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DeltaV MES runs batches beside DeltaV. Seal runs the batch and everything around it.

Seal, the GxP execution system, is your eBR, your QMS and more. Neil, your AI agent, does the paperwork across your systems. You sign. Skye Biologics increased throughput by 35%. Start with one process beside DeltaV MES.

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Where DeltaV MES falls short.

From Emerson’s own pages and data sheets.

  • The batch record
    DeltaV MES
    Lab results
    From a LIMS
    CAPA
    From another system
    In Seal
    One set of records

    The lab and quality sit elsewhere.

    DeltaV MES collects data into the batch record from the ERP, LIMS, CAPA and maintenance systems around it. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    Emerson, October 2026
  • Recipe authoring
    A licence per author
    Its MES engineer path
    Advanced Recipe Authoring
    Seal
    Neil, then your approval

    Recipe authoring is licensed and taught.

    Emerson licenses recipe authoring per user and trains MES engineers in Recipe Authoring and Advanced Recipe Authoring Principles. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    Emerson Education Services
  • New features, from v7
    Subscription only
    Review by exception
    An add-on licence
    DCS integration
    A separate package

    Its parts are licensed separately.

    From DeltaV MES v7, “all new features for the platform will only be on subscription”. Review by exception is an add-on licence, and DeltaV DCS integration a separate package.

    Emerson, February 2025
  • Its platform
    Data for your AI
    Its AI tools
    Recipes, configuration questions
    Neil
    Drafts the change

    Its AI helps author recipes. Neil does the paperwork.

    Emerson calls its platform AI-ready, streaming plant data to your own AI, with other tools for recipe development and configuration questions. Neil prepares the change itself and the paperwork around it, for your team to approve.

    Emerson, DeltaV Life Sciences

See it in Seal.

Real Seal screens with fictional test data: one late transfer, from the batch record to the fix, then Neil’s overnight release review.

  1. 1

    Each value at the step it belongs to.

    Batch B-041’s readings are recorded as the work happens, with its sample and its deviation linked to the record.

    Batch record B-041, post-mix hold and transfer, in Seal: the instruction to transfer within 45 minutes of completing the mix, process readings at 10:12, 10:42 and 11:04 with temperature and pH, and the linked lab sample IPC-041 and investigation DEV-018.
    1. The step’s limitTransfer within 45 minutes of completing the mix.
    2. Recorded as it happensMix complete at 10:12, transfer at 11:04: 52 minutes.
    3. The deviation, linkedDEV-018 sits on the batch record it concerns.
  2. 2

    The deviation starts with its evidence.

    DEV-018 has the batch, its readings and the sample linked, so the investigation starts from the facts.

    Deviation DEV-018, extended post-mix hold, in Seal: the affected batch B-041, the transfer 52 minutes after mixing against a permitted 45, and a table of evidence from the process readings, temperature readings and sample IPC-041.
    1. The batchB-041, the batch the deviation concerns.
    2. What happened52 minutes, against a permitted 45.
    3. The evidenceReadings and the sample, from the same records.
  3. 3

    The fix is a change to the workflow.

    CC-019 makes the record calculate the hold and route anything over 45 minutes. It is verified before release, and the next batch runs the new version.

    Change CC-019, elapsed-time check, in Seal: DEV-018 as the reason, the affected procedure MBR-014, a table of current and proposed workflow behaviour, a verification plan at 44, 45 and 46 minutes and a missing start time, and a release review for authorised people.
    1. From the deviationDEV-018 is the reason for the change.
    2. The workflow itselfThe hold is calculated from both timestamps, and anything over the limit is routed for assessment.
    3. Verified before releaseAt 44, 45 and 46 minutes, and with a start time missing.
  4. 4

    Neil checks every lot. People decide.

    Overnight, Neil checked each lot against its release plan and said what its record leaves out.

    The release board in Seal: 111 lots in release across three sites, $123M waiting, 86 with nothing open, and a table of the lots with findings, each with Neil’s summary, its value and a predicted certification date.
    1. The morning, in two lines111 lots and $123M waiting. 86 need only a decision.
    2. Neil’s summary of each lotWhat is open, and where Neil found it.
    3. A predicted certification dateFrom how long this site’s lots have taken.

What Seal’s customers measured.

Each figure links to the customer’s story.

