Your guide to managing your CBD manufacturing operations
Manufacturing
5 min
Manufacturing and Inventory Management Software
CBD has become a hot product for various reasons in the last few years. Despite its controversial roots, it’s managed to become a popular treatment for various ailments, a tool for relaxing, and an all-around hit with consumers. But behind all of this popularity is an increase in CBD manufacturing.
This guide will cover everything you need to know about managing CBD manufacturing operations, from what it is to how you need to report and monitor the manufacturing process.
Short for cannabidiol, CBD is the cousin of the infamous THC, which gives marijuana its psychoactive properties.
Both CBD and THC can be found in marijuana, but CBD doesn’t give any psychoactive effects (a.k.a., a “high”). It offers some of the same health benefits, and since it doesn’t have this taboo attached to it, it’s been able to find legal footing in the last few years for various use cases.
CBD is nearly always derived from hemp plants, a strain of the marijuana plant with a negligible amount of THC. This means CBD can be manufactured without worrying about running afoul of the law.
As mentioned, the interest in CBD primarily revolves around its health benefits. That’s why you’ll typically see CBD available as a supplement, tincture, or mixed in with certain foods and topicals.
Below are just a few of the key benefits CBD is said to have.
One contributing factor to CBD’s immense popularity is its use as a treatment for anxiety and depression. CBD is believed to inhibit certain hormones that could amplify stress and depression. Studies have shown that CBD can reduce stress levels when publicly speaking, and tests on mice have proven it a successful antidepressant.
While the research for CBD as depression and anxiety treatment for humans is still new, the preliminary evidence is encouraging. This research, coupled with its ease of access and limited side effects, has made it a popular treatment for those struggling with anxiety and depression.
The FDA has approved CBD as a treatment for certain types of epilepsy. It works by reducing activity in certain parts of the brain that, when overactive, can spike and cause an epileptic episode.
This same property has made it potent against PTSD. It can “dull” certain areas of the brain, preventing the more severe symptoms of PTSD.
It’s important to note that guidance from a medical and psychiatric professional is critical for both of these conditions. And for PTSD patients, regular therapy should generally be used alongside CBD treatments.
The highly addictive nature of opioids can be partially attributed to intense withdrawal symptoms. CBD has been shown to effectively treat many of these withdrawal effects, including cue-induced cravings.
This means that opioid users can use CBD to treat their addiction. Again, the evidence is still preliminary, but enough to make CBD a popular option in this area.
Since THC is still a controlled substance throughout much of the United States, CBD must be manufactured under intense scrutiny, regulations, and management. That’s why managing CBD manufacturing can be a challenge. Here’s how to manufacture CBD while adhering to government guidelines.
First, hemp plants are grown under strict conditions. Only low-THC plants can be used to harvest CBD lawfully, which means having anything in your hemp farm that isn’t considered low-THC is illegal. Immediately, this can make managing CBD manufacturing a unique challenge.
To keep THC levels below the lawful limit, farmers need to conduct frequent tests and report on their crops. This is a time-consuming process with no room for error.
Next, the plants are harvested. Again, harvesting hemp plants requires a careful, strict eye and repetitive procedures. Exact counts, weights, and CBD/THC levels need to be reported during this process.
Once harvested, the hemp is usually stored in a warehouse, awaiting processing. To create a great, legal product, you need to balance quality control and meeting regulations during the storage process.
When the hemp crops are ready to be processed, they undergo a three-stage procedure.
First, they’re milled into a fine powder.
Then, this powder goes through the extraction and purification process. There are several ways to conduct these two stages of the processing procedure.
Using solvents is the most popular and accessible extraction method. This method generally uses food-grade ethanol, propane, or butane. Plants and trimmings are soaked in or washed with the solvent to draw out the CBD (and other) compounds. The mixture is then further refined.
Those looking to create a natural or organic product can try natural extraction that uses olive oil to pull the CBD from the milled plant.
There are also CO2 and steam methods for extracting CBD, achieving varying purity levels.
Due to regulations, you need to keep track of several data points when managing CBD manufacturing. We’ve gone through these requirements and noted some of the essential pieces of information you’ll need to monitor when manufacturing cannabidiol.
As you might expect, the key to managing CBD manufacturing is monitoring the extraction method and process. Regulators and consumers want to know how you extract your CBD and what occurs during the extraction process. This includes providing information about the purity and strength of the CBD.
Next, those managing CBD manufacturing will need to keep track of their inventory. That means reporting the number of plants in your warehouse. You also need to track their THC levels, how many you start with versus end with, and so on.
As your business grows, this can become a more challenging task. Software solutions can make tracking your CBD and hemp inventory far more manageable as well as more accurate.
Quality control is another critical factor you need to track. Quality control is essential for adhering to FDA guidelines and meeting consumer standards.
Nearing the end of the manufacturing chain is packaging. Once individual products are boxed, the way they’re tracked changes. Rather than being tracked as separate items, they’ll be tracked as batch orders, wholesale items, etc.
You’ll need to track this change and prep items for shipping. Providing shipping and delivery information to your customers is another essential factor to consider.
Waste management is important for any operation, especially with cannabis products. There are strict regulations about the disposal of hemp and CBD.
Businesses will need to monitor this process and ensure that their disposal methods align with local ordinances. Waste management can also be crucial to understanding your revenue and losses.
Finally, managing CBD manufacturing requires you to closely watch local regulations and laws. This essentially encompasses everything we’ve discussed so far, but it’s worth noting because it’s such a crucial piece of the puzzle. These laws and regulations can change often, so it’s important to stay ahead of them.
Keeping track of these factors while managing CBD manufacturing doesn’t have to be complicated. Brahmin Solutions offers affordable digital tools that you can use to automate and streamline your manufacturing processes. Reach out to our team today to learn more!