In the future, bottlenecks in the supply of medicines could be more easily eliminated. An automated machine for radial synthesis developed by chemists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces will enable the flexible production of medical agents and other chemical products. The apparatus can be quickly reprogrammed for the synthesis of various substances – even complex ones – without having to be modified. It can combine synthesis steps that previously required several devices. The device can also produce the materials remotely. The new technology also facilitates data-based developments in chemistry and could thus accelerate the search for new chemical products and reaction processes.