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MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence Reviews

About MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence

MasterControl Mx is a next-gen MES for life sciences, boosting production efficiency, traceability, and compliance with digital tools.

Learn more about MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence

Pros:

It will be easy to integrate with our existing QMS system and user can easily build template.

Cons:

There are some areas that are obviously not geared toward how modern clinical laboratories do document control, but as they get more and more clinical laboratory clients I suspect that will change.

MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence ratings

Average score

Ease of Use
4.3
Customer Service
4.6
Features
4.3
Value for Money
4.3

Likelihood to recommend

8.5/ 10

MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence has an overall rating of 4.5 out 5 stars based on 144 user reviews on Capterra.

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Filter reviews (144)

Greg
Greg
Senior Solutions Architect in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Tobacco, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Liggett Group MX Review

4.0 2 years ago

Comments: It works well and optimistic of future improvements

Pros:

ease of use with template builder and deployment within our manufacturing environment

Cons:

integration still needs improvement in flexibility and features

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Pharmaceuticals, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence (Mx) Embedded with Quality Throughout

5.0 12 months ago

Comments: Overall, we have had a great experience with MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence. The product is easy to use, easy to validate, and allows us to make our manufacturing process digital. The support from MasterControl has also been top tier.

Pros:

MasterControl's Mx solution is embedded with quality throughout the entire platform and process. Mx does not just document completion of executed steps during the manufacturing process. It allows you to easily configure defined parameters and what happens when entered values exceed these limits. The Review by Exception tool allows quality assurance reviewers to focus on specific key areas of the batch record rather than completing a line-by-line review due to these configurable controls. In addition, the product is integrated with the quality solutions of MasterControl, including documents, training, and quality events. For example, the system performs training checks to prevent users from working on a batch record if their training is not complete (there is an option for a supervisor override), and deviations can be launched and linked from the batch record with the quality event status clearly visible to batch reviewers. Lastly, we like how easy the software is to use; we are able to configure it ourselves without needing ongoing consultants.

Cons:

There are some minor software limitations, for example you cannot correct or change a lot number after a batch record is created. There are also some features, such as global elements, that cannot be used in conjunction with other features, such as product families. Once you learn these limitations, you are able to develop workarounds for them.

John
Applications Specialist - QMS in US
Pharmaceuticals, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Manufacturing Excellence in a Pharmaceutical Environment

3.0 last year

Comments: The Mx module of MasterControl has helped mitigate many of the documentation errors that we would often see attributed to end users handwriting,

Pros:

The ability to enforce training dependancies in Production Records to ensure end users are properly trained before executing Phase Steps is critical for day to day operation here at BioSpectra. The different utilities within each different Phase Step Type gives the Template Builder a wide range of formatting options, which is essential for building a Template that is clear and concise, functional, and easy to execute once a record is issued from it.

Cons:

We have experienced quite a few issues while attempting to import or export any Master Templates between the different environments (Dev, Test, & Live Sites). Being in the Pharmaceutical environment, we have come across a few instances where we have identified defects in the system that have been critical for us but low priority on MasterControl's side as they are not a regulated company.

Justin
Senior Manufacturing Engineer in US
Medical Devices, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Excellent product and customer service

5.0 last year

Pros:

MasterControl MES has provided my company with a great resource to make our entire process more lean. The savings we have had as a company just from moving away from paper records is worthwhile enough, but the modular nature and no-code simplicity of the interface has allowed us simplify all of our records in a way that was easy to implement. Also, the interface with our quality system was seamless and API integrations are something we are looking forward to putting in place. MasterControl is also constantly improving their software to provide more and more functionality to its end users and the customer service experience has been excellent

Cons:

Integrating with regulatory, validation of templates, and some small lags are the main issues or services that we have not taken advantage of yet.

