Production scheduling is the profit lever most chemicals producers underutilize. As SAP S/4HANA migrations gain momentum, many manufacturers are realizing that they have overlooked their production scheduling capabilities for far too long. The limitations of their SAP system's scheduling capabilities—whether old CM25/CM21 and APO PP/DS, or newer ePP/DS and Fiori apps—are known and not conducive to many companies' digital transformation goals and initiatives.

Leaders are exploiting this window to modernize how production schedules are created, optimized, shared and executed. An investment in production scheduling excellence creates value regardless of the prevailing economic conditions, and the value compounds over time.

Value in Weak Markets: Protect Cash and Customer Loyalty

When demand falls below available supply capacity, price competition intensifies. Differentiation shifts from price to reliability—and scheduling is the lever. Advanced scheduling capabilities help defend cash generation and customer loyalty when manufacturers need it most.

On-time and In-Full (OTIF) and Supply Reliability as Differentiators

Customers reward suppliers who ship on-time and in-full because reliable supply lowers the inventory they must carry to buffer the risk—directly improving customers' working capital. For chemicals producers, consistently high OTIF reduces customer churn and increases customer loyalty, which will be reflected in Net Promoter Scores (NPS) surveys.

For example, Aspen Plant Scheduler^™ enabled Croda's Campinas site to improve its on-time delivery to customers from 80-85% to over 90% and their NPS by 25 points (or 49%). Momentive Performance Materials reported an OTIF improvement of 20 points after the AspenTech scheduling solution went live.

Free Working Capital

During soft markets, cash is king. Without the right tools, poor scheduling quietly erodes working capital. Advanced scheduling enables aligning production tightly to demand, reducing inventories. Case in point: Momentive Performance Materials cited 25% inventory reductions across multiples sites with Aspen Plant Scheduler.

Cut Setups, Cleanouts, Transitions and Logistics Costs

Scheduling without the right tool impacts margin through countless small cuts. Every unnecessary setup, cleanout, changeover or transition requires labor, wastes energy, generates scrap or less valuable materials. When you optimize production sequences with an advanced scheduling tool, you can significantly reduce transitions, setups and cleanouts. For example, one European polymers producer achieved a 10-20% reduction in campaign transitions using Aspen Plant Scheduler, which translated directly to margin improvements.

Reactive scheduling also results in manufacturers incurring avoidable logistics costs such as expedited orders and premium freight, demurrage and detention fees. Better scheduling reduces these costs. For example, an Asian plastics and packaging manufacturer reduced their freight costs by $8 million per year using Aspen Plant Scheduler. Some customers like Momentive Performance Materials use the AspenTech scheduling solution for both production and logistics scheduling, which helps them to improve response to supply/demand disruptions.

Value in Strong Markets: Maximize Every Hour

When demand outstrips supply, the constraint shifts to capacity. Every production hour becomes precious, and scheduling is the lever which allows producers to pivot from cash preservation to maximizing revenue generation and capturing market share from competitors.

Increase Throughput and Capture Market Share

For polymers producers, the win comes from minimizing time spent in grade-to-grade transitions, freeing up more time for production prime spec materials which are sold at a higher selling price. For specialty chemicals producers, the win comes from reducing setups/cleanouts and synchronizing multi-stage production processes to prevent lockups.

Every hour that is recovered from unnecessary setups, cleanouts, or time spent in transitions is another hour that can be used to produce and ship products. In tight markets, that incremental volume can often command premium pricing with customers, which results in increased revenues. Better scheduling lets a company satisfy periodic surges in demand while maintaining flexibility for when conditions change.

For example, numerous chemicals companies have reported up to 20% throughput increases from using Aspen Plant Scheduler, including examples from Dow Chemicals, Croda, and Lonza. This means more revenue without spending on new manufacturing assets. A prior AspenTech blog goes into the specific mechanisms of how such significant throughput gains are possible.

Advanced scheduling tools also shorten supply lead times and enable companies to respond faster to changing customer needs and capture high-margin spot business. Customers often pay premiums for this flexibility if you can deliver it. For example, Momentive Performance Materials reported a decrease in supply lead time by 10 days (or 40% improvement) enabled by Aspen Plant Scheduler.

Avoid Capacity Investments

Even in boom times, capital discipline matters. By squeezing more from existing assets, companies can avoid spending on expensive new production resources, avoiding the risk of adding capacity at the top of the cycle. Capital expenditure can therefore be redirected to other high value returns for the company.

Dow Chemicals for instance increased throughput by up to 20% at multiple sites without incremental CapEx, thanks to improved scheduling and team collaboration capabilities. Tools such as Aspen Plant Scheduler and Aspen Schedule Explorer^™ have helped Dow Chemicals teams coordinate decisions and communication changes in real time, sustaining gains and reducing firefighting.

Key Takeaway: Scheduling is Strategic

Scheduling is a strategic capability and is central to profitability, resilience, and supply chain and manufacturing excellence. In weak markets, it helps protect cash generation and customer loyalty. In strong markets, it unlocks throughput and pricing power.

	Weak Market Conditions	Strong Market Conditions
Market Characteristic	Demand << Supply	Demand >> Supply
Primary Constraint	Market demand and revenue generation	Production capacity and asset availability
Strategic Focus	Protect revenue / cash generation	Maximize throughput and capture market share
Scheduling Value Drivers	Service differentiation (OTIF/NPS) and customer loyalty Free working capital Minimize setups / cleanouts / transitions and avoidable logistics costs	Revenue maximization (throughput) and grow market share Respond faster and leverage pricing power Avoid capital expenditures (CapEx)

Table 1: Production Scheduling Strategic Focus and Value Drivers in Different Markets

SAP S/4 HANA migrations are a timely trigger to close long-standing scheduling gaps and unlock value. Chemicals companies that invest in scheduling excellence as part of their digital transformation initiatives will outperform peers in any market environment.

Learn more about Aspen Plant Scheduler and Aspen Schedule Explorer today. AspenTech experts can also help you quantify the value of improved scheduling for your manufacturing sites with an accompanying business case; don’t hesitate to ask if you need our assistance.