Case StudyApril 2016
D352393X012

Terminal Solution for Buckeye Partners

Challenge
Buckeye Partners owns and operates one of the United States’ largest petroleum products terminal and pipeline networks
providing refiners, wholesalers, marketers, airlines, railroads and other commercial end-users with transportation and storage ofrefined petroleum products. In addition to pipeline transportation services, Buckeye provides terminalling, storage and refined
product distribution services. The Partnership owns more than 100 refined petroleum products terminals with an aggregate
storage capacity of over 64 million barrels / 10.1 million cubic meters, and owns and operates a major natural gas storage facility inCalifornia.
With a history dating back well over 100 years, Buckeye undertook a major strategic initiative beginning in 2007 that started aperiod of rapid growth. As market forces conspired to result in a global increase in the demand for additional storage capacity,
Buckeye embarked on its expansion strategy. As the Partnership planned for its growth, it realized that it needed an Information
System that would support its growing number of pipelines and terminals, and the new business models it was encountering,
while simultaneously keeping cost and resource levels low. Like many pipeline and terminal operators, Buckeye relied on a custom
developed commercial system that bridged the gap between its terminal automation systems and its accounting systems toMidstream Oil and Gas Solutions

April 2016provide support for the commercial functions that Buckeye needed. Buckeye began an exhaustive, multi-year search that included
evaluating custom developed solutions and packaged software solutions that could provide it with the following functions:
Planning and SchedulingTicketing
Inventory Management
Contract Management
Billing

Solution
After an exhaustive selection process that evaluated many of the leading systems on the market, Buckeye selected the Synthesis®
system. In part, Buckeye selected Synthesis for its ability to support Buckeye’s existing needs as well as its ability to support
Buckeye’s growth strategy.
Synthesis is a complete order to cash system that helps with the commercial aspects of operating a terminal and integrates
seamlessly with terminal automation systems and back office systems to significantly enhance these. Figure 1 on the next pageshows where Synthesis resides in the enterprise systems landscape.

Figure 1. Synthesis Terminal Solution Footprint

Synthesis customers have experienced a reduction in their monthly closing from 6 days to 2 days while other customers haveincreased throughput rates by 25%. Due to better planning capability and when orders are integrated through to invoices, allprocesses in a terminal’s workflow are streamlined and simplified. Not only does Buckeye have more capability than before; theyalso have more time to focus on doing what they do better.

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April 2016

Synthesis User Figures
More than 225 terminals
More than 35M m3 products monitoredMore than 5,000-strong user base
Synthesis is unique in the terminal industry in that it was specifically developed to help terminal operators manage their commercialprocesses. The processes that Synthesis supports are outlined on the next page.

“We see a lot of advantages to streamline our business process and anticipate
managing our order-to-cash cycle more efficiently with Synthesis.”
Chief Information Officer
Buckeye Partners

Key Capabilities
Some of the core functions of the Synthesis Marine solution include:
ModuleFeature/Function

Description

Contract
Management

Manage Contracts

Ability to set up Mercantile, Buy/Sell, Storage, Transportation, andAssociation Contracts

Contract Terms

Includes the ability to manage contract terms, including the contract
party, transport, drop locations, load/delivery windows, Import duties,
commissions, payment terms, and other terms

Contract Segments

Includes the ability to identify multiple segments/movements per contract

Document Management

Document storage and filing associated with the contract

Contract Approval

Contract approval workflow

Contract Charges

A detailed and flexible charge structure to support storage andtransportation contracts; includes all details associated with charges forstoring or transporting volumes

Inventory Requests

Ability to create and manage any inventory request resulting in
the movement of inventory, such as nominations, reconsignments, andproduct transfers

Customer Portal

Customer portals through which customers can access critical data andsubmit requests

Truck and Rail Scheduling

Provides the ability to schedule rail cars and trucks, including unit trains

Vessel & Barge Scheduling

Provides the ability to schedule barges and vessels, including spot and time
charteredDock Scheduling

Jetty/dock scheduling in a graphical and tabular manner

Demand ForecastingManages demand and uses a combination of historical averages or user definedvolumes to populate demand forecasts that are used in inventory projections

Inventory Forecasting

Inventory forecasts by terminal, pipeline, tank or groups of locations;
integrated with the Synthesis scheduling features and inventory so that
forecasts are updated each day with actual inventory levels

