The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing inductively heatable aerosol-forming rods (100). The method comprises supplying a first substrate web (31) and a second substrate web (32) separately to a continuous multiple-stage rod-forming process which comprises at least a first and a subsequent second stage. The method further comprises supplying a continuous susceptor profile (20) to the rod-forming process such that the susceptor profile passes through at least the second stage. Furthermore, the method comprises passing the first and second substrate web separately through the first stage. Thereby, the first and the second substrate web are separately pre-gathered transversely with regard to a respective transport direction of each of the substrate web through the first stage. The method further comprises passing the susceptor profile and the pre-gathered substrate webs through the second stage. Thereby, the separately pre-gathered substrate webs are jointly gathered into a rod shape around the susceptor profile. The invention further relates to a multi-stage rod-forming device (10) comprising at least a first stage (11) and a second stage (12) downstream of the first stage. The first stage is configured for separately pre-gathering a first and a second substrate web (31, 32) respectively as each of them passes through the first stage. The second stage is configured for jointly gathering the pre-gathered substrate webs into a rod shape around a susceptor profile (20) as the susceptor profile and the pre-gathered substrate webs pass through the second stage.