LinkedIn Live Recap
It’s simple: Connected data change life science manufacturing operations. But what really happens when you connect the physical reality of your lab or your manufacturing floor directly to your asset management or manufacturing systems?
In this LinkedIn Live, Dan Petkanas, Senior Director, Head of Sales & Channel at Elemental Machines, and Greg Freitag, Sales Leader, Business Development at MasterControl, answer that question and more. They offer expert analysis of how data are currently used in manufacturing and quality control processes, talk about what asset management could be, and offer a practical look at how integrated systems deliver real-time value to life sciences operations.
Here’s the recap.
Introduction to Elemental Machines & MasterControl
First, Dan and Greg give brief overviews of Elemental Machines and MasterControl.
Dan details how Elemental Machines offers monitoring and compliance platforms for lab and manufacturing operations, the industry’s largest integration library, and real-time data that feed into existing systems like Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs), and Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS).
Greg then goes into how MasterControl has more than 30 years of experience in quality management software. They acquired Qualer to build out their CMMS (now branded Asset Excellence), and provide an integrated stack for quality, manufacturing, and asset management.
The Elemental Machines + MasterControl Partnership
Next, the hosts offer an inside look at the Elemental Machines and MasterControl partnership, explaining how Elemental Machines’ IoT sensors integrate with MasterControl’s Asset Excellence and Manufacturing Excellence platforms to deliver visibility, predictability, and accountability across Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) operations.
In other words, Elemental Machines provides a continuous, high-integrity data stream from physical equipment. From there, Master Control takes the data and:
- Manages critical assets, automates maintenance, and simplifies audits through MasterControl Ax
- Uses MasterControl Mx for digital manufacturing processes like electronic batch records (EBRs)
Asset Management Pain Points & the Case for Change
The hosts then paint a stark picture of outdated asset management systems and explain:
- Why spreadsheets and file shares break under audit pressure
- The hidden costs of reactive digitization (triggered by failures, not strategy)
- Why moving from “good enough” to proactive is critical to avoiding catastrophe
They also dig into common problems in manufacturing environments, including:
- Equipment data often being isolated, tracked via paper logs or spreadsheets
- Manual transcription creates errors and inefficiencies
- Most organizations only digitize after a “trigger event” (e.g., audit issue, batch loss)
These issues expose a critical gap: Physical equipment is often not fully connected to digital platforms, creating financial and operational risk.
This is why the Elemental Machines and MasterControl partnership is so revolutionary. Elemental Machines’ real-time sensor data close the gap by automating alerts, capturing utilization, and feeding data into systems like MasterControl Ax and Mx. This digitization leads to faster issue identification, audit readiness, and optimized maintenance scheduling.
As Greg explains in the LinkedIn Live, “The automation really is critical, not only from an efficiency perspective, but from an overall uptime and equipment health perspective.”
Life Science Lab Operations Use Cases & Benefits
Dan and Greg then go through real-world examples of how true connectivity can benefit labs and manufacturing environments, such as environmental capture and audit trails for lab compliance. In one example, sensors automatically capture temperature and humidity during pipette calibrations, then the data feed directly into audit-ready CMMS work orders and certificates. They also use the example of equipment health signals that trigger preventive maintenance workflows, explaining how sensors track runtime and then programs analyze the data to optimize preventive maintenance schedules and cut downtime.
The hosts don’t shy away from astounding details either. They explain how, since 25% of manufacturing defects are linked to human error, reducing manual tasks can prevent batch losses or regulatory penalties as well as save time and money. They also detail big ROI that comes from connected data, like:
- Improved operational efficiency
- Real-time compliance visibility
- Data-driven decision-making
How to Connect Your Operations
In the LinkedIn Live, both Dan and Greg emphasize a “crawl, walk, run” approach to digitization. They suggest starting small by focusing on high ROI use cases like freezer uptime, calibration automation, or high CapEx equipment tracking. They also recommend using trials to build internal buy-in, which can help prove value before scaling.
What Comes Next for Lab & Manufacturing Asset Management?
As highlighted by the Elemental Machines and MasterControl partnership, asset management is all about connection. Success depends on shared ownership and data that flow seamlessly.
To learn more about what connectivity can do for your life science manufacturing operations, watch the full LinkedIn Live recording.