There’s no shortage of people who want to crack the code on the future of automation. In today’s industrial and manufacturing sectors, where digital transformation presents an exciting, yet hard-to-define path forward, deciding how to best use automation technology can seem quite daunting. Perhaps, it’s simply a matter of modularity.
“We have to move away from monolithic systems where we must upgrade everything all at once to take advantage of any new functionality,” said Joe Bastone, growth initiative leader for Honeywell Process Solutions, during a spotlight session in the Demo Center at the Honeywell Users Group 2025 in San Antonio, Texas.
Bastone proved his point for simplicity and modularity as catalysts for advancing digital transformation by presenting a use case for TrackWise Manufacturing, powered by Aptica. The solution is Honeywell’s first fully integrated, scalable platform built to accelerate life science manufacturing. Aptica is a solution that looks and feels like an app store to help manufacturers add applications independent of each other to transform their processes through a step-ladder approach rather than all-or-nothing.
“Digital transformation isn’t something you deploy once and then forget about,” he added. “It’s an end-to-end holistic process.”
That means operators must have better control of the solutions they adopt so they spend their resources on the solutions they need at the time they need them, and don’t overextend themselves with a monolithic undertaking.
The importance of digital transformation
In short, digital transformation makes processes better, but those advantages manifest in different ways for different end users. In life sciences, there is an inherent need to minimize errors. Data integrity is of the utmost importance because potentially life-saving decisions are made from that information. “If the data isn't good, the decisions, by definition, are not going to be good,” Bastone said.
There’s also a need for faster corrective actions for life science manufacturers, who must ensure fast times to market because if there is a delay in the manufacturing process, it can result in putting people at risk.
“So, we must unlock the data,” he said, adding that it also needs to be of the highest quality.
He said there is a lot of trapped data in legacy systems and freeing it leads to better insights for manufacturers. Much of the data currently has no structure, making it hard to take advantage of it in a holistic fashion.
Simplifying the transformation
TrackWise Manufacturing is designed to help life science manufacturers accelerate their digital transformation by providing flexibility and modularity. Bastone explained it gives manufacturers a way to start their digital transformations quickly and easily while acquiring new capabilities along the way. It is a single, integrated solution so there is less to maintain, less training and easier upgrades. It’s also much faster to deploy.
It offers easier compliance and validation of production as well. “This is important because you need to have a simplified way of being able to manage your production in a single place,” Bastone said. For example, users can start by digitalizing paper-based instructions and records. It also simplifies batch records for a complex industry. Most important, TrackWise Manufacturing helps ensure the highest levels of data integrity and process security.
Powered by Aptica, users can choose applications to add to their digital transformation individually, in piecemeal fashion very similar to downloading apps in an app store. The available applications range from electronic batch records to electronic logbooks to AI-assisted digitalization, to name a few.
“The goal isn't to take all of them because, in most cases, you don't need all of them,” Bastone said. For example, a user might start with a few and then grow from there, while continuing to add new functionality as needed. They won’t have to upgrade their entire system, which causes a mass revalidation of everything on the system, whether it was touched or not.
“The beauty of a more modular infrastructure is when new functionality is introduced, all that needs validated is the piece that's been added,” Bastone said.
The story behind the story
Aptica is the platform that gives users an edge in creating a modular software-defined architecture. “It’s a completely different way of looking at the automation system,” Bastone explained. It not only lets users build in a piecemeal fashion but also provides comprehensive production oversight. It begins the process of creating a holistic data picture for manufacturers.
“Traditionally, we look at pressure, temperature, level and flow, but there's a lot more information that's out there that makes up the automation landscape,” Bastone said. “You want to be able to take advantage of it all when you look at the overall production landscape. It's one thing to be able to control the process. It's another thing to be able to control the entire automation of that facility.”
He said this modular approach is how life science manufacturers can accelerate their path toward autonomy. He also pointed out that it’s a way of keeping control of your process during transformation. “I want a system that does what I want it to do,” he said.
