Case Study: Westlake Chemical cuts scheduling time from hours to minutes with Aspen Technology's Aspen Plant Scheduler

Westlake Chemical Improves Reaction Time from Hours to Minutes

WestLake Chemical, a leading producer of polyethylene and the largest LDPE manufacturer in North America, faced slow, error-prone scheduling at its Longview, TX site where 90-day schedules took four to six hours per plant and relied on fragmented spreadsheets. The lack of standardization with its Lake Charles facility and limited visibility into inventory and order fulfillment created a need to reduce scheduling time, improve on‑time shipments, and lower costs. WestLake selected Aspen Technology’s Aspen Plant Scheduler to address these challenges.

Aspen Technology implemented Aspen Plant Scheduler across three Longview plants and rapidly replicated models for the two Lake Charles polyethylene plants (model configuration for both took just two months), enabling what‑if scenarios, instant schedule changes, and real‑time inventory visibility via a planning board Gantt view. The deployment cut reaction time from hours to minutes, standardized scheduling between sites, lowered costs, improved on‑time shipments and inventory control, and gave WestLake clearer supply‑chain visibility.

WestLake Chemical

Jeff Johnson

Longview Scheduler