The ERP technology market is developing solutions for cannabis growers and helping them meet changing distribution and regulatory requirements in an expanding universe of medicinal and recreational marijuana use.
ProcessPro Software of St. Cloud, Minnesota,Opens a new window  is the latest ERP company to move from supporting core agricultural clients to spinning off an application for marijuana farmers. The company’s Cultivation Management System, or CMS, is an integrated plant management solution that provides tracking capabilities from propagation to harvest.
ProcessPro has 30 years of industry expertise and manufacturing knowledge backing it up. The company says the latest iteration of its ERP system has been developed for seed-to-sale and farm-to-fork growers and manufacturers. It’s powered by the Global adaptable ERP platform to provide flexibility and ease of use scalability to meet the specific compliance, inventory and financial needs of cannabis farmers.
Under federal law, cannabis is legal across the United States if it has less than 0.3% of THC, the plant’s active ingredient. Several states have legalized cultivation and sales of cannabis with more than 0.3% of THC for various medicinal and recreational uses.
“We’re dedicated to utilizing our depth of experience in regulated markets to develop industry-leading functionality in our ERP solutions,†says Joe Blauert, general manager at ProcessPro. “The Cultivation Management System allows our clients to seamlessly integrate their growing operations with sales and manufacturing while maintaining traceability and compliance.â€
The CMS lets farmers optimize their greenhouse operations through tracking of individual plants and plant growth stages, managing growing conditions to increase yields, facilitating quality control testing and maintaining formulas and recipes to deliver true seed-to-saleOpens a new window and farm-to-forkOpens a new window capabilities.
The solution is a holistic one, providing unique identifiers for each plant to record activity, costs and quality tests through the entire cultivation cycle, helping farmers to meet their regulatory compliance. Integration with state government approved software like METRIC, BIOTRACK THC and the Leaf Data SystemOpens a new window is provided.
Using an ERP platform like this, growers can easily manage their formulas and recipes, control quality and manage inventory. Lot and plant tracking, intelligent analytics and reporting are all part of the package, which has grown from supporting a series of agricultural and pharmaceutical industries where strict compliance is a necessity. This includes the nutraceutical and cosmetics markets.
The ProcessPro cultivation system  is designed to meet the needs of manufacturers that combine batches of mixtures. The system seamlessly integrates all aspects of plant operation, from beginning order entry through manufacturing, packaging, shipping, inventory and accounting.
Last month, ProcessPro completed an enhanced API integration with Genesis R&D, the food formulation and labelling software from ESHA Research, allowing food and beverage manufacturers to generate Nutrition Facts Panels, ingredient and allergen statements, and barcodes that use data housed in the central database of the ERP.
Key takeaways:
- ProcessPro has launched a version of its ERP platform that can support the needs of cannabis growers in the United States.
- The Cultivation Management System combines lessons learned from serving the needs of both organic food growers and the pharmaceutical industry.
- The ERP system can help growers respond to orders while also tracking individual plants and leaf batches, in compliance with the monitoring standards imposed by state governments.
- The modifications bring a higher level of efficiency and insight into the daily management and processing of cannabis crops.