Made in the USA: How RollPros Builds Every Machine Close to Home
When we say our products are made in America, we don’t just mean they get a final sticker or a few finishing touches here. All of our machines are built at RollPros headquarters in Vancouver, Washington, with nearly every component produced within 10 miles of our facility.
That decision is intentional. Keeping manufacturing close to home allows us to support local businesses, work directly with the people making our parts, move faster during product development, and maintain more control over the quality of everything we build.
It might not always be the least expensive way to manufacture equipment, but it’s the way that makes the most sense for our customers, our machines, and the community where RollPros got its start.
What “Made in America” Looks Like at RollPros
A lot of companies talk about supporting local businesses, but very few actually do it. For RollPros, that commitment is built directly into every single joint roller that leaves the production floor. Nearly every component on the machine, with only a few select exceptions, is manufactured close to our Vancouver headquarters. Our local partners handle everything from sheet metal and machining to specialized food-grade coatings.
These aren’t anonymous suppliers several time zones away. They’re people we know, shops we visit, and businesses that have worked alongside RollPros since the early days. Brett Sorenson and the team at Element 13 complete the Blackbird’s sheet metal work. Sam Gagliano at Bent River Tech handles local machining. Danny Kannard and the Continental Coating team apply the food-grade coatings used on components in the machine’s vibration system.
We’ve worked with many of these partners since RollPros was operating out of a garage and building early Blackbird prototypes. As our production has grown, our suppliers have grown with us.
Built in Vancouver from the Beginning
RollPros Founder and CEO, Kyle Loucks, and COO, Nick Buck, were both born and raised in Vancouver, Washington. When Kyle first started working on the idea that would become the Blackbird, he wasn’t backed by a massive manufacturing network or a long list of global suppliers. He had sketches, a garage, an early prototype, and relationships with people in his community who were willing to help. Some of those relationships still support Blackbird production today.
“Back when we were still working out of the garage, Brett Sorenson gave me an incredible deal on our first sheet metal parts,” Kyle explains. “We didn’t have clout or respect yet, but we had relationships and empathy. Now Brett has expanded his building and doubled his headcount, in part because of the amount of work we were able to send him as we scaled. He earned a customer for life.”
That story is a pretty good example of why Made in America manufacturing matters to us. A purchase order doesn’t disappear into a massive overseas operation. The work stays in the community and helps other local companies invest in their people, equipment, and facilities.
As RollPros grows, that growth reaches beyond our own building.
Better Relationships Make Better Machines
Email, video calls, and messaging apps make it possible to work with almost anyone, anywhere. We know, we use these all the time. But they still can’t replace being able to walk into a vendor’s shop, look at a part together, and talk through an idea in person.
Our team has face-to-face relationships with virtually every vendor involved in building our products. If we have a question about a component, we can directly call the person who made it. If a supplier wants us to inspect a new version, they can bring it directly to our facility. If our engineers need to explain a change, they can often do it standing next to the actual machine.
There’s less room for information to get lost between drawings, emails, shipping updates, and overseas production schedules. That closer working relationship gives our team more visibility into how parts are made and more control over what eventually goes into each Blackbird.
For our customers, that means the machine they rely on was built by people who understand what the component does, where it goes, and why it matters.
Local Manufacturing Helps Us Innovate Faster
Building the Blackbird and XXL in the USA aren’t only about supporting our community. There’s a serious engineering advantage to keeping production nearby. Our products have continued to evolve because our engineering and manufacturing teams are always testing ideas, refining components, and finding ways to improve the machine. That process depends on a fast feedback loop:
- Design a part
- Build it
- Install it
- Test it
- Adjust it
When the vendor making that test part is a few miles away, the entire process moves faster.
A local partner can manufacture a prototype, bring it to RollPros, and work with our team while it’s installed and tested. If the part needs an adjustment, we can explain exactly what happened and get the next version moving quickly.
The alternative could mean sending files to an overseas manufacturer, waiting for the part to be produced, shipping it across the world, and discovering weeks or months later that it needs another revision. Then the process starts all over again and pushes timelines further back.
Keeping the work local helps us test an entire assembly in the time it might otherwise take to receive one overseas component. That gives our engineers more freedom to experiment and helps us turn useful ideas into real Blackbird improvements sooner.
More Control Over Blackbird Quality
Cannabis operators depend on their equipment to keep production moving. A poorly made component isn’t just an inconvenience, it can create downtime, slow fulfillment, and affect the quality of the finished product.
Local manufacturing gives RollPros more direct oversight throughout the production process. This way, we know exactly who is making our parts. We can visit their facilities, review their work, and address potential issues before those parts become part of a finished machine.
That visibility becomes especially important as production increases. Scaling shouldn’t mean lowering standards or losing track of where components come from. Our local manufacturing network helps us grow while maintaining the working relationships and quality expectations established during the earliest days of RollPros. Once the components arrive at our headquarters, the machines are assembled and tested in Vancouver before they go to customers.
A Shorter, More Resilient Supply Chain
COVID-19 made the weaknesses of global supply chains impossible to ignore. Ports were backed up, shipping schedules became unpredictable, and companies across nearly every industry struggled to get the parts and materials they needed.
Some of those problems have improved, but the lesson hasn’t gone away. A long supply chain creates more opportunities for delays. Manufacturing interruptions, shipping restrictions, port congestion, labor disputes, and international conflicts can all affect whether a critical part arrives when expected.
Keeping most of the production close to home doesn’t eliminate every possible disruption, but it does give us a much shorter and more manageable supply chain. Instead of waiting for a container to cross an ocean, we can communicate directly with nearby vendors. We have a clearer view of production schedules, potential delays, and available inventory. And when something changes, we can respond faster.
Not only does that protect RollPros, but it also helps protect the businesses using our machines. Our customers shouldn’t have to put production plans on hold because a replacement component is stuck on the other side of the world.
A More Sustainable Way to Build
There’s also a simple environmental benefit to making these components close to our headquarters: the parts don’t have to travel nearly as far.
Shipping fabricated metal and machine components across the world requires significantly more transportation than moving them across Vancouver. Shorter travel distances help reduce the emissions associated with moving parts through the supply chain. Local production also gives us greater visibility into working conditions and manufacturing practices. We visit our partners’ facilities, know the people doing the work, and can see how their employees and operations are treated.
That stuff may not matter to some people, but it matters to us. We want to work with companies that provide safe working environments, treat employees fairly, and take pride in what they produce. A distant supplier can make those claims on a website, but with our local partners, we have real relationships and firsthand knowledge.
American-Made Is More Than a Label
For RollPros, making our machines in America isn’t a marketing line we added after the fact. It’s truly how they’ve been built from the beginning.
It supports local jobs and independent businesses. It gives our engineers a faster way to test new ideas. It provides more control over quality and creates a shorter, more resilient supply chain. Most importantly, it helps us build equipment our customers can depend on.
The Blackbird started in a garage right here in Vancouver, and today, it’s helping cannabis operators produce high-quality, rolled pre-rolls across the US and Canada. Even as RollPros continues to grow, the machine’s roots remain right here in Southwest Washington.
Want to see where the Blackbird is made and how it works? Contact RollPros to schedule a visit or learn more about our technology and all the amazing people behind it.