Janet
GMP Technical Writer II in US
Pharmaceuticals, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

#MES G.O.A.T

4.0 last year

Pros:

I find the Master Template Builder tool to be relatively easy to use. The interface is user-friendly and functionalities make sense.

Cons:

For Master Template building, our team has found that some restrictions are difficult to find work-arounds for. For example, if an Operation level is configured to be 'Repeatable', if any calculated values are within that repeated Operation, those same values cannot be pulled to other parts of the record. This is limiting when data propagates throughout an entire record. I have trained the Builders to instruct 'transcribing values' from repeatable Operations to be able to be used later downstream.

Daniel
RA/QC in US
Medical Devices, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

MasterControl - Digitize Your World

5.0 last year

Pros:

Issuing batch records is extremely simple. Lot number control ensures numbers aren't skipped and the ability to filter records between various products is extremely useful. Mx Builder is user friendly and intuitive to use. Regex expressions allow you to define user inputs, decreasing entry errors.

Cons:

Reporting and data analysis is a bit challenging. Insights is an improvement from Jreports, however, there is still quite a learning curve before the module becomes useful. More training and improvements to the speed/functionality of Insights would greatly improve the product.

Chad
Senior Manufacturing Associate in US
Biotechnology, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Review of MasterControl in MFG from builder/user perspective

5.0 last year

Comments: Overall MasterControl has been a huge success for our company. Standards of quality, tracibility and less deviations are all apparent with the implementation on MasterControl within our site.

Pros:

I like the flexibility to build an electronic batch around our process. In the past I've seen process changes occur in order to facilitate lack of software configurability which is a concern. The flexibility of MasterControl eliminates that concern.

Cons:

Fully integrating MasterControl with an established ERP such as SAP is a little more difficult than it first seemed. We have quite intricate batch records with a large amount of differing components. MasterControl has been open and helpful during this process, but there have been many bumps in the road.

Rose
Business Process Owner in Ireland
Biotechnology, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Great Potential

4.0 9 months ago

Pros:

The adaptability of the platform. Development of workflows to suite end users. Continuous improvements with quarterly upgrades.

Cons:

Cumbersome drafting of templates. Have no to configure each step

Glenn
Senior eQuality System Analyst in US
Biotechnology, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Electronic Batch Record Review

5.0 last year

Pros:

We use this product to maintain our production in our subsidiary, and not many other companies offer this feature.

Cons:

The cost of licensure limits how many people can make and use the eBR.

Alla
Manager in US
Food Production, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

MasterControl Review

5.0 9 months ago

Pros:

I liked organization of documents the most.

Cons:

I like the least is the lack of connectivity between records.

clark
QMS MANAGER in US
Tobacco, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Mx Review

4.0 last year

Pros:

Ease of conffiguration and use of product

Cons:

Lack of integration which is key in reducing the number of templates

Cory
Manufacturing and Training Compliance Supervisor in US
Pharmaceuticals, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Manufacturing Excellence Review

4.0 last year

Comments: MasterControl has been a great help with implementation of MX. The initial sessions with the SMEs were very beneficial in helping us to gain a thorough understanding of the tool which allowed us to effectively use the tool once our initial implementation phase was finished. They are also excellent at listening to the input that we have given about added functionality and are continually improving the product.

Pros:

It provides a digital format for documenting production activities. This allows for a reduction in human errors specifically in documentation, as well as the ability to easily collect and analyze data about the manufacturing process.

Cons:

The largest friction point that we have with MX is a lack of customizability. Our process is very complex and we have found ourselves having to make multi-step workarounds in order to replicate our process.

Esdras
Quality in US
Medical Devices, 5,001–10,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Mckesson

4.0 last year

Comments: Great I like the functionality

Pros:

Qms system integration with all modules.

Cons:

Limits to eform with validation control.

Stephen
IT Manager in US
Pharmaceuticals, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Easy to build, easy to use, reduces errors

4.0 last year

Comments: The staff is great, the product is simple to use, but powerful. Would like to see more functionality as the product continues to grow.

