Aspen Technology announced recently that its Aspen Retail supply chain solution will be implemented by Bapco to manage the distribution of petroleum products across Bahrain, from the terminal to its network of filling stations and commercial customers.

Aspen Retail will optimise Bapco's petroleum distribution scheduling, and says it will bring significant delivery cost reductions and inventory reductions at the retail stations.

AspenTech's solution will enable Local Marketing Distribution schedulers at Bapco to conduct managed inventory, monitor consumption and develop demand forecasting for the petroleum products that are delivered within Bahrain.

Implementation of the system will help Bapco to maximise transport asset utilisation, reduce run-outs and aborted deliveries, and reduce cross-contamination of tanks as well as lower inventory levels, releasing working capital and increasing the flexibility of stock replenishment.

By using Aspen Retail, Bapco will be better positioned to prevent stations from running out of petroleum products and to develop efficient transport delivery routes. Aspen Retail will be fully integrated within Bapco's financial system and also its tank inventory management system.

Bapco will also be able to utilise Aspen Retail to issue demand level and financial reports. This provides schedulers with the real-time data needed for accurate strategic decision making, to generate optimised refuelling plans for developing effective cost-saving schedules and to ensure the efficiency of terminal to service station delivery.

''The installation of Aspen Retail is a key part of our strategic plan to integrate and streamline systems and processes which will result in further operational improvements. We can now give our petroleum outlets a better, more efficient service and ensure we get petrol out of the ground and into people's cars much more quickly,'' said Jassim Al Shirawi, manager Planning & Development - Local Market at Bapco.

Aspen Retail was selected by Bapco due to AspenTech's leadership in creating solutions that enable the efficient distribution of petroleum products.

Implementation of the solution began in January this year.

''Bapco is a well-recognised and respected petroleum company and their early adoption of technologies to improve delivery efficiency and profit margins is indicative of a trend we are starting to see in the industry,'' said Larry Evans, CEO of AspenTech. ''Bapco is our first Aspen Retail customer in the Middle East and their selection of AspenTech is a very positive sign for our future development in the area.''

Aspen Retail is a web-enabled supply chain software solution which enables petroleum companies to create an automated, real-time system that monitors consumption and fuel stocks across an entire retail network, creates demand forecasts, and, using the latest product and transportation cost data, generates plans to replenish the outlets in the most efficient and profitable way.

Compared with traditional manual methods, benefits include reduced transportation costs by using fewer trucks more efficiently to meet sales demand, a reduction in unnecessary fuel stocks at service stations, and improved customer service by ensuring outlets do not run out of fuel. Aspen Retail is a key element of AspenTech's ProfitAdvantage solution for demand-side optimisation in the petroleum industry.

Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of integrated software and solutions to the process industries.

The company's Aspen ProfitAdvantage solution enables companies to identify and maximise profit opportunities throughout their entire value chain - from the supply of raw materials, through the production of goods, to the delivery of final products to customers. The Aspen ProfitAdvantage solution encompasses engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and e-business collaboration technologies, providing the tools that enable manufacturers to design, optimise and execute business processes in real time.

More than 1,200 leading process companies already rely on AspenTech's 20 years of process industry experience to increase revenues, reduce costs and improve capital efficiency.

AspenTech's customers include BASF, BP, Chevron, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Exxon Mobil and Mitsubishi Chemical.