AspectCTRM Physical Operations

The greatest pains and potential gains for most companies are in the distribution of products from crude to the refinery -- then through the delivery of products to downstream distribution points. Capturing just a few cents per barrel throughout this complex process can add up to millions of dollars in improved margin. AspectCTRM’s Physical Operations Module gives your team powerful functions to track and maximize transportation activities and opportunities throughout the supply chain. It gives your schedulers and operations personnel the tools needed to effectively keep product moving, visible and balanced for the optimum profit. Aspect’s team of veteran solution architects have designed a solution that draws out best practices and workflows for organizations with physical trading activities. A series of workbenches create a user-friendly environment with graphical displays to manage a seamless chain of events and straight-through-processing (STP) from physical trade capture through to settlement.

Key Processes Supported Include:

• Commodity Logistics
• Inventory Management
• Vessel & Inland Transportation Scheduling
• Demurrage Management
• Operations Reporting

Allocations Workbench

Includes matching of supply to demand, shipment creation, allocations to/from storage, bookouts/netouts.

Inventory Workbench

Includes planning and actualization of movements into, out of, and between storage locations, stock and ullage projections, blending operations, stock reconciliations, stock valuation tracking, cost allocations.

Shipments Workbench

Includes identification of mode of transport, transport and inspection nominations, pipeline nominations, events capture and management, issues and resolutions recording, demurrage calculation.

Operations Workbench

Includes operations lists for inventory and shipments operators; dispatch and receipt details for nominated parcels; inspection and event details and more.

Graphically view your planned inventory using the Inventory Workbench.

Delivering Best Practice Capabilities For Operational Risk

• Positions and exposures by location.
• Traded quantities available for Schedulers upon entry.
• Document and action checklists.
• Hard copy documents uploaded directly to AspectCTRM trades, secondary cost etc.
• Recording of actualizations by trade or sub-trade (parcel).
• Estimating and recording of demurrage costs.
• Recording of title dates, with custom reporting to report stock under ownership.
• Limit reporting and notifications at trader and counterparty levels.

Workflow Support For Logistics & Delivery

The physical delivery aspect of trading commodities and energy plays a significant role in a CTRM system. There are various unique geographical and product constraints and considerations with the delivery of different commodities. Natural gas is delivered via pipelines and storage facilities; coal via shipping, rail and road; crude oil via pipelines, shipping and rail depending on the geography, and so on. Optimization of the process is critical for the profitability of the trade.

AspectCTRM supports Schedulers in review of current supply/demand positions and imbalances by commodity, delivery/supply point and time period. By grouping and filtering trades by location and displaying supply against demand, AspectCTRM assists with netting decisions, which reduces delivery risk. Notes can be captured and documents uploaded throughout the lifetime of a trade. Because AspectCTRM is a Web-based system, this can be done anytime and anywhere by authorized users with access to a Web browser. For physical deliveries, all actualized volumes and costs are captured, and appropriate trade metrics (ie. escalated or de-escalated pricing) are automatically adjusted.

Solution Benefits

• Gain real-time inventory control against changing positions and balances for exchanges, storage and in-transit volumes.
• Close the gap between estimates and actuals as you remove chronic transport problems.
• Monitor and plan safe inventory levels to increase stock and product utilization and drive down storage costs.
• Track inventory flows in real-time and historically to understand optimum storage levels and accurately forecast requirements.
• Allocate trades and physical deliveries to inventory.
• Synchronize plans with accurate inventory data to determine the best financial option for product sales and distribution.
• Re-forecast demand to maximize transport opportunities and minimize delivery risk.
• Customize screens, set security limits on data, and view workflow and audit trails.
• Set workflow parameters and automatic notifications to align with business processes and provide visibility and audit trails for management.