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From Equipment Supplier to Digital Partner
Pharma and chemistry equipment manufacturers have mastered the art of building precise, compliant, and reliable devices whether it's safety cabinets, chromatography systems, balances, or automation platforms. But as labs become more digital, manufacturers face a new expectation: every piece of equipment should come with a connected, data-driven layer.
The potential is undeniable. The digital lab market, driven by lab automation and informatics, is forecast for significant growth. The global laboratory informatics market alone, which includes LIMS, ELN, and LES, is projected to reach over $5.2 billion by 2030.5 This expansion is fueled by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors' increasing demand for data integrity, compliance, and streamlined workflows.6
Yet, most digital launches from equipment OEMs struggle. Monitoring dashboards, compliance apps, or connected software often fail to gain traction. The problem? They are developed and sold like hardware, not SaaS (Software as a Service).
1. Treating Software Like Hardware
The Challenge:
Manufacturers are used to long product cycles: 3–5 years of R&D, extensive testing, and big product launches. This works for equipment, where compliance and reliability are paramount. But software thrives on agile, iterative development, with customer feedback driving weekly or monthly releases.
Too often, OEM software teams build in isolation. They spend years developing a “perfect” tool, only to launch a product that doesn’t match customer needs or is already outdated.
The Solution:
2. Sales Approach: SaaS ≠ Equipment
The Challenge:
Selling hardware is transactional. A sales rep lists specifications, negotiates price, and closes a capital expenditure deal. SaaS is consultative: it requires proving ROI, handling objections around subscriptions, and nurturing ongoing adoption.
Most equipment sales reps are not trained or incentivized to sell software. Without clear incentives, SaaS gets ignored. A common finding among industry analysts is that many industrial OEM SaaS initiatives stall due to sales channel resistance, as reps are not equipped to sell value-based, recurring-revenue products.
The Solution:
3. Lack of Recurring Revenue Understanding
The Challenge:
Recurring revenue is foreign to many OEMs. Hardware is sold once; SaaS is billed monthly or annually. Recurring models require different forecasting, KPIs (ARR, churn, CAC), and customer success structures. Many manufacturers default to one-time license fees, undermining the SaaS model.
This creates internal friction: finance teams may dislike the uncertainty of Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), sales reps may prefer big one-off bonuses, and leadership can struggle to explain SaaS to boards accustomed to hardware cycles.
The Solution:
4. Product-Market Fit Blind Spots
The Challenge:
Equipment OEMs often launch digital products without deep validation. Features are built based on engineering assumptions rather than the needs of lab managers. The result: tools that sound good on paper but add little daily value.
Example: One manufacturer developed a complex dashboard for cabinet airflow analytics. Engineers were proud of it. Scientists? They just wanted a simple compliance log they could show auditors. Adoption failed.
The Solution:
5. Ecosystem Blind Spots
The Challenge:
Labs rarely use one vendor’s full ecosystem. They mix equipment, ELNs, LIMS, and building systems. If your software doesn’t integrate, it creates silos. Yet, many OEMs avoid partnerships, hoping to lock customers into proprietary ecosystems.
The result? Customers bypass the OEM’s software and stick to third-party tools that work across brands.
The Solution:
Conclusion: Becoming Digital Partners, Not Just Equipment Suppliers
Pharma and chemistry labs are demanding more than equipment, they want integrated solutions that ensure compliance, improve safety, and streamline workflows.8
For manufacturers, this requires a cultural shift: from slow hardware cycles to agile software sprints, from transactional sales to consultative SaaS adoption, and from one-off revenue to recurring models.
Those who embrace the shift will secure stronger margins, recurring growth, and deeper trust with pharma clients. Those who don’t risk being sidelined by competitors and startups that speak the digital lab’s language.
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Sources
Great success in delivering projects and partnerships.
Shared strong SaaS knowledge and hands-on go-to-market guidance. The collaboration added real value to our digital initiatives.
Excellent exchange of knowledge around SaaS and go-to-market approaches. Provided valuable perspectives on digital lab solutions and industry adoption.
Works closely with us to support our startup journey, providing guidance on GTM strategy, fundraising, and access to his network. Very impactful collaboration.
Tobias is the perfect commercial and strategic partner for OEMs looking to scale their software solutions. Most OEMs are not software-first companies and Tobias has years of GTM experience in SaaS. Don't think twice about hiring him and his company.
