Idemitsu Kosan
How Idemitsu Kosan improves the performance of its refineries with AVEVA
Idemitsu Kosan is transforming its refining operations with AVEVA CONNECT and the Value Chain Optimization solution, which deliver unified planning and harmonized operational decision-making across its seven refineries. Previously, a lack of visibility across the value chain led to disconnected processes and siloed operations, while unstable LP planning models and a legacy tool that was hard to learn limited confidence in plans and hindered model sharing between teams. With AVEVA, Idemitsu is improving refinery margins, maximizing asset utilization, minimizing crude and transportation costs, standardizing its downstream operations and increasing agility and transparency between headquarters and its refineries.
FAQ
What is Value Chain Optimization in oil refining?
AVEVA Value Chain Optimization models a refiner's entire value chain, from crude purchasing to the distribution of finished products. For Idemitsu Kosan, which operates seven refineries, it unifies LP planning, crude assay management, scheduling and distribution on a single platform. This integrated approach makes it possible to evaluate complex multi-refinery scenarios that were previously impossible to analyze, and to maximize overall margin by simultaneously optimizing production, transportation and supply costs.
How does AVEVA CONNECT facilitate coordination between refineries?
AVEVA CONNECT, an industrial cloud platform, allows Idemitsu Kosan to share planning models between its seven refineries and its headquarters. This pooling guarantees data integrity and traceability, speeds up plan consolidation and provides a unified view of multi-site performance. For an integrated oil group, this cloud transparency has become a standard for agilely managing economic trade-offs between supply, refining and marketing.
What ROI can be expected from a Value Chain Optimization project?
Idemitsu Kosan achieved a margin increase of 1 to 3 cents per barrel from the very first optimization phase. Across the volume of seven refineries, this gain represents several million dollars a year. In addition to the direct ROI, user training is 50% faster thanks to the visual interface, and there is an unprecedented capacity for strategic trade-offs on multi-site scenarios. It is a high-leverage investment for oil operators managing complex, interdependent assets.
Why replace a traditional LP planning tool with AVEVA?
Idemitsu Kosan's former LP tool required specialized skills and held back both training and model sharing. AVEVA offers a visual interface accessible to non-LP experts, robust multi-refinery models and native cloud integration. This modernization speeds up adoption, democratizes strategic planning and increases confidence in the plans produced. For a refiner, it guarantees reliable, shared and scalable planning in an increasingly volatile energy market.
How does standardizing downstream operations improve an oil group's agility?
Idemitsu Kosan standardized its downstream operations (trading, crude management, planning, scheduling, distribution) on a single AVEVA application. This unification eliminates disconnected processes and historical silos between headquarters and refineries. The result: greater transparency, stronger agility in trade-offs and secure business continuity thanks to cloud deployment. It is a strategic model for any multi-site industrial group seeking to align operational and economic performance.