This document outlines areas for research to advance Good Manufacturing Practices in the 21st century. It discusses investigating and evaluating novel manufacturing methods and their impact on product failure rates and quality. It also addresses developing improved analytical methods to evaluate product quality using emerging technologies, and developing sensitive methods to detect and reduce microbial contamination. The overall goals are to enable development and evaluation of important manufacturing improvements, lower the cost of manufacturing, and improve the ability of regulatory agencies to ensure safety, quality and efficacy.