It runs approximately south west to north east for around 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the confluence of the Spango Burn and Kip Water near Dunrod Farm, to Ravenscraig at the present day Aileymill Gardens.

The originally meandering burn[1] has been channelised and straightened for much of its length as it runs south west through the valley.

The factory expanded along the valley floor through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, extending to 1.6 km (1 mi) in length at its peak as the business moved from typewriters to bank terminals and eventually to Personal Computers in the early 1980s.

By 2009, the IBM factory was partially demolished as parts of the PC manufacturing business were sold to other companies.

[6] IBM completely vacated the site in October 2016 and moved to the east end of Greenock.

[8] In the early 1980s the A742 Inverkip Road through Spango Valley was substantially upgraded to dual carriageway standard to accommodate the increased traffic to and from the IBM complex and the nearby Inverkip Power Station which has also since been demolished.

This approximately 1.6 km (1 mi) long mineral line ran to the sandstone quarries at the top of Shielhill Glen.

An amended proposal for a £100 million mixed-use development on the northern half of the former IBM site by a local company was approved by Inverclyde Council in March 2023.