American Process, based in Atlanta, was founded in 1994 and is one of the leading consulting firms for the application of thermal Pinch technology. It has completed more than 200 studies and offers thermal Pinch and energy cost minimization services to other energy intensive industries, such as petrochemical and ethanol. The company has also established a software office in Romania to develop a range of proprietary software products. PARIS and SPARTA provide mills with decision-making tools that help them reduce their overall costs by optimizing production and energy usage. PIB is a proprietary Web-based application that enables each department and the entire mill to calculate energy. American Process also provides call center support, and has branches in Athens, Greece, and Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Additionally, the company is active in the lignocellulosic biorefinery field. Its proprietary process, American Value Added Pulping, produces ethanol from wood in an integrated biorefinery application.