There is a paradigm shift happening right before our eyes. Trimming is the largest and most expensive bottleneck of cannabis flower processing, and bottlenecks are ripe targets for disruptive technology. The marijuana industry is no exception.
When such a disruption offers huge advantages to cultivators, change can come swiftly and permanently. As trimming machines emerge that can match the consistency and quality of hand-trimming at a fraction of the cost, the industry will undergo significant changes.
Tools of the Trade: 
Metallo 10-K0040
While automated trimming machines are gaining in popularity, hand-trimming remains the most common finishing technique in the cannabis industry.
And every company — whether they finish buds by hand or by machine — needs top-notch shears to keep plants in the best shape possible before harvest season.
The Metallo 10-K0040 scissors are great for harvesting or trimming. The needlepoint blade gives operators the ability to maneuver in between leaves with precision to eliminate dead or excess growth for a healthier, more potent yield. The lightweight design is easier on your hand than a pair of traditional scissors, and the smaller blades provides better control when cutting.
Metallo, a company based in the Netherlands, manufactures high-quality pruning tools that are used throughout the world. U&B Growing Supplies is the sole U.S. distributor of Metallo products, offering a complete range of ergonomically designed shears, knives, scissors, accessories and replacement parts for both professionals and hobbyists.
More information: www.ubgrowing.com.
Those who see this change early and manage to ride this wave will thrive. Those who remain in denial will see their opportunities shrink considerably. 
Lessons can be learned from previous examples of industry disruptions, especially when technology impacts agriculture.
Hand-trimming is the tried-and-true method for removing extraneous plant material from the flower. Even after trying machine-assisted trimming, many cultivators revert to hand-trimming, because the machine is either less effective at trimming or it damages the flower. The keen eye and deft hand of a seasoned hand-trimmer can usually assure a quality product.
But trimming machines are constantly improving, and hand-trimming also has its drawbacks. Assembling and managing a crew of people comes with concerns over security, cleanliness, quality control, product losses and regulatory compliance. But the two biggest issues of hand-trimming are the cost of labor and the delay to market. It can cost a cultivator $150-$225 per pound of finished flower for hand-trimming. And it can delay time to market by many days or even months, which impacts both cash flow and product freshness.
Look at the economics behind cannabis processing. For the sake of this article, let’s say it costs an indoor grower about $1,100 to bring a pound of flower from seed to market. At $150 per pound, hand-trimming accounts for 13.6% of the operation’s direct cost of goods sold. An operation that produces 50 pounds per week would pay $7,500 per week in trimming labor, not including benefits and other ancillary employee costs. At one pound per day for the typical hand-trimmer, it would take a crew of at least seven full-time employees to plow through all that material every week.
If cultivators contract with a mobile machine-based trim service operator, it might cost them only $1,500 to process the same 50 pounds in a single day. This saves $6,000 per week and gets product to market much faster. Contracting with machine-trimming services also gives cultivators the flexibility of when to trim and how much to trim at any given cycle. Plus, it provides expanding facilities with quality trimming exactly when they are ready for it.
But indoor growers are not the only winners in this model. Seasonal outdoor growers with far greater batches to process need this type of service intensively, but only for a portion of the year.
Larger outdoor operations are the one model where machine-assisted trimming has been accepted for years. These cultivators often use a wet trimmer for the sake of processing speed, but sometimes sacrifice the pristinely finished flower of dry trimming or hand-trimming, and the wet trimmings and kief are tougher to utilize economically.
Depending on the varying laws of each state, dispensaries can also benefit from being able to take in untrimmed flower and process it themselves, yielding additional profit per pound. Smaller grower cooperatives can aggregate their product to schedule a trimming session where they can time-share a machine.
As machine trimming services come on the scene, what happens to those who make their living as trimmers? Some may choose to leverage their manicuring skills, credibility and industry contacts to join or even operate a mobile machine-trimming service. Being self-employed is not for everyone. It takes a lot of planning, organization, management and sheer determination to build your own business. But the rewards can include tremendous freedom and economic security for those who succeed.
Contractors of current hand-trimming service crews can also pivot with this industry shift. They often have a well-established client base, a cadre of manicurists and experience with handling resource logistics. These contractors could even switch to a pure rental model with no contract personnel at all.
It’s clear that cultivators and dispensaries large and small will benefit from this shift. But it will also bring entirely new opportunities for those who recognize the nature of this shift and take advantage of it.
Rudi Wiedemann has more than 30 years of startup and business management experience, mostly in Silicon Valley. He earned his degree in nuclear physics from the State University of New York at Albany in 1974, and is currently the chief operating officer of Genuine Industries, which manufactures the Maestro trimming machine.