Innovative AspenTech Solution Delivers New Levels of Manufacturing Performance to Polymers Industry
Breakthrough in advanced process control enables plastics producers to benefit from faster product transitions, increased throughput and improved quality
Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN) today announced a breakthrough in advanced process control technology that enables polymer manufacturers to achieve significant improvements in manufacturing performance. The unique, patented technology has already been successfully implemented at the polyethylene plant operated by SABIC Polyolefine GmbH in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, delivering faster product transitions, reduced off-specification material and improved product quality.(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000811/ASPENLOGO )
The new product, Aspen Apollo, uses next-generation artificial intelligence technology to apply advanced control to the highly complex processes found in the polymers industry. This enables manufacturers to gain significant benefits during all phases of plant operations, but particularly during the critical transitions between different product grades. These transitions are typically time-consuming, resulting in lost manufacturing capacity and generating large quantities of waste material.
"Aspen Apollo has now been implemented in our polyethylene production facility at Gelsenkirchen, and has successfully been controlling product quality round the clock," said Jan Versteeg, IT Manager, SABIC Polyolefine GmbH in Gelsenkirchen. "AspenTech's nonlinear production control solution delivers substantial measurable benefits to SABIC, resulting in faster and repeatable transitions, increased throughput and reduced off-specification material."
With its ability to consistently maintain safe and efficient operation during both steady-state and dynamic conditions, the advanced technology used by Aspen Apollo provides a significant step forward from earlier neural-net based solutions. The technology also enables manufacturers to achieve faster time-to-benefit, since the models that form the basis of the controller can be created using historical plant data, avoiding the need for an extended implementation period within the plant to build and validate the model.
"Aspen Apollo represents a major step forward for the polymers industry, making the full economic benefits of advanced control available for the first time," said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "We believe that this technology will expand AspenTech's business as it enables polymers producers to gain a significant competitive advantage, driving both improved profitability and increased customer satisfaction."
Aspen Apollo is an important element of the Aspen Plantelligence(TM) solution for the polymers industry. Plantelligence is AspenTech's integrated solution for manufacturing execution, which enables companies to manage their manufacturing operations in real-time, improving their efficiency and profitability.
About AspenTech
Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise software to the process industries, enabling its customers to increase their margins and optimize their business performance. AspenTech's engineering solutions, including Hyprotech's technologies, help companies design and improve their plants and processes, maximizing returns throughout their operational life. AspenTech's manufacturing/supply chain solutions allow companies to run their plants and supply chains more profitably, from customer demand through to the delivery of the finished products. Over 1,200 leading companies rely on AspenTech's software every day to drive improvements across their most important engineering and operational processes. AspenTech's customers include: Air Liquide, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Lyondell Equistar, Merck, Mitsubishi Chemical, Shell and Unilever. For more information, visit http://www.aspentech.com.
Certain paragraphs of this press release contain forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statement using the term "will," "should," "could," "anticipates," "believes" or a comparable term is a forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary significantly from AspenTech's expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including: AspenTech's lengthy sales cycle which makes it difficult to predict quarterly operating results; fluctuations in AspenTech's quarterly operating results; AspenTech's dependence on customers in the cyclical chemicals, petrochemicals and petroleum industries; AspenTech's need to hire additional qualified personnel and its dependence on key current employees; intense competition; AspenTech's dependence on systems integrators and other strategic partners; changes in the market for e-business solutions for AspenTech's customers; increased governmental regulation and taxation of e-commerce and the Internet; information security and privacy concerns relating to e-commerce; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AspenTech cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither AspenTech nor anyone else assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any forward-looking statements. AspenTech undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
AspenTech, Aspen Plantelligence and the aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
Contacts:
For Media:
Peter Watt Carin Warner
Aspen Technology, Inc. Warner Communications
+44 1223 819-752 (978) 526-1960
peter.watt@aspentech.com carin@warnerpr.com
For Investors:
Joshua Young
Aspen Technology, Inc.
(617) 949-1274
joshua.young@aspentech.com
SOURCE Aspen Technology, Inc.
CONTACT:
Peter Watt of Aspen Technology, Inc., +44 1223 819-752,
peter.watt@aspentech.com; or Carin Warner of Warner Communications, +1-978-
526-1960,
carin@warnerpr.com; or Investors: Joshua Young of Aspen Technology,
Inc.,
+1-617-949-1274, joshua.young@aspentech.com
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