Accenture and Aspen Technology have developed a new solution aimed at helping chemical companies and petroleum refiners collect and analyse important data across their organisation, making it easier for their executives to make more-informed decisions on their manufacturing and supply chain operations.
The new Performance Management solution is designed to provide these companies with the business processes and software necessary to improve productivity, quality and customer service. The solution has been developed specifically for the process industries and incorporates a new application to help companies manage and improve their complex operating processes.
The focus of the Aspen Performance Scorecard application is not only to allow manufacturers to track the way their plants and supply chains are operating, but also to enable them to review their progress against key performance indicators, analyse situations where business objectives are not being met, and manage corrective actions.
"Traditional performance-management products have failed to provide process manufacturers with the information and decision-support tools they need to improve operating performance," said Ian Huntly, managing director of AspenTech Africa.
"Our next-generation solution breaks new ground by enabling companies to integrate valuable data from operational systems across their enterprises and make better decisions based on a clear understanding of the business impact. The launch of this solution represents an exciting milestone in our alliance with Accenture."
The Performance Management solution is the latest offering from AspenTech`s alliance with Accenture. Accenture helped identify the individual software components to build an effective solution and the key performance indicators that each product should support, and then integrated the many different components into a comprehensive solution.
The Aspen Performance Scorecard uses an advanced Web-based architecture to capture operating data from a wide range of systems across an organisation, including standard business systems, as well as complex plant and supply chain systems such as planning, yield accounting, quality management, modelling and simulation applications. Incorporating AspenTech`s experience in handling process manufacturing information, the new product is pre-configured to collect raw data and to structure it in a form that is suitable for analysis and storage.
The application then uses a range of carefully selected data management, scorecarding, reporting and analysis components to transform the data into information that can be used for decision-making. The system can provide reports based on key performance indicators; analysis using historical performance information and support for corrective action and initiative tracking. The system also has the ability to provide alerts on deviations from expected performance. These capabilities are presented to executives and managers via portals that are tailored to the needs of each particular user.
"The ability of process manufacturers to align their plant and supply chain operations with corporate objectives can deliver tremendous economic value," said David Crow, managing partner of Accenture`s Chemicals industry group and the partner who oversees Accenture`s alliance with AspenTech.
"This new solution demonstrates how our alliance can help customers transform the way they manage their businesses."
Share
Accenture is the world`s leading management consulting and technology services company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them realise their visions and create tangible value. With deep industry expertise, broad global resources and proven experience in consulting and outsourcing, Accenture can mobilise the right people, skills, alliances and technologies. With more than 75 000 people in 47 countries, the company generated net revenues of $11.6 billion for the fiscal year ended 31 August 2002. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Aspen Technology
Aspen Technology, Inc provides industry-leading software and implementation services that enable process companies to increase efficiency and profitability. AspenTech`s engineering product line is used to design and improve plants and processes, maximising returns throughout an asset`s operating life. Its manufacturing/supply chain product line allows companies to increase margins in their plants and supply chains, by managing customer demand, optimising production, and streamlining the delivery of finished products. These two offerings are combined to create solutions for enterprise operations management (EOM), integrated enterprise-wide systems that provide process manufacturers with the capability to dramatically improve their operating performance. Over 1 500 leading companies already rely on AspenTech`s software, including Aventis, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Fluor, Foster Wheeler, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, and TotalFinaElf. For more information, visit www.aspentech.com.
Editorial contacts