Manufacturing execution systems have been indispensable in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries to orchestrate manufacturing operations among the various enterprise and plant control and analytical systems.
As the industry rapidly changes and needs to provide more personalized medicines and therapies, simpler, lighter-weight recipe creation and workflow management applications are required.
In this Emerson Automation Experts podcast, Melissa Lee and Kebra Tynan join me to discuss how Emerson is helping these manufacturers address these challenges with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based workflow management solution.
Give the podcast a listen and visit the DeltaV Workflow Management section on Emerson.com to learn more about optimizing the lifecycle development of your novel medicines and therapies.
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Transcript
Jim: Hi, everyone. I’m Jim Cahill, and this is another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. Traditional MES solutions often come with significant challenges, including lengthy implementation times, the need for specialized technical expertise, and extensive IT infrastructure requirements. These hurdles can be particularly burdensome for the advanced therapy medicinal products, or ATMP market, especially in the process development and pre-commercial manufacturing phases, where agility and efficiency are crucial. To overcome these obstacles, Emerson recently launched DeltaV Workflow Management, an exciting new software as a service, or SaaS product, that directly addresses these challenges. Joining us in today’s podcast are Melissa Lee, the Life Sciences Recipe Solution Manager, and Kebra Tynan, the Life Sciences Product Manager, to tell us more about this exciting new product. Welcome, ladies!
Melissa: Hi, Jim!
Kebra: Thank you!
Jim: Hey, it’s great having you both here, spending a little bit of time with us, to share your expertise with our listeners. Would you both mind sharing a bit about your background, and what led you into your current roles with us at Emerson?
Melissa: Sure, happy to kick us off here, Jim, and I’ll go ahead with quick introduction and background, and how I got to become, to be the Life Sciences Recipe Solution Manager. So, to begin my story, I graduated from UC Berkeley, with a degree in chemical engineering, and began my career as a process engineer in the semiconductor industry. And over the span of, I think, six and a half, seven years, I took on increasing responsibilities within that industry, progressing from being an engineer to roles such as lab scientist, and then eventually moving to the business side of things, and becoming a proposal manager. And that’s really how I joined Emerson. I started in the North America Proposals Group, and then later transitioned to the role of operational readiness manager within our PSS [Process Systems & Solutions] Global Lifecycle Services Organization, where I provided support to our local field service offices, worldwide.
And prior to this role that I have now, I spent two years leading strategic accounts in our Life Sciences North America sales team, working closely with our North America sales channel, which is also known here as our Emerson Impact Partners, and also key industry players such as BMS, Amgen, and Pfizer, while at the same time pursuing my MBA degree, through UT Austin’s executive MBA program. And this experience really was what led me to my current marketing role. It’s kind of like the catalyst that want me to move into marketing. And what truly excited me about this new role of mine and the work that I’m doing now is the chance to make a real impact in the ATMP, cell and gene therapy space, where it’s a field that’s really transforming the healthcare as we know it, with personalized medicine, tailored to individual patients’ genetic profiles, and treating previously incurable diseases.
And my experience managing key accounts gave me that front-row seat to see the challenges and opportunities in this market, and it really fueled my passion for helping our customers stay ahead of that curve. So, now, in this role, I am guiding our marketing strategies, the product direction and investment in our MES [manufacturing execution system] solution, focusing more on delivering sophisticated and innovative capabilities and technologies that our customers need to maintain their competitive edge. And so, it’s really an exciting time for Emerson and for me. I’m really thrilled and honored to be part of these innovations that we’re making, and helping shape the future of our life sciences business. So, that’s how I got to this role. Thank you.
Jim: Well, Melissa, that’s great. I think that’s a nice, rounded background. Kebra, how about you?
Kebra: Hey, Jim. Hi, everyone. So, I’m Kebra Tynan. I am currently our MES life science product manager. And my background is pretty similar to Melissa’s, where I started in chemical engineering, as well as biomedical engineering. So, that background gave me a great foundation in manufacturing processes, which actually led me to Emerson. And a fun fact about me is I’ve been working at Emerson since right out of college. And I’ve been here for almost 12 years now. So, I’ve always been in life sciences, and I’ve always been with manufacturing execution system software. But my roles leading me to where I am today have been pretty diverse.
So, I started my career as a product engineering support person, supporting our customers with our MES software. And then I went to quality assurance, and tested our software. And then I started this really exciting journey in education services, where I went to customer sites, and I taught our customers how to use our software. And that gave me a really good perspective on how customers were using the software, and just being on-site and seeing that firsthand was really awesome. And then, after a fun few years of teaching, I was very interested in the creation of our product. So, I joined technology, as the product owner for five of our MES development teams. And that role led me to growing into my current role as the MES life science product manager. So, I love being in this space, love being in life sciences, and I love being a part of creating these new awesome products, like DeltaV Workflow Management.
