Leading vape company turns to Thompson Duke Industrial’s automated vape filling equipment to boost consistency and help fulfill its mission of delivering delightful experiences
Background
Airo Brands is known for delivering exceptional vape experiences. The team built the company with customer experience at the center, marrying the oils, terpenes, and hardware in a way that stood out from the rest. And that remains true today, as Airo’s products are designed with the latest technology, high-quality materials, natural ingredients, and intuitive features, which have helped it become one of the top-selling brands in the industry. No matter what type of Airo vaporizer, AiroPro, AiroSport, or AiroX, a customer uses, they can count on a premium experience. Airo also offers various natural Airopod blends, including Artisan CBD, Live Flower, Live Resin, Strain, and Artisan, all of which have multiple flavor combinations. Airo’s dedication to creating state-of-the-art products worked, as they continue to see year-over-year growth and are available in 1,300 dispensaries in 16 states and Puerto Rico.
Challenge
With three types of vaporizers and an array of cartridge oil formulations, the Airo team is always looking for partners with equipment that can accommodate various products, streamline operations and produce consistent, high-quality devices to grow the business. As Airo expanded into new markets, they worked with a variety of partners who used different machinery and equipment. But given Airo’s complex product offering, there were potential challenges with oil viscosity, temperature, and dispense control, which could make it difficult to produce a high-quality, consistent product. The team needed its partners to use equipment that they could rely on to easily switch out products and get the job done right every time.
Solution
Early on, Airo Brands used septum-filled cartridges that were tricky to fill with the machinery they were using. After going through several vape-filling equipment providers, they not only had challenges with the equipment itself, but it became difficult to train their partners on how to manage and maintain machines when the results weren’t always consistent. They knew they had to find a solution. Thompson Duke Industrial had a strong reputation among its partners, so Airo engaged them to find a solution. The two teams worked together to test and revise a custom septum-fill adapter to fit their needs. Airo was impressed with Thompson Duke’s simple, affordable solution, and the team’s availability to troubleshoot issues and come up with solutions in real time.
As the industry evolved, Airo Brands updated to a new cartridge design – a change that Thompson Duke Industrial’s machinery and team handled with ease. As they continue to grow, Airo Brands actively seeks partners in each market who have Thompson Duke equipment, specifically the IZR Automated Filling Machine.
With the IZR machine, Airo Brands’ partners can fill a variety of different products, up to 30 variations. The machine’s straightforward design allows operators to turn over and switch between various products in only a few minutes. The IZR’s simplicity and efficiency with setup, clean up, and maintenance makes a huge difference in output. Having the ability to train partners on how to fill their products with one machine versus several has also been a huge advantage. Airo Brands is now able to work with its partners to fill a diverse range of products consistently, which helps them keep up with demand, set the stage for continued growth, and ultimately deliver state-of-the-art products to its customers. The Thompson Duke Industrial IZR automatic filling machine has become the flagship equipment that Airo looks for when choosing its partners.
Testimonial
“Thompson Duke Industrial equipment is the gold standard for us, we love the simplicity and reliability,” said Erik Stewart, Chief Operating Officer at Airo Brands, “Their machinery handles viscosity, temperature and processing challenges with ease – and this is exactly what we need to create consistency and quality across our growing business.”
Metrics
Due in part to the introduction of efficiencies and speed through automation with the Thompson Duke IZR Machine, Airo Brands has experienced record-breaking growth.
- Increased distribution footprint by 467%, from three to 17 states across the nation
- Increased number of total SKUs by 374%, from 38 to 180