QualityAcclinate and Skye Biologics

−50%
quality cycle times at Acclinate, from a procedure change to everyone trained.Acclinate
−40%
non-conformances at Skye Biologics, with training checked before execution.Skye Biologics

RecordsMiAlgae and Bioventix

−75%
documentation time at MiAlgae, from the lab to commercial production.MiAlgae
−80%
document admin time at Bioventix, after two decades on paper.Bioventix

DeltaV MES and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

DeltaV MES (Syncade)Seal
What it isEmerson’s life sciences MES, launched as Syncade in 2009¹²The GxP execution system: your eBR, your QMS and more
Built forLife sciences, native to the DeltaV DCS and able to connect to others³Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelThe ISA-88 recipe³Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
AIPlant data for your AI tools; unnamed tools for recipes and configuration questions⁴Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares changes to the process; your team approves them
Who configures itMES engineers trained in recipe authoring; a no-code importer since 2026⁵⁶Your team, with Neil preparing it from your procedures
Recipe authoringLicensed authoring client, ISA-88 library³Neil drafts it from your master batch record; your team approves
Change mid-batchPermission-based in-process edits³Configured paths; urgent changes approved, with both courses on the record
ExceptionsQuality Review Manager, an add-on licence³Opened from the step they concern
Lab and qualityCollected from LIMS and CAPA³Same platform, same records
New featuresSubscription only, from version 7⁷Seal’s releases come with supplier evidence; your team assesses each against its intended use
DeltaV process dataNative DCS integration³Read from DeltaV Edge
Getting startedMonths traditionally; days with its 2026 importer, Emerson says⁶A 48-hour evaluation of one process, once the scope is agreed and the inputs received

Summary

The story
DeltaV MES is good for batch execution beside Emerson’s DeltaV control system.³ Emerson launched it as Syncade in 2009, having been, in Control Global’s words, the most reluctant of the mainstream automation vendors to get into MES,¹ and its first public customer was Bristol-Myers Squibb’s $750 million cell culture plant.⁸⁹ Its model is the ISA-88 recipe, integrated natively with DeltaV, and its batch record collects data from separate ERP, LIMS, CAPA and maintenance systems.³ Emerson says turning paper batch records into MES recipes has traditionally taken workshops, tests and coding expertise, often for months, and that its 2026 importer, which starts from a preformatted Word template, cuts that to days;⁶ it still trains MES engineers in advanced recipe authoring.⁵ It calls the platform AI-ready, streaming plant data to the customer’s own analytics and AI environments.⁴ If you run a large plant on DeltaV and your recipes are settled, it can work well. That is rare, and rarer now that the work changes so fast.

1What DeltaV MES offers.

DeltaV MES is Emerson’s MES for life sciences, which Emerson calls “the newest evolution of the Syncade MES”.¹⁰ Emerson announced Syncade in February 2009 as an in-house extension of its PlantWeb architecture into MES, and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s large-scale cell culture plant was its first public project.¹⁸ Its electronic batch record guides operators through manual and automated steps, integrates natively with the DeltaV DCS and keeps recipes in an ISA-88 library of class- and instance-based objects; data from the ERP, LIMS, CAPA and maintenance systems around it is collected into the record.³ Quality Review Manager, licensed as an add-on, identifies and resolves process exceptions while the batch runs,¹¹ and the product still runs its legacy WF workflow engine beside the newer WFX in a single instance, so customers can modernise recipes at their own pace.²

Emerson sells the rest of its life sciences work as separate products: DeltaV PKM manages process definitions, recipes and knowledge from development to commercial scale, beside scheduling, analytics and the DCS,⁴ and in 2024 it launched DeltaV Workflow Management, SaaS for early-stage developers, which it now lists among its DeltaV MES solutions.¹⁰² In January 2026 it launched the DeltaV MES Recipe Importer Tool, which it says cuts recipe timelines from months to days: a paper batch record is first rewritten into a preformatted Word template, and developers then review and validate the converted content.⁶ Emerson calls its platform AI-ready, with DeltaV Edge and AspenTech Inmation streaming contextualised data to the customer’s analytics and AI environments,⁴ and an April 2026 Emerson blog says DeltaV MES has AI solutions built in to support personnel as they develop recipes.¹²

2Running Seal alongside DeltaV MES.

