Invensys Operations Management Acquires Spiral Software

Invensys Operations Management, a global provider of technology systems, software solutions and consulting services to the manufacturing and infrastructure operations industries, today announced that it has acquired Spiral Software, a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom to extend their refinery-wide optimization offerings with new planning, scheduling and crude management software.

Founded in 1998, Spiral Software’s solutions help hydrocarbon processing clients make better business decisions when trading and refining crude oils. Its crude assay management software enables clients to make the best choices when sourcing and refining feedstocks, and it’s planning and scheduling softwarehelps optimize production plans based on real-time crude demand and market pricing, as well as the refinery’s own capacity and supply chain constraints.

So you may be asking, why did Invensys Operations Management acquire Spiral? Simply put, Spiral technology will enable Invensys Operations Management to deliver new refinery-wide optimization solutions that enable clients to make better business decisions when trading and refining crude oils. Their offerings will enable us to fully support the entire planning to operations value chain, helping our customers make better business decisions in real time, based on demand, market pricing and their own economic, capacity and supply chain constraints.

Spiral Software solutions extend SimSci-Esscor’s refinery optimization offerings, enabling us to cover the entire planning to refining value chain, something no other provider can do. As an integrated offering with our market-leading refinery optimization products, it fills a gap in our portfolio offerings and strengthens our competitive position. Spiral Software’s crude assay management tools allow traders to rank various crude oils and assess a feasible purchase price as an input to the monthly plan, as well as determine what other crude products the refinery can make, allowing the traders to make additional product commitments or understand their product trading flexibility. Spiral Software’s planning and scheduling solution then integrates the buying plans with the production schedule so purchasing decisions are made continuously rather than monthly. Additionally, the software’s risk-analysis feature is able to model several different planning and scheduling scenarios, helping refiners understand their exposure to changes in feedstock costs, product demand and refinery operations.