As explored in his recent interview in Pharmaceutical Processing World, Emerson’s Bruce Greenwald—drawing on decades of experience—explains that life sciences manufacturers are moving beyond isolated systems toward connected plants to achieve operational excellence and competitive advantage. A connected plant also streamlines tech transfer across the treatment production pipeline, making connectivity effectively table stakes in today’s market.

• Islands of automation slow data flow and leave critical context behind.
• A connected plant built on integrated DCS, MES, RTS, and PKM—within an enterprise operations platform—restores end-to-end visibility.
• Real-world moves include OEM skids adopting native DeltaV™ DCS for easier integration and data mobility.

Why are “islands of automation” slowing pharma teams?

Connectivity and integration are now essential. As Bruce Greenwald notes:

“Today, the connected plant is effectively table stakes to participate in the market. Electronic batch records and review by exception reporting, two key competencies to be able to keep up with the industry, need that level of connectivity to be successful.”

Over time, digital transformation created islands of automation—data scattered across systems, formats, and teams—causing delays in collecting data and turning it into actionable information. Even when teams aggregate data, crucial context is often lost, increasing analysis time and error risk.

How can organizations bring the islands together?

Greenwald emphasizes taking a holistic approach rather than one-off integrations:

“Integrating skids is an important strategy, but it is a starting point and not the whole picture. Tools like a distributed control system (DCS), and manufacturing execution system (MES), real-time scheduling (RTS), and process knowledge management (PKM) software are empowering teams to do more with less, making them a critical part of the operational chain.”

Emerson’s DeltaV™ Automation Platform is designed for this broader view. It includes:

DeltaV DCS • DeltaV MES • DeltaV RTS • DeltaV PKM

These components integrate as part of an emerging enterprise operations platform (EOP) underpinned by a seamless data fabric that moves data from the intelligent field, through the edge, and into the cloud without losing context. Authorized stakeholders can access the right information with full hierarchy and metadata when they need it.

Does this work in practice?

One biopharma manufacturer is integrating MES and DCS from the top down to improve consistency, quality, and batch-level visibility while harmonizing the operator experience. Equipment vendors are moving the same direction:

“We are even seeing a surprising number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) moving skids with proprietary control systems over to the DeltaV DCS for ease of use and better data mobility. In fact, today many skid vendors are offering solutions with native and integrated DeltaV DCS already built in to help streamline this process.”

Emerson collaborates with leading equipment manufacturers to deliver skids with native DeltaV control, making integration into existing infrastructure nearly plug-and-play.

How should life sciences teams get started?

Adopt a top-down integration strategy aligned to business goals. Connect critical systems first (DCS, MES, RTS, PKM) and ensure the EOP data fabric preserves context end-to-end. As organizations build out or modernize, choosing automation designed for seamless integration helps teams reduce wasted effort and deliver treatments to patients faster.

Reference: For definitions and maturity guidance on a connected plant, see BioPhorum’s Digital Plant Maturity Model