Why Cannabis Producers Outgrow Spreadsheet Planning

Sep 23, 2025

Part Two: How Leading Cannabis Producers Plan Smarter to Scale

Author:

Libby Cutress

Summary

Scaling a cannabis operation isn’t just about growing more product. It’s about ensuring every order ships on time, every compliance box is checked, and every team is aligned. That’s where planning and scheduling make the difference between constant firefighting and confident growth.

In Part One of this series, we looked at why spreadsheets and whiteboards eventually fail cannabis producers. Now let’s explore how leading operators are planning smarter to scale — with real examples from the field.

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When the React library was introduced into the community some years back, it was accepted and soon gained lots of popularity as the choice for building out user interfaces in a composable way. The major idea was that each UI interface can be split into multiple different small components and at the end of the day, these components can be combined or composed to form the whole larger UI as intended.


class App extends React.Component { 
render() { 
return ( 
      <ColorContext.Provider value="white"> 
      <SampleComponent /> 
      </ColorContext.Provider> 
    ); 
  } 
}

As a background to what we are trying to present, if we were building multiple UI components for example, we indeed have a component tree which includes the parent component, which becomes the source of truth for our data, and due to the interrelation dependence on the parent components and those underneath it known as the children or descendant descendant descendant descendant descendant component to share data, it comes a point where this becomes an issue.

As we stated earlier, for small to medium apps, sharing data across many different components could be easy, since all we need to do is pass this data or props across or down from the parent to every child that needs it. Now this is fine. What if we have a hugely nested or a large component tree and we intend to pass the data or prop down this tree?

React context, a core React API provides an easier interface for developers to share data or pass props down multiple levels deep in our React applications. From the React docs, with react context, we can easily pass data down to the very component that needs it at any level in the component tree, without having to explicitly pass this data down each component level in the tree. This is all there is to React context.

To drive this definition further for more clarity, say you have a particular theme color set at the parent component level of the app, and you only intend to pass it down to the thirtieth component down the tree, without having to pass it down every level until you get to that thirtieth level, but just pass it down to only the thirtiet

Growth Doesn’t Happen by Accident

As our COO Hardeep puts it, “The next phase of growth doesn’t happen by accident - it happens by design.”

In cannabis, that design depends on orchestrating dozens of moving parts: batches, COAs, labels, rooms, people, machines, and packaging. Without a reliable plan, even small issues snowball into missed deadlines and expensive fixes.

Case Example: A Canadian Cannabis Producer

When we spoke with one of our customers - an award winning Canadian cannabis producer, they described a familiar struggle:

PO Surprises: A province order that normally called for a set number of units suddenly jumped by 7x, triggering a scramble to check cones, bulk flower, and packaging.
Manual Planning: Like many, their production plan lived in Monday.com boards, spreadsheets, and vault checks. The information was scattered, so every week started with reactive planning.
Labour Bottlenecks: Pre-roll rooms were constantly stretched thin. A missing COA or a late label meant staff had to pivot at the last minute, often staying late to catch up.

As one team member explained, “One way or another, the thing is getting on the plane.” But hitting deadlines came at the cost of overtime, stress, and lost efficiency.

What Smarter Planning Looks Like

Instead of relying on scattered tools and human memory, modern cannabis producers are moving to integrated scheduling systems. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

A shared, live production calendar: Every department - QA, packaging, pre-roll - works from the same plan. No more chasing updates in email or Slack.
Linked work orders: Packaging schedules connect directly to batches and COAs, so teams know what’s ready and what’s waiting.
Conflict-free scheduling: Rooms, equipment, and people aren’t double-booked. If a COA is late, downstream tasks automatically adjust.
Labour visibility: Managers can see workload by room and shift, preventing bottlenecks and reducing the need for costly overtime.
Scenario planning: What happens if a COA takes five extra days? What if an order doubles overnight? Smart systems let you adjust proactively, not reactively.

From Firefighting to Forecasting

The biggest shift we see in leading cannabis operations is moving from firefighting to forecasting. Instead of asking, “What do we need to make today?”, they’re asking, “What do we need to have ready two weeks from now?”

That forward-looking mindset gives teams space to:

Plan material orders with confidence.
Balance labour across pre-roll, trimming, and packaging.
Anticipate QA bottlenecks before they stall production.
Hit every shipment window without sacrificing margins.

Why This Matters Now

Cannabis producers face increasing complexity: more SKUs, more compliance, more competition. At the same time, margins are tightening. You can’t afford to waste time and labour on reactive scheduling.

Planning smarter doesn’t just prevent chaos - it enables growth. With the right system, you can:

Expand into new formats without breaking existing workflows.
Scale production without scaling overhead at the same rate.
Build the reliability that provincial distributors and retail partners demand.

Next Steps

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets and whiteboards, you’re not alone - but the most successful cannabis producers are moving on.

Elevated Signals Planning & Scheduling was built for regulated manufacturers who need to scale without chaos. With a shared, live schedule that links batches, COAs, labour, and inventory, it gives cannabis teams the clarity they need to grow.

Book a demo today and see how smarter scheduling can help your operation scale with confidence. Or download our Planning & Scheduling guide to learn more.

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Elevated Signals, founded in Vancouver in 2016, offers a GMP‑validated SaaS that unifies real‑time inventory, quality and environmental data, replacing paper systems.

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// Built for the Bold