Smart Instrumentation's Role in Pharma Manufacturing

At INTERPHEX 2026, Jason Pennington, Director of Digital Solutions, Endress+Hauser; Bethany Silva, Industry Manager - Life Sciences, Endress+Hauser; and Mel Radford, Director - Life Sciences Global Accounts, Rockwell Automation, discuss with PharmTech how smart instrumentation, connectivity, and advanced analytics are transforming pharmaceutical manufacturing operations.

The panel emphasizes that while data from sensors is abundant, its value depends entirely on context. Simply collecting data is insufficient; manufacturers need a unified data model and a unified namespace that captures not just what an instrument measured, but when, how, and where, so that information can be meaningfully integrated across systems to drive real process insights.

Connectivity is identified as a foundational prerequisite, enabling data trapped in devices to flow into broader systems. However, the speakers stress that technology alone is not enough and that successful adoption requires change management and people-first thinking, since even the best technology fails without organizational buy-in.

On the instrumentation side, the conversation moves beyond traditional measurements like flow, pressure, and temperature toward advanced PAT tools such as Raman spectroscopy, which can provide molecular-level insight into cell growth and biological processes. This richer analytical data is essential for feeding and optimizing AI models and digital twins, reducing the number of design-of-experiment cycles needed in process development.

Perhaps most significantly, the panel describes a shift in manufacturing philosophy away from simple alarm thresholds toward predictive, trend-based process control. Rather than reacting when a parameter goes out of range, manufacturers can now anticipate deviations and intervene proactively, moving toward outcome-driven, policy-based process management.