I find the BPI shows are very informative and most importantly well attended which gives everyone in the Biotech community a chance to share ideas, potentially catch up, and hear about new technologies. Here is a link to the show https://lifesciences.knect365.com/bpi-west/. Speaking of new technologies Finesse has recently expanded their capabilities for their process control to offer complete SMART Factories covering both upstream and downstream processes - from the seeding of the first cells to the vial - Finesse can offer a complete single use factory and the best part is the process actually reflects a real process. The reality is every customer chooses the best process equipment for their needs so naturally throughout the process you may see many different manufacturer's process equipment for each process step. The beauty of the Finesse control system is that it can adapt to any manufacturers process equipment - that's right you don't need to be locked in to a single manufacturer for single use bioreactors or for UF/DF, Column Chromatography etc. What does this mean to manufacturing? It means flexibility and most importantly from a business stand point the ability to negotiate on single use - you are no longer locked into GE only or Sartorius only or Thermo Fisher bags only - this means you can switch bag suppliers, or qualify multiple suppliers and work with the partners you are happy with! That is one of the huge advantages that Finesse offers. If you are visiting BPI West stop by and say hello!