Aspen Technology Delivers CAPE-OPEN Property System Prototype

AspenTech prototype demonstrates open systems, component object approach for plug-and-play interoperability of process simulator components

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--March 17, 1998--Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN), the leading provider of Smart Manufacturing software and services for the process industries, today announced that it has completed its Thermodynamic/Physical Properties interface prototype for the European Union (EU)-sponsored CAPE-OPEN project. AspenTech's prototype supports CAPE-OPEN's stated objective to define open systems standards that will significantly increase the value of computer-aided process engineering (CAPE) technology to the process industries. The prototype will be demonstrated today at the CAPE-OPEN Midterm meeting in Lyons, France.

Proposed CAPE-OPEN interface standards have been implemented in AspenTech's prototype using both OLE/COM and CORBA component technologies. The prototype demonstrates an open systems, component object approach for plug-and-play interoperability of property systems and process simulators.

The partners in the CAPE-OPEN project include leading European operating companies, research universities and the three major simulator vendors. CAPE-OPEN interface standards are being defined for simulation components such as physical property packages and models, unit operation models and numerical solvers. The interoperability of CAPE-OPEN-compliant components will allow process manufacturers to integrate their in-house proprietary modules with software components from commercial suppliers. This will allow users to quickly and easily assemble a process model from a set of software components that best addresses a particular business problem.

Bertrand Braunschweig, CAPE-OPEN project coordinator from IFP, France, said: "I am quite satisfied that AspenTech and the other vendors are confirming their commitment to open system standards by developing software prototypes that implement CAPE-OPEN interfaces. It is only with the full participation of the software vendors that we will succeed in providing CAPE-OPEN interface standards for process simulation components."

"AspenTech is fully committed to implementing open standards established by CAPE-OPEN and other initiatives such as the Process Data Exchange Institute (pdXi)/STEP and OLE for Process Control," said Herb Britt, AspenTech's chief technology officer. "We are taking a leadership position, along with the other vendors, in the CAPE-OPEN initiative because we feel that the availability of open standards will greatly increase the use and value of computer-aided process engineering technology."

Support for CAPE-OPEN is one of many ways that AspenTech is working to design open solutions. In the Plantelligence™ suite of technologies, AspenTech is providing model-based manufacturing applications that can be integrated with plant control systems, databases and ERP systems such as SAP. The objective is to deliver best-in-class software applications that interoperate freely with other applications to provide the unique solutions each individual customer needs.

"Our implementation of the property system prototype handles distributed GUI and server objects in a network client-server environment," Mike White, senior architect in AspenTech's software engineering and technology department, explained. "The component approach used is consistent with our new component architecture for Plantelligence."

AspenTech's prototype implements PROPERTIES PLUS®, AspenTech's physical property system, as a stand-alone property server component. Both OLE/COM and CORBA interfaces are exposed to enable plug-and-play use of the PROPERTIES PLUS package in process simulators or other applications, such as spreadsheets. OLE/COM and CORBA interfaces are also provided for including CAPE-OPEN standard external property models in the property package.

About Aspen Tech
Aspen Technology, Inc., (www.aspentech.com) is a leading supplier of software and services for the analysis, design and automation of process manufacturing plants in industries such as chemical, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, electric power, pulp and paper, and metals. Process manufacturers use AspenTech's solutions to improve the way they design, operate and manage their plants. These solutions enable customers to reduce their raw material, energy and capital expenses, meet environmental and safety regulations, improve product quality and shorten the time required to get new production processes on stream. AspenTech employs more than 1,300 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with offices in 21 countries worldwide.

AspenTech software and services comprise the Plantelligence suite, the process industry's only complete solution for the Smart Manufacturing System market. Smart Manufacturing describes the integration of advanced modeling, automation and information technologies to create a computer system enabling customers to design, operate and manage their manufacturing processes closer to True Potential™.

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AspenTech, True Potential, Plantelligence and the Aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass. PROPERTIES PLUS is a registered trademark of Aspen Technology, Inc. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners.