, faster and more profitable decisions. Some refer to this trend as the dawning of the real-time enterprise. 

Operations Cockpit enables operations personnel to visualize operations, access consistent models and data from a distributed knowledge warehouse, track and monitor key performance indicators, run applications and collaborate around best-practice business processes. It also helps to proactively identify issues and do “what if” analysis to take the most profitable actions. The software suite includes role- based visibility, workflow and event management, performance scorecarding, look-forward analytics, and an asset knowledge warehouse. 

Underpinning Operations Cockpit is the Aspen Enterprise Platform (AEP), an open integration infrastructure. AEP enables process manufacturers to connect AspenTech and third-party applications to their existing enterprise IT systems, including ERP and DCS systems. AEP is based on an open, standard Web-based technology, including Microsoft and TIBCO, and has demonstrated a significant reduction in integration and lifecycle cost of ownership. 

“The accuracy of both long-term and short-term planning has dramatically improved because it is now based on real-time data from the plant. Furthermore, the planning is based on plant constraints and on data that has been reconciled to recognize any plant changes .” 

—Bengt-Ove Andersson Specialist Advanced Process Control Olefins Projects & Operations Support Borealis AB 

