How to Choose the Right Cannabis Manufacturing Software
When doing business in a volatile industry such as cannabis, one that’s continuously transforming due to regulations, it’s essential to stay ahead of industry trends and challenges– as well as potential challenges.
At the heart of any successful cannabis manufacturing company is choosing and implementing cannabis industry-specific technology. Selecting the right cannabis software among the many available options takes time and depends heavily on your business needs.
The software selection process for cannabis manufacturers is further burdened because:
- Software implementation costs are high, meaning selecting the wrong one leads to a loss of time, resources, and money.
- Cannabis operators must do their due diligence since little information and reviews exist about many cannabis services in the market, including manufacturing software.
- Numerous software solution providers exist, each offering features that differ from the other, thus, stressing the need to find one that fits your operations, employees, and company needs.
Cannabis manufacturers can’t afford to take every solution provider at face value with that in mind. To empower your business with the insight to choose the right cannabis manufacturing software, it starts with understanding what the software is.
What Is Cannabis Manufacturing Software?
A cannabis manufacturing solution is specifically designed to manage your entire cannabis manufacturing process and supply chain, from harvesting, drying, and producing the cannabis to getting your desired cannabis product.
These solutions are significant for a cannabis business because they automate processes, collect data, and report it in a central location in an easily digestible way that, in turn, can be used to benefit the growth of your business.
Choosing the right cannabis management software is vital due to unending cannabis industry challenges and how it contributes to your business’s success. With cannabis manufacturing software, it’s not merely about finding the suitable functionalities for seed-to-sale; you need one that works to provide the proper insight and transparency for your business. This includes:
- Transparency to ensure your business is compliant with government regulations.
- Insight from records and reports about your production, inventory, and other supply chain activities in a bid to help you make valuable, informed business decisions.
Choosing A Cannabis Manufacturing Software
The right cannabis manufacturing solution will have the flexibility to scale and grow with the needs of your business. Let’s look at how to choose the right one.
Step 1: Evaluate Your Cannabis Business
Before looking into the features of any potential software solution, start by identifying your company needs, growth objectives, and operational efficiency expectations.
Determine:
- Why you need the software solution
- The manual processes you need automated
- Whether you want to centralize some of your processes
For instance, a cannabis manufacturer that wants to add specific extraction methods to their process needs data analysis to ensure operational efficiency by identifying gaps and mapping profit margins. In this case, the cannabis manufacturing software should have a robust data reporting and analytics feature.
Step 2: Determine The Features You Need In Your Cannabis Manufacturing Software
Some important things to keep in mind when choosing your cannabis manufacturing software include:
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs): Expect changes within your company. Your software solution should withstand the changes without causing any downtime when it happens. This also means making sure that your cannabis manufacturing software can withstand the agile nature of the business market today. The software should be built for innovation.
- Data: You need real-time data without the hassle of sifting through the massive amounts of data your software collects. Your seed-to-sale software should collect, analyze, and present the data in a centralized and easily accessible format. Additionally, the software should track your data to prevent a lack of waste tracking, leading to compliance negligence.
- Integration capabilities: Your cannabis manufacturing software should integrate seamlessly with your current processes, like cannabis inventory management and data leveraging, and any additional tools or strategies you intend to add to your manufacturing business in the future.
- Your Employees: The seed-to-sale software should advance the operations of your employees. They should also find it easy to use and implement within their daily tasks and responsibilities. If your employees quickly adopt the solution and determine its value, they will become more productive and efficient faster.
- Customer Support: You need a software solution provider that is ready to handle any unexpected problems. Additionally, verify that your solution provider keeps updated with the regulations of the cannabis industry. This is important in the industry since you must maintain government compliance at all times.
Step 3: Choose Your Software
Now that you know what your business needs and what to look for in cannabis manufacturing software, it’s time to choose the right type for your business. Cannabis ERP is an excellent choice for cannabis manufacturers to get optimal productivity, efficiency, and scalability.
Here’s why: Cannabis ERP solutions are specifically designed for the industry. As such, they will manage all your processes effectively, authenticate and analyze your data, and track all your operations for high-value performance. Cannabis ERP also works well with the seed-to-sale requirements regarding compliance and tracking the supply chain.
In A Nutshell
By and large, ERP solutions are the jackpot of cannabis manufacturing software. Functionality is key to choosing the best cannabis manufacturing software for your business. Ensure that your choice can handle all your operations, current and future, seamlessly while aiming for enhanced productivity and efficiency.