For years, cannabis manufacturers have been forced to build pre-roll production by stitching together equipment from multiple vendors. One company supplies cones, another builds the filling machine, another handles coating, another packages finished products, and quality control often relies on manual inspection. While each component may perform well independently, the disconnect between them creates unnecessary labor, downtime, inconsistent quality, and lost production.
At Accelerant Manufacturing, we’ve taken a different approach. Rather than designing individual machines, we’ve focused on building what we call the complete pre-roll platform—an integrated production platform where every stage of manufacturing is designed to complement the next. The goal isn’t simply faster production; it’s predictable quality, higher uptime, and the flexibility today’s cannabis manufacturers need to compete.
That platform begins in an unexpected place: our pre-roll cone manufacturing facility in Iowa. By producing our own “Swiss Cones” ceramic-tipped pre-roll cones domestically, we can engineer the cone itself for automation rather than treating it as a commodity. Our proprietary blunt cone formulation was specifically developed to withstand high-speed automated filling while maintaining structural integrity and consistent burn characteristics. The ceramic tips themselves open another layer of opportunity, including precision laser engraving for premium branding, batch identification, QR codes, and customized retail experiences.
The cones then flow naturally into the PRO2 pre-roll machine, where Accelerant’s Production-as-a-Service (PaaS) model changes the economics of automation. Instead of requiring operators to make a significant capital investment before producing a single pre-roll, manufacturers can scale production through a usage-based model that aligns equipment costs with output. This allows emerging brands and established multi-state operators alike to increase capacity while preserving capital for cultivation, processing, and expansion.
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As infused products continue to drive category growth, coating technology has become equally important. Our CoatPRO system was designed to automate one of the industry’s most labor-intensive and inconsistent processes—applying distillate and kief at commercial production volumes while maintaining repeatability from batch to batch. Integrating coating directly into the broader manufacturing workflow eliminates handoffs that traditionally introduce variability and increase labor costs.
Automation, however, is only as valuable as the confidence it creates. That’s why our next generation of technology extends beyond production itself. Vision 360 Quality Control, currently under development, is designed to provide comprehensive inspection throughout the manufacturing process, helping identify defects before products reach packaging. By combining machine vision with production analytics, manufacturers gain immediate feedback instead of discovering quality issues after thousands of units have already been produced.
The final piece of the platform is packaging automation. Whether the finished product is destined for tubes, jars, or tins, integrated packaging systems will allow manufacturers to move directly from finished pre-roll to retail-ready packaging with significantly less manual handling. Reducing touchpoints not only improves efficiency but also supports product consistency and compliance throughout the production line.
Looking ahead, perhaps the most exciting opportunity lies in designing every component around automation from the beginning. We’re developing specialized robotic loading systems capable of handling ceramic-tipped cones using purpose-built tower boxes engineered specifically for high-volume production. Rather than asking robots to adapt to existing packaging formats, we’re designing packaging, conveyors, robotics, and manufacturing equipment as a unified system—removing bottlenecks before they ever occur.
Cannabis manufacturing is rapidly maturing. As operators face increasing pressure to improve margins while maintaining premium quality, the companies that succeed won’t simply automate individual tasks—they’ll optimize the entire production platform. At Accelerant Manufacturing, we believe that’s the next evolution of pre-roll production: not isolated machines, but a connected manufacturing platform where cones, filling, coating, quality control, robotics, packaging, and data work together as one continuous process.
The future of cannabis manufacturing isn’t built around a single piece of equipment. It’s built around a platform (and the vision of a “Lights Out Pre-roll Factory” where raw cones enter one end and fully packaged, vision-inspected, ceramic-tipped products leave the other with minimal human intervention.
