Part III: Finding the Right Technology
Hello to all. We’re in our third week of How to Start and Keep an Extraction Facility series! So far, we’ve talked about what it takes to get started, and the different types of products your company can consider making in its repertoire. The next thing we’ll be addressing is finding the right technology to support your company, your customers, and the high quality of your products.
So, what do we mean by technology? Well, there are lots of innovations that have occurred in the cannabis field in just the past five years. As recreational and medicinal legalization continued to gain hold of the country state-by-state, organizations within those regions have strove to bring the marvels of modern engineering and technology into the cannabis-fold. The digital age has officially gone green!
One important piece of technology to consider for your budding business is the type of Track and Trace software to use. Being able to follow a particular batch or cultivar from “seed to sale” is a requirement in the State of California. Software that supports this regulation is growing in both popularity and demand.
Another important facet to the technology purchases are deciding how high-tech you want to make your assembly line. For example, while in the past most vape-pen manufacturers have filled individual cartridges by hand, a new trend is to automate this service with liquid dispensers. There are many different types on the market, ranging in customizability and size, and they can be pretty expensive. But it’s worth considering investing in such a system if your expected oil output is going to be very high, as it reduces variance in volume between end-products, among other benefits.
One final idea for how technology can make or break your business is by investing in a process that makes your final product better and more efficient at its job. It takes some science and some genius, but a great example of that would be the emulsification process that ebbu, inc., has developed to make cannabinoids water-soluble. Their technology solved a problem (difficulty adding cannabinoids into regular drinks) and in-turn invented a market (the cannabis-infused wine and beverage industry)!
Whatever technology you decide to add to your extraction facility, be it old-school or cutting edge, the most important part we believe is to make sure it can be integrated into your processing capability without too much disruption. New toys can be cool, but having to re-design your entire manufacturing method is not.
Image Credit: 710 Shark
