We’re getting more and more calls these days from medium to large facilities coming online that want to discuss automation and how it can benefit their operations. Lots of concern/conversation about price per lb pushing down on margins making automation a viable alternative to hand trimming.
We’ll post some insights as we come across them.
If you have some examples or stories to share please do…
Thanks,
Team Twister
A good 4 part series on the challenges for the California Grower. Good read…
One of the growers I spoke with not too long ago was saying that automation (not just in trimming) could make him scale up his grow without increasing his labor force, nearly 25% more. It was impressive to say the least.
@Hunter Correct. Twister Trimmers are the only trimmer on the market that allow you to “scale up” and add a second or third machine to gain performance increases in lbs per hour, no reduction in quality, with no additional labor.
An example is going from 1 Twister T2 with Trim Saver to a second T2… You go from 10-12 lbs/hr to 23-25 lbs/hr simply by adding the second machine and a set of rails to support the incline.
Improve it again by additional 15-30% by adding conveyors. Add capital cost with no increases in recurring operating expenses. This is key in the coming months years of falling prices and trying to find ways to maintain margins and gain efficiencies.
Thanks for the comment!!
Interesting topic guys! We’ve come across a lot of companies, especially out here in Colorado where the market is tough and the margins are growing ever thinner, that are looking at ways to expand while minimizing growing labor costs.
We’ve seen some killer machines coming out, like a pricey, but very useful, machine that weighs and packages your flower for retail and wholesale. I forget the exact number, but it can produce like 20x as fast as humans, which is an incredible saver.
We recently interviewed a 75±year-old farm out in Oregon, who’s produced all sorts of large-scale products, like grapes for wine, tulips, etc. They had all sorts of mainstream equipment for their automated harvesting process, but nothing in the cannabis space. The first thing they did when they entered the cannabis game was automate their harvest process (they use 2 of the GreenBroz 420 Dry Trimmers, and the GreenBroz CannaGin De-Stemmer).
They literally have 3-4 people operating their entire cannabis grow because of their dialed in automated process. I’ve seen similar sized grows with dozens on the payroll. You guys are exactly right, that’s going to be the difference between who lasts long-term and who remains a small, boutique business, if in business at all.
Great topic and great conversation. Cheers everyone!
@GreenBroz Not sure I agree. I don’t think the difference will be who scales and who doesn’t, as scaling up through automation isn’t right for everyone. Small boutique growers will remain that way because they offer a high quality product and marketing to the end user and the margins to reflect that will help them grow or scale their business. For those that get into the mid market or commodity style product, scaling up with Twister is the right way to grow as everyone in the mid-space is choosing automation. We sell thousands of machines to this segment of the market and practically invented the process of effectively scaling a grow with multiple machines, conveyors, etc and data / facility planning with a complete Commercial Division to support it! 1-888-254-3204 - Ask for Chris Andrews. So much growth!!
Funny you bring up tulips… remember what happened to the tulip market? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Ps- Hopefully your customer chose the right solution for their needs!!
I guess only time will tell. Ya the tulip industry was a eventual bust! Probably why they stopped growing them long ago. They did say they made some good money off of it though.
The customer mentioned above has grown into a pretty large scale producer, and has since bought a second machine to keep up with demand. It’s been awesome to watch them continue to grow and scale. We actually have an interview and profile of their company coming out soon as part of our ‘Cultivator Spotlight’ series (http://bit.ly/2xmhxaV).
