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Digital batch records have commonly been implemented as electronic substitutes for paper documentation, preserving the logic of retrospective compliance rather than transforming the logic of pharmaceutical knowledge. This narrow implementation view treats the batch record as a repository of completed events, signatures, deviations, and release evidence. Such a view is increasingly insufficient for manufacturing environments shaped by automation, continuous processing, process analytical technology, and real-time quality expectations. This article reconceptualises digital batch records as pharmaceutical knowledge systems rather than electronic documentation artefacts. The central argument is that a digital batch record should not merely record what occurred during manufacturing, but should structure why it occurred, how it relates to process understanding, and how it informs quality decisions. This reframing is especially important for continuous manufacturing, where batch boundaries, material histories, and quality evidence are dynamic rather than fixed. The objective of the article is to develop a conceptual systems perspective on digital batch records for continuous manufacturing and regulatory inspection. The article synthesises peer-reviewed literature on pharmaceutical digitalisation, continuous manufacturing, data integrity, knowledge management, process control, real-time release testing, and regulatory science. It does not present new empirical data, but constructs a conceptual model from existing evidence and emerging regulatory trends. The article defines the system boundary of digital batch records, explains their knowledge logic, connects them to pharmaceutical knowledge management, and positions them as infrastructure for continuous manufacturing and inspection transformation. It argues that digital batch records can integrate process data, material traceability, critical quality attributes, audit trails, deviation logic, and lifecycle knowledge into a structured manufacturing intelligence layer. Four tables are used to clarify the proposed record logic, continuous manufacturing integration, inspection transformation, and knowledge-system architecture. The article concludes that digital batch records should be designed as the cognitive infrastructure of pharmaceutical quality. When architected as knowledge systems, they can support real-time quality assurance, predictive process oversight, continuous improvement, and more transparent regulatory interaction. The shift from record-keeping to knowledge-driven assurance is therefore not a technical upgrade alone, but a transformation in how pharmaceutical manufacturing knows, governs, and demonstrates quality.