48 PW FEB2022
AUTOMATION OEM APPLICACTION NOTE
CANNABIS FOCUS
Feeder Plays Integral Role in Automated Pre-Roll Cannabis Equipment Just as it is affecting many other verticals, a tight labor market is also impacting the emerging cannabis industry, especially in typically manual processes like pre-roll production. Lately, automation is becoming more sophisticated to fill the gap. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
Production as a Service (PaaS)
Cloud-based remote monitoring
By Matt Reynolds, Chief Editor The legal cannabis market is forecasted to reach $41.6 billion by 2025, as more than 36 states have already made recreational or medical cannabis legal, and additional legalization efforts are underway across the nation. Machine builder Accelerant Manufacturing co-founder Grant Schuster and his team looked at the cannabis pre-roll cone joints market and noticed that pre-rolled marijuana products are outperforming overall market growth. The Maryland-based company saw an opportunity to use automation in this arena, and began work on cannabis pre-roll equipment to meet the niche demand. “We observed that pre-rolled product sales grew 47% year-over-year in established markets in 2020,” Schuster says. “The problem is that operators cannot hire, train, and retain labor to keep up with demand. In response, our early research and development efforts proved that automation could produce up to 2,000 pre-rolls per hour and repurpose the 15 to 20 people needed The machine’s recipe approach allows operators to easily adjust specs to different to produce the same output.” flower strains through compacting and twisting to produce consistent shape with Accelerant contacted integrator Cutting Edge uniform density. Automation to help move the effort forward. ToThis light capacity feeder enhances compacting and serves as an gether, they developed what would become Accelerant’s PRO Modular ideal component within this demanding operation where small quantiSystem. Inclusion of an Eriez® 6C electromagnetic vibratory feeder was ties of cannabis are required, and consistent shape and uniform density critical to the success of pre-rolling and reducing waste. are crucial. The Eriez feeder handles 500 to 2,000 pre-rolls per hour. The weigh The 6C electromagnetic feeder—ideally suited for precise material filling system is accurate to .01 g, and is never underweight according metering applications—features a stainless-steel tray. The enclosed vibrato the company.
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