You can start without replacing DeltaV MES. Seal reads process values from DeltaV, and its API can connect records held in DeltaV MES. Each connection is scoped before it goes live: what Seal may read, whether anything is written back and which system stays the source of record.

Seal’s DeltaV connection captures the current value or a completed period of history for a subscribed DeltaV parameter as a reference in Seal, through an IT-approved DeltaV Edge REST API gateway with a dedicated read-only profile. Alarms, events and batch records are not included, and the connection does not change setpoints, acknowledge alarms or operate equipment. Seal’s guide to DeltaV batch record integration works through reconciling DeltaV phase events with historian evidence.

For records held in DeltaV MES, Seal’s REST API and Scripts can make the connection. Start with read access, and treat write-back as a separate decision with its own controls.

3Moving from DeltaV MES to Seal.

Move one process first. DeltaV MES keeps running the rest until you move it, and the DeltaV DCS keeps control of the process.

  1. Choose a process whose exceptions keep recurring or whose recipe changes often, such as a clinical or recently transferred product.
  2. Bring the procedure or master batch record, a representative batch with its exceptions and the records they touch. Use sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Neil proposes the steps, fields, calculations, material and equipment requirements and review gates, and your process experts check the mapping. Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares the first working configuration and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours.
  4. Connect the DeltaV parameters the review needs, read-only, and confirm the gateway, parameter paths and capture windows with your automation team.
  5. Exercise limits, holds, deviations, rework, signatures and interface failure before release, and agree which records move and which stay retrievable in DeltaV MES.

Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration, operational readiness and your release requirements. Process control stays with the DCS: Seal’s connection reads values and does not operate equipment.

References

  1. 1Emerson targets InFusion — just don’t call it MES, Control Global, 27 February 2009. https://www.controlglobal.com/industry-news/news/11371773/emerson-targets-infusion-just-dont-call-it-mes (read 5 November 2026)
  2. 2DeltaV Manufacturing Execution System, Emerson. https://www.emerson.com/en-us/automation/operations-business-management/deltav-mes (read 5 November 2026)
  3. 3Electronic Batch Record, DeltaV Manufacturing Execution System product data sheet, Emerson, October 2026. https://www.emerson.com/is/content/emerson/en/systems-and-software/deltav-manufacturing-execution-system-mes/product-data-sheets/documents/deltav-mes-electronic-batch-record-product-data-sheet.pdf (read 5 November 2026)
  4. 4DeltaV Life Sciences Automation Platform, Emerson. https://www.emerson.com/en/automation-systems/automation-systems-for-life-sciences (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5Manufacturing Execution System Engineer Curriculum Path, Emerson Education Services. https://emerson.com/documents/automation/manufacturing-execution-systems-curriculum-path-flyer-eu-fy24-en-10728952.pdf (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6Emerson Streamlines Life Sciences Recipe Creation for Faster Time to Market, Emerson, 27 January 2026. https://www.emerson.com/en-us/news/2026/emerson-life-sciences-recipe-creation-for-faster-time-to-market (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7DeltaV MES Subscription, DeltaV Manufacturing Execution System service data sheet, Emerson, February 2025. https://www.emerson.com/is/content/emerson/en/systems-and-software/deltav-manufacturing-execution-system-mes/product-data-sheets/documents/deltav-mes-subscription.pdf (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8Freaky Fast-- Emerson gets first Syncade project (reproduces Emerson’s press release of 10 February 2009), Control Global, 10 February 2009. https://www.controlglobal.com/home/blog/11350197/freaky-fast-emerson-gets-first-syncade-project (read 5 November 2026)
  9. 9Bristol-Myers Squibb is first to opt for Syncade, Control Global, 3 April 2009. https://www.controlglobal.com/control/distributed-control/news/11371589/bristol-myers-squibb-is-first-to-opt-for-syncade (read 5 November 2026)
  10. 10Emerson’s Next-Generation Software Streamlines Pharmaceutical Development, Accelerates Speed to Market, Emerson, 16 April 2024. https://www.emerson.com/en-us/news/2024/04-deltav-workflow-management-next-generation-software (read 5 November 2026)
  11. 11Quality Review Manager, DeltaV Manufacturing Execution System product data sheet, Emerson, October 2026. https://www.emerson.com/is/content/emerson/en/systems-and-software/deltav-manufacturing-execution-system-mes/product-data-sheets/documents/deltav-mes-quality-review-manager-product-data-sheet.pdf (read 5 November 2026)
  12. 12Embedded AI is the Future of Biopharmaceutical Recipe Creation, Todd Walden and Kristel Biehler, Emerson Automation Experts, 28 April 2026. https://www.emersonautomationexperts.com/2026/industry/life-sciences-medical/embedded-ai-is-the-future-of-biopharmaceutical-recipe-creation/ (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than DeltaV MES (Syncade)?

