 The Great Resignation from the pandemic continues to cause turmoil, and this is certainly the case in the cannabis industry. Finding quality workers, and keeping them, can be very difficult these days.
One Canadian cannabis operator, Safari Flower Co., is dealing with the issue by changing out some human jobs for automation. They’ve chosen to replace some trimmers with processing equipment from Mobius, a cannabis automation and technology firm. Safari says with the new equipment, they’ve reduced the amount of time spent on trimming by approximately 75%, which they say improves working conditions for the whole processing team. The team is now a much smaller employee workforce, but Safari says they are happier, and that the company can now apply higher compensation programs based on meeting production efficiencies. Before bringing automation to their processing operations, Safari would require two 8-hour shifts to buck and trim each harvest. The procedure involved separating the flowers from the stalks by hand and trimming each cannabis flower with scissors—a task that led to boredom, repetitive strain injuries, and high staff turnover. Now, the new Mobius processing system uses mechanical buckers that separate the flowers and leaves from the stalks, and a high-speed trimming system. Safari says this has reduced repetitive strain injuries and increased employee satisfaction. And the company is thrilled because the harvest has gone from five days down to just one day. The automation does come with the drawback of eliminating human jobs, but with the smaller workforce available, this is what companies need to do. And for those employees working, they are now apparently happier. There are some critics of automated trimming machines who just prefer the precise human touch of trimming by hand, and that niche market will probably remain. But for overall costs and employee retention, automation is something to seriously consider. Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed