Can Automation Save the Cannabis Industry Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Automation, which has become increasingly popular in the cannabis sector in recent years, can help the industry face the coronavirus pandemic during the quarantine, which keeps the worker away from the workplace.

In an interview with The Growth Op website, Jay Evans, CEO of Keirton Inc., an agricultural engineering and product design company working with cannabis, focusing on hemp and hops, states that hops and cannabis are very similar plants, but it didn't take long for the demand in the cannabis industry to surpass the craft beer sector. Their products now process about three million kilograms of legal marijuana each year.

The company is based in the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada, but also has a factory in the state of Washington, one of the regions that has been most affected by COVID-19 so far.

According to Evans, most of this processing is done by their machines, which remove the leaves and stems and separate the flower in a matter of seconds, drastically reducing the need for humans to handle the plant and also the number of employees needed in the process.

"You don't worry about any kind of product contamination during automation," says Evans. "Customers are receiving something that has had little human interaction."

Automation is often criticized for the potential loss of human jobs, but Evans says the goal is not to eliminate jobs but to transfer the workforce to more productive areas. "There is an infinite amount of things to be done in these facilities," he says.

"It's still quite early now, but we are definitely having conversations with potential customers," he says. "I think in the next two or three weeks, this need will become more apparent."

Immediate Automation

Evans says it takes about a day for a person to process a pound (about half a kilogram) of cannabis manually. Through automation, their machines process 100 pounds (almost 50 kg) per hour and require only one person in the room.

"We can drastically reduce the need for people in this department of work," says Evans.

In the current situation, Evans says the best option would be to send the machines by mail. The trimming and bucking machines are designed to be "plug and play," which makes the computer recognize and automatically configure any device that is installed, and if problems arise, the solution can be resolved via video conference.

Manufacturing on both sides of the border allows their products to be shipped more quickly and within international borders. Evans says that no Keirton employee, who employs about 60 people in the two facilities, has contracted the virus.