Jim: Yeah, that’s a great background, and really getting your hands on it, and building the expertise to be able to teach it. That’s really good background, and I’m glad you’re in the role of kind of shaping where some of this goes, having such in-depth experience working with customers and everything. So, let’s dive into it. Kebra, I heard that Emerson has developed a new, simple workflow solution. Can you provide an overview and some details about this solution?
Kebra: Yeah. So, in general, DeltaV Workflow Management is a simple and easy-to-use recipe creation and execution product. So, the product is a cloud-native SaaS offering, which is both flexible and scalable. So, our users have the ability to access the product through a URL, and then easily and intuitively create and execute recipes, to make their own products.
Jim: Well, that sounds pretty simple, and being cloud-based, that’s kind of cool that it’s out there and be widely available for different people who might need access to it. So, thanks, Kebra. Melissa, could you outline the key points in determining if a simpler cloud-based solution is right for our listeners? Are there scenarios where a traditional MES would still be preferable?
Melissa: That’s a great question, Jim. So, our newest offering, DeltaV Workflow Management, is targeted for the group that, like Kebra said, looking for a very simple, easy, no-code or low-code authoring solution for recipe creation or workflow execution, and where a more comprehensive MES solution would either be an overkill, or too expensive to implement. So, a simple, cloud-based workflow management solution that, like our new product, is an excellent choice for those who, right now, are either using paper batch records when creating their recipes, and they want to eliminate errors that can happen when they are using paper-based tools, those who are in pre-clinical or process development phases, where budget and resources are often limited and scarce, and those who would want to benefit from a low-cost and very simple and easy-to-use workflow management solution. And also, if you are at the stage where you have a repeatable process, that needs to be documented, and ideally, those processes would need to be documented digitally, and those people don’t have the IT infrastructure to support and maintain a more traditional MES solution, then this is the right product for them. If they want to choose, like, they don’t want that burden of maintaining of such a system, this is the right product for them, a cloud-based MES solution, that would help them with that.
And finally, and specific to this new product of ours, we know that it is a new product, and there is so much room for growth for our new product, DeltaV Workflow Management. So, this product is also good for customers who are open to a long-term partnership, and who are willing to grow with us as we continue to enhance and evolve our product. So, as for cases where a more traditional MES solution may be preferable is if you have more complex processes and applications, where you need a more comprehensive and versatile MES solution, like DeltaV MES, and so it can help you and your company achieve a wide variety of goals within the MES space, then you would choose a more traditional MES system. And also, if you are more risk-averse, and would prefer that additional layer of security, of having your MES solution on-premise, behind your company’s IT infrastructures and firewalls, then this may be the option for you, having a traditional MES. And also, this is, companies, large companies especially, would choose a traditional MES solution if they are heavily invested in manufacturing automation, and are using different business platforms to run their operations, and they need those integration points and data flow across those platforms, then, in those cases, they would want to choose a more traditional MES that can offer those capabilities, because, for example, DeltaV Workflow Management, right now, is a standalone product, and it does not offer the integration to other external systems.
Jim: Okay. I think I’ve got a really good picture of that. So, if you’re paper-based, or if you’re in the early phases of development, and you don’t have all the resources, then you’re more looking at the SaaS-based solution, but if there’s a lot of complexity in the process, and you’re connecting with all kinds of integrations to different things, then more the traditional on-premise MES is the way to go. I think I got all that.
Melissa: That’s a great summary right there.
Jim: Thanks. Kebra, to return to how this product was designed, what are some of the market drivers for cloud-based MES solutions? Were specific features considered in this product?
Kebra: Oh, yeah. So, the main market driver for this product is ease of use. So, recipe authoring can be very complex. And, in many traditional recipe authoring products, that complexity translates into a difficult user experience. So, many traditional recipe creation products require knowledge of coding and other computer science concepts which most users in our target market of the ATMP space just don’t have. So, those types of software products are difficult, and take a while to learn. And in the drug manufacturing space, that’s just not acceptable. So, we want to be able to produce potentially life-saving medicine much faster. So, our goal with this product is to have all the needed recipe capabilities, even the usually complex ones, built in a way that is much simpler and easier to use, and then put that on the SaaS platform.
So, one way we’re accomplishing this goal of easy recipe creation is with a unique recipe component drag-and-drop concept. So, recipes typically have parameters and steps and groups, and all of those can be easily identified in the side toolbar, and then you can drag and drop those into a center pane, to build up your recipe. So, users can easily then take that recipe that they created, and execute it, in a guided and structured way. So, it’s very simple and easy to use.
