How GlassHouse Botanics released cannabis batches 80% faster

“As soon as we started using Elevated Signals we had an accurate view of our operations in real-time. We no longer needed to communicate back and forth with team members to understand what was happening with inventory in the facility.”
- Mariana Black, Chief Compliance Officer & QAP, Glasshouse Botanics Inc.

🌿 Highlights 🌿

Real-time view into operations and inventory
Compile cannabis batch records 80% faster
Optimize workflows by reducing unnecessary steps
Smooth onboarding with a dependable customer success team

Download the case study, or read the full story below 👇

The Situation

About GlassHouse Botanics Inc.

GlassHouse Botanics Inc. is a cannabis cultivator and processor focused on producing pharmaceutical-grade cannabis flower and products in its 43,000 sq. ft facility in Whitewater Region, Ontario. GlassHouse is ICANNG.A.P and GACP certified, allowing it to export to Israel and other markets accepting GACP-certified cannabis. Glasshouse Botanics also received EU Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification in 2024, an essential requirement for exporting medical cannabis to countries in the EU.

Read: GPP vs GMP certified: The differences and why they are important

Seed-to-sale software no longer meets operational needs

Before receiving its licence, GlassHouse decided to use seed-to-sale software to manage its inventory. Once the facility began production in 2019, the team immediately noticed inventory issues and realized that the software wasn’t meeting their needs. “We had different inventory numbers in the system versus in reality. The platform couldn’t tell us how many plants were in each batch accurately. Instead, we had to rely on paper records,” notes Mariana Black, Chief Compliance Officer and Quality Assurance Person (QAP) at GlassHouse Botanics.

The team couldn't justify using the seed-to-sale system anymore. They decided to replace it with a manual approach consisting of Microsoft Office forms, spreadsheets and paper records.

A need for faster cannabis batch record release

The manual system made cannabis batch releases time-consuming. The QA department was spending time trying to reconcile inventory and investigating discrepancies instead of doing QA work.”

“It took several hours per batch to locate, review, correct, reconcile documents and communicate back and forth between teams.”

“One of the challenges of our manual system was that we couldn't properly track post-harvest processes,” added Mariana. As the company evolved, the processes constantly changed, and it wasn’t easy to keep updating the manual tracking system. Instead, inventory was tracked on paper and calculated manually.

After a year of using the paper and spreadsheet system, the team at GlassHouse decided to look for alternative ways to manage inventory and recordkeeping. They explored building a custom inventory software system, but “It would have cost thousands of dollars to build and maintain,” noted Mariana.

Credit: GlassHouse Botanics Inc.

The Solution

Searching for cannabis software that can be customized to existing procedures

“Elevated Signals came highly recommended by people we knew in the cannabis industry,” said Mariana. “What stood out was that the software could be customized to our existing procedures, and we could create custom fields in forms.” The team couldn’t find this flexibility with any other software they explored.

Elevated Signals is a cloud-based Manufacturing Execution System designed specifically for licensed cannabis producers. The software streamlines data collection for inventory management and quality control recordkeeping into one customizable platform.

With the help of Elevated Signals’ customer success team and dedicated champions at GlassHouse, the implementation of Elevated Signals was a success, with all of the operations and QA teams on board.

“The customer success team at Elevated Signals was fantastic and extremely reliable. No matter how many questions we had or the nature of the question, they always got back to us,” said Mariana.

Read: Change management strategies to help your team adopt new technology

Mariana explains what it was like when they switched to Elevated Signals. “As soon as we started using Elevated Signals, we had an accurate view of our operations in real-time. We no longer needed to communicate back and forth with team members to know what was happening in the facility as we could see how much we produced in a batch instantly.”

Furthermore, most of the paper records and spreadsheets used by the operations and QA teams became obsolete. “It was exciting when we got rid of big binders in the grow rooms and excel sheets to track inventory - that was huge for us,” says Mariana. Elevated Signals is cloud-based, meaning records can be completed electronically and accessed anywhere. “Now everyone completes records in Elevated Signals, and there is much less room for error,” says Mariana.

To effectively use Elevated Signals, the GlassHouse team optimized their processes. “Elevated Signals changed the flow of how we worked and made us re-think how we were doing things,” said Mariana. Elevated Signals simplified processes, making their jobs easier.

“I used to bring destruction records home on a Friday to sign off, and now it takes me seconds to complete.”

Implementing the Elevated Signals platform meant a centralized data source accessible to all team members from anywhere. It resulted in less back-and-forth communication, optimized operations, fewer errors, accurate inventory, and overall peace of mind. “Elevated Signals has made things so much easier. I’m surprised we were able to manage for so long with our previous system,” said Mariana.

Credit: GlassHouse Botanics Inc.

The Sucess

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View inventory and operations in real-time.“In the previous inventory system, there wasn’t an easy way to see how many plants we had or what we produced at the end of the day, and we had to rely on paper logs. With Elevated Signals, we can access all of that information in real-time,” said Mariana.

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Reduced time spent collecting batch production records by 80%. It used to take a QA Associate around four hours per batch to gather all batch production records in preparation for batch review. Now, records are automatically added to the batch in Elevated Signals, and QA can digitally review them from anywhere.

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Remove unnecessary steps and optimize workflows. The previous inventory systems were fragmented, which led to inefficiencies and redundancies in processes. With Elevated Signals, GlassHouse Botanics no longer needed to record data on countless paper and spreadsheet records. “Now, every department knows where to find the information in Elevated Signals,” said Mariana.

🌿

Smooth onboarding with a dependable customer success team. “The customer success team is fantastic. We can rely on them and always know they will get back to us.” Mariana says.

“Elevated Signals has made inventory and record keeping so much easier for us. Looking back, I'm surprised we were able to manage with our previous seed-to-sale system.”
- Mariana Black, Chief Compliance Officer & QAP, Glasshouse Botanics Inc.

Looking for a cannabis seed-to-sale platform or cannabis ERP to help you manage your production inventory? Learn how Elevated Signals’ cannabis manufacturing software can help you on your path to profitability. Book a demo today. 😎

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