If you think “innovation” means slapping a touchscreen on 10-year-old hardware, we’re not in the same industry.
In cannabis, real innovation isn’t found in flashy branding or retrofitted equipment with a new paint job. It’s found in the daily grind of engineering rooms, R&D labs, and on the production floor where the real friction lives.
And if you’re not solving real friction, you’re not innovating. You’re just dressing up inefficiency.
Too often, what passes for innovation in cannabis is just a performance. A new interface on an old system. A press release about automation that doesn’t actually reduce labor. A machine that “works” only if a human makes constant adjustments. This is innovation theater, and it’s killing progress.
Cannabis is Not “Just Another” CPG Industry
The cannabis industry is not like any other CPG category. The challenges we face are unique and require equally unique solutions. We’re dealing with fragile biomass, tight tolerances, volatile regulations, and the ever-present weight of 280E. Margins are thin. Supply chains are inconsistent. Compliance can change with a new bill in the statehouse.
And yet, we still see companies bringing in equipment originally designed for pharma or food, hoping it’ll just work in cannabis. It doesn’t. It never has. Trying to adapt outdated tools to modern cannabis production is like using a VHS rewinder in a digital studio. At best, it’s inefficient. At worst, it’s actively sabotaging your throughput and quality.
If You’re Not Thinking in Systems, You’re Not Innovating
A lot of people think innovation means creating a machine. But it’s bigger than that. Innovation is understanding the entire system, understanding the value chain, and asking: Where is value being lost? Where is energy wasted? Where is labor redundant? In cannabis, there are breaks in almost every part of the chain.
Trimming and packaging often waste labor on repetitive tasks. Infused product lines run into inconsistency, which leads to failed QC. Pre-roll lines still depend heavily on human touch, creating variability and slowdowns. Labeling and compliance documentation remain frustratingly manual.
The common thread? These are all process problems. And yet, we see companies trying to solve them with gimmicks, not systems thinking. If your “solution” creates a new bottleneck downstream, it’s not a solution. It’s a shift in pain.
Real-World Examples of Systems Thinking in Action
In a well-designed operation, the cone filling process isn’t just automated; it’s paired with inline weight checks that catch QC failures before they ever reach the packaging table. Packaging lines are built to flow, combining labeling, sealing, and batch tracking in one seamless motion rather than forcing products to pass through three separate stations. Data collection doesn’t end at the POS; it runs from the trim room to the packaging bench, mapping exactly where yield is lost so those leaks can be plugged. Even something as simple as adhesive application can be reimagined. Swapping out messy, manual processes for food-grade systems that deliver consistent results while cutting labor and waste.
True innovation sees the whole map. It eliminates drag at every turn. It multiplies your ability to scale without adding cost linearly and makes life easier, not just for execs in the boardroom but for the operators on the floor.
Shallow Fixes Carry Steep Costs
The cannabis industry doesn’t have time to waste on shallow fixes. If you buy the wrong automation system, it could take 18 to 24 months to realize it was a mistake. By then, you’ve spent capital, trained staff, disrupted workflows, and probably burned through runway.
The opportunity cost is massive. Meanwhile, the operators who do invest in purpose-built innovation are increasing throughput, reducing shrink, improving margins, and creating a durable competitive edge. That’s the real bottom line of innovation. It’s not about looking futuristic. It’s about performing better today.
Start From Zero – Not Someone Else’s Leftovers
The best solutions in cannabis don’t start with a catalog of prebuilt machinery. They start with a blank sheet and a clear problem: how do we help cannabis operators do more, with less? That means building automation systems specifically for cannabis, from the ground up. Not with borrowed logic or borrowed tech, but by engineering every part of the process for the exact demands of this market.
It requires sitting with operators, walking production floors, and asking hard questions about labor, yield, downtime, compliance, and costs. It means studying friction points until the real barriers are understood and then designing tools to remove them. In some cases, it means running production yourself, just to see every pain point firsthand.
That’s not convenience. That’s obsession.
It’s long hours, trial and error, and more iterations than anyone wants to admit, but that’s the price of building something that actually changes how work gets done.
This is the Survival Phase of the Industry
We’re at a turning point. The cannabis operators who survive the next few years will be the ones who treat innovation not as a luxury but as a necessity. Not as a buzzword but as a battle plan.
That doesn’t mean chasing trends or buying the shiniest object at trade shows. It means investing in smart systems, obsessing over ROI, and demanding tools that actually work.
Operators Need to Start Asking Better Questions
Will this system reduce my headcount without sacrificing quality? Does this machine work with cannabis or is it a general-purpose tool repurposed for our industry? Is this tech built by people who understand the nuances of compliance, variability in flower, and SKU complexity? Can this solution evolve as I scale? If the answer to those questions isn’t a clear yes, it’s not innovation. It’s inertia.
A Message for the Cannabis Builders
If you’re developing products for cannabis, don’t bring us warmed-over solutions from legacy industries. We don’t need pharma’s leftovers. We don’t need food and beverage templates.
Cannabis needs machines that can handle sticky flower. Systems that don’t jam. Interfaces that don’t require a PhD to operate. We need modular, scalable, data-rich automation built for people who wear gloves, not suits.
In other words, we need real innovation.
Here’s the Challenge:
If you’re building for cannabis, build for cannabis. If you’re innovating, make sure you’re not just rearranging furniture in a burning house. Because the people who survive the next five years won’t be the ones who shout the loudest. They’ll be the ones who actually solve the hardest problems.
Want to be part of that future? Get to work. Or get out of the way.
About the Author
Nohtal Partansky is the founder and CEO of Sorting Robotics. As the Founder and CEO of Sorting Robotics, Nohtal presently oversees the implementation of AI-powered robotics and automation throughout North America to address these issues. Importantly, during his time at NASA-JPL, he played a key role as a cognizant engineer in the MOXIE project, which now generates oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere on the planet’s surface.
