Digital Ecosystem Combines Process Control, Analytics, and Plant-Level Automation

Data make up a crucial element in Bioprocessing 4.0. Biomanufacturers must efficiently collect, manage, and analyze this information. Compatibility between devices, data sources, and software packages has always been a challenge. So, MilliporeSigma is developing its Bio4C™ Software Suite, and the browser-based Bio4C™ ProcessPad is the first available offering.

Darren Verlenden, head of bioprocessing at MilliporeSigma, described this software suite as a “digital ecosystem that combines process control, analytics, and plant-level automation.” According to Verlenden, this suite makes MilliporeSigma “the first supplier to converge advanced process technologies with software, automation, and analytics into one single environment, bringing us another step closer to making the digitally enabled facility of the future a reality for our customers.”

Working with bioprocess data in various places—disparate databases and data-management systems, for example—“the Bio4C ProcessPad software automates the aggregation, analysis, and reporting from these existing data sources,” which enables “real-time and offline process monitoring and data analysis for process optimization, life-cycle management, continued process verification, and ad-hoc, batch, and annual reporting,” Verlenden explained. Plus, biopharma experts developed this software to “effectively manage the velocity and volume of complex, disparate electronic and batch record data sources across the process and product lifecycle in near real-time,” Verlenden said. “With Bio4C ProcessPad, you can efficiently capture all development, scale-up, and commercial data on a single platform, thereby gaining superior process understanding and enhanced visibility, expedited investigations for quality and compliance needs, and an overall improved time to market for your molecule.”

This software can also be customized for any batch-manufacturing processes. “The software can easily be adapted to the plant-specific nomenclature during setup,” added Verlenden. “This installation process doesn’t require the expensive and lengthy customization process of some software packages.”