MasterControl Briefing Note
Axendia was briefed by Matt Lowe, Chief Strategy Officer at MasterControl on its acquisition of Qualer. Founded in 2018 by a calibration service provider, Qualer brings deep domain expertise in calibration and maintenance. Approximately 70% of its customer base consists of asset owners, with the remaining 30% comprising service providers. Qualer’s cloud-native platform enables preventive maintenance, calibration and asset lifecycle tracking, inventory and work order management, as well as vendor portals with document capture capabilities. These features are now integrated into the MasterControl platform and aligned with its GxP-compliant, cloud-first vision.
With over 1.25 million users, $200 million in ARR and a global presence, MasterControl is leveraging this acquisition to address market gaps around CMMS, calibration, and asset intelligence. Post-acquisition, MasterControl is now serving 1,250 customers, 90% of which are in the life sciences industry including pharma, biotech, and medtech.
“This represents a strategic move to establish Asset Excellence (Ax) as a foundational pillar in our platform alongside Quality (Qx) and Manufacturing (Mx) Excellence. It also builds upon our mission to eliminate silos across quality, manufacturing, and asset management in the life sciences industry,” explained Lowe.
Unlocking the Hidden Value of Assets
Asset data has long represented the “missing third leg” in the digital manufacturing stool—alongside people and process data. By integrating real-time asset performance and calibration data directly into eBR and QMS workflows, MasterControl enables manufacturers to better manage equipment availability, reduce production downtime, and accelerate batch release.
“The capability to gray out non-compliant instruments at the point of use (such as pH meters) ensures only validated equipment is used, reinforcing compliance and efficiency at the shop floor level. We’re not just talking about another CMMS, we’re enabling outcome-based asset management that feeds directly into quality and manufacturing systems,” explained Lowe. This approach is very meaningful in a market where many organizations still rely on Excel, manual scheduling, and/or disconnected, on-prem CMMS deployments. The lack of connectivity to production and quality systems, means legacy systems are limited in offering operational intelligence to end users.
The life sciences industry is sharpening its focus on manufacturing efficiency, regulatory preparedness, and AI enablement. Lowe pointed out this reality, noting, “Surprisingly, we still see a lot of Excel and disconnected on-prem systems… there’s a massive opportunity for our clients to modernize.”
MasterControl positions Ax against legacy players like IBM Maximo and Blue Mountain, emphasizing:
Lowe described Ax not as a traditional CMMS or EAM solution, but as a true entry into the Asset Performance Management (APM) space.
Asset Excellence as a Force Multiplier
Ax not only brings visibility into asset lifecycle events but also automates compliance-driven interventions. By integrating data from maintenance and calibration schedules directly into the QMS and MES, Ax enables more intelligent, risk-based decision-making. These signals can dynamically influence tasks in eBRs, trigger deviation workflows, and support AI-driven predictions for asset downtime or compliance gaps.
From a workflow perspective, Ax introduces traceable calibration histories, audit-ready records, and just-in-time servicing alerts. Lowe emphasized that this approach reduces the burden of periodic validation by replacing it with event-based, AI-informed actions and enables the shift from static compliance to continuous assurance.
During the briefing, Lowe also explained MasterControl’s broader platform strategy:
- All modules are being developed on a shared GxP-compliant architecture
- User experience across Qx, Mx, and Ax is unified for intuitive navigation and cross-functional collaboration
- MasterControl’s LLM is purpose-built for regulated industries; all processing happens exclusively within a secure and validated environment and customer data is never used for training.
“We’ve built an architecture that doesn’t just log calibration—it learns from it,” said Lowe and added, “We can now orchestrate asset events with QMS actions, enabling the platform to recommend, act, and verify—on its own or with a human in the loop.”
In Brief
Life sciences manufacturers are under growing pressure to produce high-quality therapies at speed, scale, and compliance. As such, digital transformation efforts must deliver tangible, measurable ROI. MasterControl’s integrated platform, now with asset intelligence, presents a strong value proposition for organizations seeking to modernize legacy infrastructure and prepare for a future defined by data readiness, intelligent automation, and total lifecycle visibility.
From Axendia’s perspective, this acquisition is not just about expanding product capabilities. It signals a redefinition of what it means to be a modern platform in life sciences: connected, compliant, and capable of unlocking asset data as a strategic business enabler.
MasterControl’s acquisition of Qualer and the introduction of Asset Excellence (Ax) marks a strategic inflection point not only for the company but for the broader life sciences manufacturing technology landscape. Axendia views this move as part of a larger industry trend toward unified, insight-driven platforms that collapse traditional silos between quality, operations, and maintenance.
Axendia believes that such capabilities shift the conversation from compliance alone to operational excellence and quality performance. This transformation is further accelerated by MasterControl’s AI strategy, which aims to move the platform toward real-time decision support, human-in-the-loop automation, and continuous improvement based on live signals across the manufacturing lifecycle.
We will continue to provide updates on MasterControl as they become available.
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The opinions and analysis expressed in this post reflect the judgment of Axendia at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. Information contained in this post is current as of publication date. Information cited is not warranted by Axendia but has been obtained through a valid research methodology. This post is not intended to endorse any company or product and should not be attributed as such.