When BW launched its new segment alignment structure in conjunction with the rollout of its Change the Game Strategic Plan in late 2025, it created opportunities for increased collaboration among leaders across the Life Sciences Technology (LST) segment. As Joel Williams, President of Carr Biosystems, describes it, Carr Biosystems, Machine Solutions, and BW Design Group’s life science expertise were “three islands in the same ocean” — each doing life science and medical work, yet operating independently, without a formal structure connecting them.
As these leaders began collaborating more intentionally, the Power of Scale — one of the Transformation Plays of BW’s Change the Game Strategic Plan — emerged as a differentiator across multiple initiatives. Acquisition strategy was among them. At a BW executive meeting in Aspen, CO, an LST-focused breakout group raised a deceptively simple question: how should the segment’s combined strengths shape its approach to acquisitions? Out of that conversation came a wave of ideas, a process to prioritize them, and real follow-through. The clearest proof point is last month’s acquisition of Flow Technology, a biopharma skid integration business. Thoughtful engagement among LST platform leaders, paired with a clearly articulated growth strategy, uniquely positioned Barry-Wehmiller to partner with Flow Technology for its next phase of growth. Without that cross-platform engagement, the ability to make a compelling case as an acquirer — and ultimately partner with Flow Technology — may never have come together.
That acquisition exemplifies a core benefit of the LST segment: better ideas, sourced from a wider pool of perspectives. As Williams puts it, some ideas don’t make sense to pursue from an individual platform’s perspective but make complete sense across the segment, because “the power of the whole is greater than the individual components.”
That pooling is where scale enters the picture. Carr, Machine Solutions, and BW Design Group’s life science sector were able to build a stronger case because of the combined knowledge, experience, and impact of the broader LST segment. That’s the essence of Power of Scale: businesses can stay nimble and specialized while tapping into the reach, market intelligence, and investment capacity of a much larger enterprise once they’re organized to act together. The islands haven’t merged into one landmass, but they’re building bridges — and evaluating where new islands, like the recent acquisition, might fill the gaps between them.
The benefits extend well beyond acquisitions. “BW Design Group has brought us opportunities for custom automation builds, and we’ve been able to return the favor with regulatory and documentation engineering work for them,” said Brian Strini, President of Machine Solutions. Separately, Machine Solutions and Carr have struck a partnership for Carr to sell and distribute Machine Solutions’ sealing and welding product line — expanding their commercial reach while also benefiting Carr. “Carr’s experience at the leading edge of the high-potential cell therapy market allows us to use our knowledge of customer workflows and buying behavior to benefit MSI,” Williams commented.
Collaboration has also become more regular. Machine Solutions and Carr attend each other’s twice-yearly strategy and budget presentations, and all three groups meet quarterly to share market intelligence and flag collaboration opportunities. That rhythm has become a mechanism for building relationships and trust over time, not just a box to check.
Some ideas don’t make sense to pursue from an individual platform’s perspective but make complete sense across the segment, because “the power of the whole is greater than the individual components.” Joel Williams, Carr Biosystems President
The segment is also contributing to human vibrancy. Team members now have peers who understand the same regulatory, quality, and commercial challenges unique to life sciences — support that didn’t exist when the businesses operated in isolation. “I anticipate opportunities for our engineers and operations leaders to work together with their counterparts across the segment, where sharing concepts and best practices can yield powerful results,” Strini said.
Deeper collaboration is opening career paths, too. Team members no longer have to choose between professional growth and staying connected to life science work. As one example, Andrea Knight recently moved from BW Design Group to Carr Biosystems as a Quality Leader — a sign of the career growth opportunities opening up as the segment matures.
“Time will tell how well we can make the LST collaboration work. It’s not perfect yet, but we’re getting closer to our potential of working together. So far, it has been encouraging,” Williams said. With a year of collaboration behind them, Carr, Machine Solutions, and BW Design Group’s life science sector are learning to turn scale into advantage — linking people, resources, and expertise to make the Life Sciences Technology segment more than the sum of its parts.