And another way that we add to the simplicity is simply by being on the SaaS platform and being cloud-native means that offering is, you know, it’s fully and safely managed by the vendor, and there’s nothing for users to install, configure, manage, or troubleshoot. They get a securely personalized URL link, and they can start their easy recipe creation and execution right away. And actually, I have a kind of funny story. So, here, in Austin, we have a life sciences showroom. So, I think, maybe in one of your past episodes, Jim, you had Bill Carey, on to talk about the showroom.
Jim: Yep. Yes, I did.
Kebra: Yeah?
Jim: And we’ll put a link back to that podcast for anyone who might have missed it.
Kebra: That might be good to refer back to. Yes. Well, our showroom is pretty awesome. But recently, we had a Women in STEM [science, technology, engineering & math], our ERG [employee resource group], Women in STEM, we recently had a STEM day, where we were able to invite kids into our showroom, the life sciences showroom, and teach them some STEM concepts. Well, for one of our STEM concepts, we had the kids do a simple centrifuge experiment, and they were able to use our workflow management product. So, we were really able to truly test out the ease of use by having these kids use the product. And they were able to successfully do that. It was pretty fun to see.
Jim: Wow, that’s a great story. And I think you probably minted a bunch of biotech engineers coming out in a few years. So, that’s great that you were able to inspire and let them use the Workflow Management is probably a good testimony that’s easy enough for the kids to use. Melissa, where do you think cloud-based MES solutions are heading as we look into the future?
Melissa: Looking ahead, cloud-based MES solutions are set to transform the life sciences industry. I truly believe that. And one of the most significant shifts that we’re seeing right now is the move towards more scalable and flexible systems. So, cloud platforms offer the agility that traditional on-premise solutions often struggle to provide. So, this means that with a cloud-based MES solution, life sciences companies can grow and evolve, their MES systems can seamlessly scale to meet new demands, without that heavy IT overhead.
Another significant trend in the integration is the integration of advanced analytics and real-time data processing. So, with cloud-based MES, like DeltaV Workflow Management, companies can leverage powerful analytics tools to gain deeper insights into their operations. So, this capability can enhance decision-making, and supports proactive maintenance and continuous improvements, by identifying potential issues before they even become critical issues. Another thing that I’m seeing where it’s headed is, like, if you think about data security and compliance, they are also becoming more sophisticated with cloud solutions, especially in the European region. Besides the GDPR and emerging EU laws, like Cyber Resilience Act, which is pretty new, it’s a law where it aims to make products with digital elements more secure to use for consumers. So does modern cloud providers invest heavily in ensuring that their platforms meet stringent regulatory requirements, and incorporate more robust security measures. So, this helps life sciences companies manage the complex landscape of data protection and compliance more effectively.
Additionally, we are also seeing an increased focus on collaboration and connectivity. So, a cloud-based MES solution can facilitate better collaboration across teams and geographies. So, for example, global operations, this means that data and processes can be managed from anywhere, which enhances the coordination, and speeds up innovation, because then, you could orchestrate at an enterprise level, where you’d want to run your operation to streamline production, right?
And finally, I really believe we’ll see more emphasis in user-friendly interfaces, and no-code or low-code designs. Like Kebra said, the core philosophy of how we designed DeltaV Workflow Management is the simplicity and ease of use, right? That remains our guiding principle, because we truly see that this is where we’re headed as far as cloud-based MES solutions, right? These features makes it easier for users at all levels to interact with the system, customize workflows, create workflows, and adapt the MES to their specific needs, without requiring that deep technical expertise.
So, quickly, in summary, I know I said a lot there. The future of cloud-based MES solution in life sciences is really heading towards about flexibility, advanced analytics, making sure you have that robust security and enhanced collaboration, and greater accessibility to users. So, I see this advancements will help companies navigate the industry’s complexities, and drive innovation more efficiently.
Jim: Yeah, I think you hit on so many important points there, that ability to scale the security around it, and what’s the advancement of security for cloud-based solutions, the collaboration no matter where you are in there, and just looking forward that it’ll continue to get easier, and not require deep programming skills and all that. So, there’s a lot of great things happening, and that’s really a bright future you paint there.
Well, this has been a really great discussion. So, ladies, where can our listeners go to learn more about DeltaV Workflow Management, and any other important solutions that you’d like to call out?
Melissa: Yeah, they can visit our product page at Emerson.com, for DeltaV Workflow Management. In there, they’ll also find that product data sheet, and we also have a news release about this product. We’ll share the link with you, Jim, so that you can share that with your listeners as well.
Kebra: Yeah, and don’t forget the product overview video that’s there too.
Melissa: Right. Yes.
Jim: All right. And in our transcript, we’ll provide the listeners with links to all of those, make it easy to follow up and find more information about it.
Well, Melissa and Kebra, thank you both so much for joining me today and sharing your expertise with our listeners.
Melissa: Thank you so much.
Kebra: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Melissa: Yeah, thanks for inviting us, Jim. This was such a pleasure.
-End of transcript-