Pros:

The system is easy to understand, MBRs are easy to buildThe system is easy to use, production records are easily understoodHelp reduce errors by setting criteria on entries

Cons:

With simplicity comes lack of functionality. Would love to see the system be able to interface with SCADA systems to control equipment, or historians more easily to pull data into the production record.

Kathlene
IT Project Manager in US
Pharmaceuticals, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Expensive but worth it

5.0 last year

Comments: .

Pros:

This product is ensuring equipment stays calibrated per schedule. This ensures compliance.

Cons:

Ok, it’s expensive. But after the expense, it still delivers the ROI. So it’s worth it.

Patricia
SME production in US
Medical Devices, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Manufacturing

4.0 last year

Pros:

Just learning the building of it working on it now

Cons:

Just learning and building it out to work for operators

Tracie
Sr. Manager of Quality in US
Pharmaceuticals, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Great for Startup

5.0 last year

Comments: Mx is a very versatile tool! We are using it not only for manufacturing batch records but also for raw material control records (to capture receiving, inspection, and disposition of raw materials) and have even begun to try using it to capture records for reagent and standards preparation.

Pros:

We are a startup company and we did not have previously written batch records to integrate into Mx. We are building ours within the solution from the ground up. It is very simple and easy to build in the required controls as well as integrate with other solutions/modules within MasterControl such as Documents, Process, etc.

Cons:

We have not currently encountered any issues or needs that are not met.

Benjamin
Application Support Manager in UK
Retail, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

MasterControl MX

5.0 last year

Comments: really easy to use and has helped the business

Pros:

the simplicity of the software but the fact it provides so much fucntionality

Cons:

As a business we havent seen any negative so far...

Jack
Operations Manager in US
Pharmaceuticals, 501–1,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Intuitive & Highly Adaptable

5.0 last year

Comments: While it is expensive, the customer support and the Manufacturing Excellence module are excellent.

Pros:

Building the master templates are the foundation for electronic batch records. No coding is required. The MasterControl support team was great for helping with navigating best practices and functions.

Cons:

The price is high, but recognize that this is a premium product and comes with a strong service team.

Pierre Michel
Business analyst manufacturing in France
Pharmaceuticals, 10,000+ Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Great solution for our MFG digitalization

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: Great tool, nice project and big business success

Pros:

Helped us reducing human error, saving time in our QC review and delete duplicate data entry

Cons:

Can’t do real Time interfacing with ERP on complex scénario

Vanessa
MC SysAdmin in US
Pharmaceuticals, 5,001–10,000 Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Good

5.0 last year

Pros:

Easy to use, user friendly. Paperless, efficient

Cons:

Not really bad to share, unless basic user not needed.

Tarick
Senior Scientist in Canada
Biotechnology, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Mx

4.0 last year

Comments: For me as a new user, MX, once used a few times becomes user friendly.

Pros:

It's ability to reduce paper usage and produce more user friendly protocols.

Cons:

Learning about how to use it for me would be easier with more videos available to demonstrate how to use it.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Pharmaceuticals, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Go Paperless!

5.0 2 years ago

Pros:

The UI is very user friendly and intuitive

Cons:

Lack of a dark mode feature, themes were recently removed and a dark mode would be nice and easier on the eyes for those accustomed to it

Mark
Senior Buyer in US
Biotechnology, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Great Document Revision History Control Software

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: Overall Master Control has been great for our business.

Pros:

I like that it is a great way to control documents and their revision history. Great collaboration tools for new documents.

Cons:

Needs better reporting and searching abilities

Benazir
Business Development and Special Project Manager in US
Biotechnology, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: Free Trial
Reviewer Source

Great Variety of Needs in a bundle

3.0 last year

Pros:

The interface is intuitive, ensuring a smooth user experience. Collaborative features enhance team efficiency.

Cons:

Initial learning curve, but support team is helpful. Customization might be overwhelming for beginners.