Orders & Planning

Scheduling

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Midstream Oil and Gas SolutionsApril 2016

ModuleFeature/Function

Description

Inventory
Management

Book Inventory Summary

A configurable summary of all book inventory positions, consistingof opening book inventory, receipts, deliveries, loadings, transfers,adjustments, over/shorts, and closing (total) volumes

Close Accounting Process

Workflow to support an orderly and chronogically correct closing process

Physical Inventory Summary

Summary of physical inventories on hand

Inventory Gain/Loss Summary

Outlines the differences between volumes received and gained over aparticular time period and highlights

Terminal Tank Inventories

Administer the physical tank volumes

Tickets (Measurements)

Tank and meter tickets that are standards compliant capable of calculating
net volumes

Search Movement Tickets

Search, filter and view any movement ticket within the system

Enter a Movement Ticket

Provides the ability to manually enter a ticket, if electronic tickets are notavailable

Meter Provings

Administer meter provings

Terminal andPipeline Activity

Enter Product Rebrand/Regrade When inventory is rebranded or regarded, this feature lets the user change
the grade on the inventory

Rack Activity

Billing & Invoicing

Search Component Analysis

Search and view component analysis for LPG or NGL

Add Component Analysis

Manually add a new component analysis for LPG or NGL

Summary of Operations

Provides the ability to book inventory to a particular stockholder, if tickets
do not already contain this information

Loading Summary

Provides an overview into all truck activity and truck tickets and rail, or Billsof Lading (BOLs)

Search BOL

Provides a portal through which individual BOLs may be searched, filtered,and exported

Add Manual Delivery BOL

Provides ability to add a BOL manually. Most BOLs will be generated byan external Terminal Automation System, but this functionality allows formanual entry of a BOL

Add Receipt Bill of Lading

Ability to add a BOL that is a receipt into the terminal or refinery

Edit BOLProvides ability to edit a BOL

Print and Export BOLs

Streamlines the printing functionality and provides tools to allow users toexport large numbers of BOLs with ease

Tariff Maintenance

Ability to create and maintain tariffs, including terminal specificrequirements such as joint tariffs, tiered tariffs, incentive tariffs and such

Transportation and Storage
ChargesCreate charges for transportation, storage and other services thatlogistics providers encounter. This includes charges for additives, handlingof product, activities such as transfers, heating and blending, andapproximately 150 other logistics specific charges

Price Based Charges

Charges based on price of crude or product, such as price per barrel

Quality Based Charges

Charges for superior or inferior qualities (such as sulphur content or gravity/density)
Table 1. Synthesis Terminal Functions

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Case Study

D352393X012

Results
By selecting Synthesis as its order to cash solution for both, its terminal and pipeline
network, Buckeye has a fully integrated management information system that helps
keep its costs low, increase its throughput and keep its customers happy.
A significant validation of this concept came when Buckeye recently completed
an acquisition of 33 terminals and the Buckeye team was able to implement all ofthese terminals, with very little assistance from Emerson (formerly Energy SolutionsInternational), on the Synthesis system within a 30 day period. What’s more, they did not
require any additional staff or other resources to manage these terminals in the system.
Buckeye thus realized its goal of having a system that accommodates their growth while
keeping costs low.

Benefits Realized
Do More with Less
By providing extensibility, configurability and flexibility Buckeye is able to do more with
its existing resources. Since selecting Synthesis, Buckeye has increased its numbers ofterminals by nearly 100% and has also increased its number of pipelines significantly –all without any additional resources required to manage these assets from an IT oradministrative perspective. Other customers have reduced the amount of time andresources spent on administrative tasks by over 30%.

Do It Better
With tools to enhance the monthly closing process, Synthesis customers haveexperienced a reduction in their monthly closing from 6 days to 2 days while othercustomers have increased throughput rates by 25%. Due to better planning capability
and when orders are integrated through to invoices, all processes in a terminal’s
workflow are streamlined and simplified. Not only does Buckeye have more capability
than before; they also have more time to focus on doing what they do better.

Make Customers HappierUsing the Synthesis portal, Synthesis customers will be able to submit orders, view
inventory, tickets, BOLs, invoices, reports and scheduled movements online. Yourcustomers are sure to improve their experience with you.
Buckeye Partners continues its rapid growth. Today, Buckeye is one of the fastest
growing terminal operators in North America and Synthesis continues to support theirefforts.

April 2016

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