Dow Chemical Optimizes Capital Cost Decision-Making For Petrochemicals Projects with AspenTech’s aspenONE Engineering Software

Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (ACCE) Application Reduces from Months to Weeks the Time Required to Produce Accurate Global Project Estimates

BURLINGTON, MA - September 12, 2011 - Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN), a leading provider of software and services to the process industries, announced The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is optimizing capital cost decision making for large-scale petrochemicals projects using the aspenONE Engineering software suite.  Dow has reduced the time it takes to produce accurate engineering estimates from months to weeks by using Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (ACCE).  The application provides powerful estimating and collaboration capabilities that can scale to manage very large, global projects.

• Previously, estimators were unable to model large, multi-plant facilities as one integrated project.  Now, ACCE users can save time by increasing scope visibility across the entire project, which allows engineering & construction (E&C) firms and owner operators to regularly achieve efficiency improvements of 50 to 75 percent in their estimating activities.
• ACCE helps estimating professionals rapidly and reliably conduct conceptual estimates at the earliest stages of project definition, which typically requires multiple, large engineering teams to design, estimate and construct.  ACCE users working on projects of all sizes also benefit from these same capabilities.
• With critical decisions made early in the capital project cycle having a major impact on project economics, scalable “megaprojects” push the limits of engineering, fabrication, construction and transportation resources. The latest ACCE enhancements provide the ability to handle projects of expanded scope and scale, empowering estimators and executives to make effective capital cost decisions among different alternatives.
• As with previous releases of AspenTech’s cost estimation software, ACCE incorporates yearly updates for capital materials and equipment pricing to improve the accuracy of project estimation activities.
• aspenONE Engineeringis an integrated engineering lifecycle solution – from conceptual design through to plant start-up and operations support – enabling process engineers to model, build, and operate safer, competitive, and more reliable process plants. Owner operators and E&C’s are able to reduce capital and operating costs, increase engineering efficiency and quality, and accelerate time to market with payback in months instead of years.

Supporting Quotes

Cameron Rezai, Director of Dow’s Engineering Solutions Technology Center, The Dow Chemical Company

“As part of the aspenONE Engineering solution, Aspen Capital Cost Estimation’s scalable project support capabilities have been indispensible to help Dow executives better define major capital projects by balancing asset tradeoffs with operational and business objectives.  As a result, we have been able to significantly reduce the effort required to produce reliable project estimates even as the scope increases over time, which is helping Dow improve its global competitiveness.”

Bruno Robitaille, Project Controls and Estimating Professional, The Dow Chemical Company

“Dow’s use of Aspen Capital Cost Estimation’s new features is helping to achieve noteworthy efficiency improvements by easily breaking up large projects into smaller sub-projects, making them more manageable.  The ability to merge these pieces back together to support large-scale projects has uniquely positioned Dow as a technology leader, which is driving growth for our business.”

Blair Wheeler, Senior Vice President of Marketing, AspenTech

“Large scale ‘megaprojects’ are extremely complex to design and build.  Aspen Capital Cost Estimator gives owner operators and engineering and construction companies unprecedented transparency and flexibility in managing these project complexities.  Using ACCE customers can reach capital decisions earlier and manage projects more rigorously and accurately, thereby reducing project risk.”

Supporting Resources

• AspenTech Megaproject Solution Page
• Aspen Capital Cost Estimator
• Aspen Economic Evaluation
• Webinar – Optimize Capital Cost Decision Making for Petrochemical Megaprojects

About The Dow Chemical Company

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

About AspenTech

AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing – including energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, engineering & construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process.  With integrated aspenONE solutions, process manufacturers can implement best practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations.  As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs and become more energy efficient.  To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.

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