Yes. DeltaV MES is good for batch execution beside Emerson’s DeltaV control system. Emerson launched it as Syncade in 2009, having been, in Control Global’s words, the most reluctant of the mainstream automation vendors to get into MES, and its first public customer was Bristol-Myers Squibb’s $750 million cell culture plant. Its model is the ISA-88 recipe, integrated natively with DeltaV, and its batch record collects data from separate ERP, LIMS, CAPA and maintenance systems. Emerson says turning paper batch records into MES recipes has traditionally taken workshops, tests and coding expertise, often for months, and that its 2026 importer, which starts from a preformatted Word template, cuts that to days; it still trains MES engineers in advanced recipe authoring. It calls the platform AI-ready, streaming plant data to the customer’s own analytics and AI environments. If you run a large plant on DeltaV and your recipes are settled, it can work well. That is rare, and rarer now that the work changes so fast. Seal has no fixed model of one kind of work. It is built from primitives: record types, the relationships between them, and the steps and checks that use them, which your own team composes into your process, with Neil able to prepare each change for approval. So one platform runs process development, the laboratory, manufacturing, batch release and the quality system, and each change becomes a new version, released once its selected tests pass, while earlier runs keep theirs. Moving from paper, Skye Biologics increased throughput by 35% and cut non-conformances by 40%.

Is Syncade the same as DeltaV MES?

Yes. Emerson describes DeltaV MES as the newest evolution of the Syncade MES. Some older Emerson material still uses the Syncade name.

Is Seal an alternative to DeltaV MES?

Yes. DeltaV MES is designed for batch execution on the life sciences plant floor. Seal runs electronic batch records, weigh and dispense, equipment checks and review by exception, on the same platform as laboratory testing, deviations, CAPA, change control and training. Your own team configures it from your procedures, with Neil preparing the configuration for approval, so a recurring exception can end in a tested new process version without a specialist project. Seal reads DeltaV process values through its DeltaV connection.

Is Seal an MES?

Yes. Seal executes GMP manufacturing from a versioned master batch record, with material, equipment and training checks at the step, in-process results linked to their specifications, and review by exception. Skye Biologics, MiAlgae and Paradromics run their batch records on Seal.

Can Seal connect to DeltaV?

Yes, for process values. Seal’s DeltaV connection captures a current value or a completed period of history for a subscribed parameter through an IT-approved DeltaV Edge REST API gateway with a read-only profile. Alarms, events and batch records are not included, and it does not change setpoints or operate equipment.

How do changes during a batch compare?

DeltaV MES lets users with the right permissions modify parameters, adjust navigation, insert instructions or override forced sequencing during a batch. In Seal, each abnormal path has its own permissions and approval rules, an urgent change to live work has a defined and approved transition point, and both the original and changed course remain on the record.

How does Emerson’s AI compare with Neil?

Emerson describes its life sciences platform as AI-ready: DeltaV Edge and AspenTech Inmation contextualise plant data and stream it to the customer’s own analytics and AI environments, and an April 2026 Emerson blog says DeltaV MES, the DeltaV DCS and DeltaV PKM have AI solutions built in to support personnel as they develop recipes. Its newest recipe tool, the DeltaV MES Recipe Importer of January 2026, converts a paper batch record rewritten into a preformatted Word template, and developers then review and validate the content. Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares changes to the process itself, with their tests, for your team to approve, and in Seal that process includes the laboratory and quality steps around the batch. Neil is not used in GMP execution.

How long does it take to start with Seal?

Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares a first working configuration and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours, configured from one of your procedures or master batch records. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration, operational readiness and your release requirements.

Start beside DeltaV MES.

Start with one process. Seal’s DeltaV connection reads DeltaV parameters through a read-only DeltaV Edge gateway, and DeltaV MES records connect through Seal’s REST API and Scripts, so nothing has to move on day one.

Book a demo