NetSuite Inventory Management helps you trace inventory using lot and serial tracing. You can track inventory from purchase to sale. It also assists you in monitoring the quantity and specific cost for each lot as products are purchased and produced. 

Key Takeaways 

• NetSuite Inventory Management provides businesses with a unified and real-time view of inventory across multiple channels and locations.
• Automation minimizes errors and improves inventory turnover by reducing obsolete stock and ensuring timely order fulfillment.
• With cloud-based infrastructure, NetSuite eliminates the need for costly on-premise hardware. 

What Is NetSuite Inventory Management?

The inventory management system enables businesses to track all incoming and outgoing stock and promptly satisfy consumer demands.

NetSuite Inventory Management provides a single, unified, real-time view of inventory across a company’s many channels and locations. This guarantees that businesses maintain the ideal stock level in response to demand.

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Businesses may use inventory management to determine which goods to order and in what quantities. This tool tracks inventories from the point of acquisition to the point of sale, guaranteeing that there is always adequate inventory to satisfy client orders. It recognizes and reacts to trends to ensure that there is always adequate inventory to meet client orders.

Inventory turns into revenue after it is sold. Having too much stock lowers cash flow and costs money. Inventory turnover is one indicator of effective inventory management. It is a metric used in accounting to show how frequently stock is sold over time. Deadstock, or unsold stock, can result from a low inventory turnover rate.

Importance of Inventory Management

Businesses that want to succeed should manage their inventory and balance supply and demand. Efficient inventory control keeps operations running smoothly and improves customer satisfaction by preventing excess stock and stockouts. 

With NetSuite inventory management, companies can automate these processes to reduce manual errors and increase accuracy significantly:

• inventory tracking
• reordering procedures
• real-time changes

Proper inventory management guarantees that products are available when customers need them, preventing missed sales and dissatisfied consumers. Minimizing extra inventory, which ties up capital and results in holding expenses, also helps optimize storage costs. 

Businesses can make well-informed decisions on stock replenishment and inventory optimization by utilizing a system such as NetSuite, which provides insights into inventory levels and trends. 

Additionally, because inventory management helps firms anticipate inventory demands and negotiate better terms, it allows them to take advantage of bulk purchasing savings from suppliers. In addition to saving money, this calculated strategy guarantees a consistent supply of goods.

Inventory management is essential for:

• customer happiness
• cost savings
• operational effectiveness

Companies can stay competitive by managing ideal inventory levels, cutting expenses, and increasing efficiency using Oracle NetSuite inventory management.

What Are The Different Types of Inventory? 

Raw Materials 

Materials a business uses to make and complete items are known as raw materials. These basic components are usually indistinguishable from their original form when the product is finished. 

Components 

Components are similar to raw materials a business uses to make and finish things but are identifiable once the product is completed. 

Work In Progress (WIP)

Raw materials or components, labor, overhead, and even packing supplies are all included in the work-in-progress inventory.

Finished Goods 

Products that are prepared for sale are known as finished goods.

Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Goods

MRO inventory frequently supports the production or upkeep of a product in the form of supplies.

Packaging and Packaging Materials 

There are three categories of packing materials. Primary packaging makes the product usable and protects it. Secondary packaging includes labels or details about the stock keeping unit (SKU). Tertiary packaging is used in bulk packaging for transportation.

Safety Stock and Anticipation Stock 

Safety stock is the additional inventory a business purchases to handle unforeseen circumstances. Although it is an extra expense, safety stock maintains customer satisfaction. 

Anticipation stock comprises completed goods or raw materials that a company buys in response to production and sales patterns. A company purchases safety stock if the price of raw materials increases or if peak sales are coming up.

Decoupling Inventory 

Decoupling inventory includes extra products or work-in-progress (WIP) supplies held at production line stations to prevent work stoppages.

Cycle Inventory 

Businesses order cycle inventory in lots to receive the ideal stock quantity for the lowest storage costs.

Service Inventory 

A management accounting term known as “service inventory” describes the service a company can offer in a specific time frame.

Transit Inventory 

Transit inventory, sometimes called pipeline inventory, is stock transferred between manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and distribution hubs. 

Theoretical Inventory 

Theoretical or book inventory is the smallest stock quantity needed to finish a procedure without waiting. The food industry and production are the main sectors that employ theoretical inventory.

Excess Inventory 

Unsold or unused products or raw materials that a business doesn’t anticipate using or selling but still has to pay to hold are referred to as excess inventory, sometimes known as obsolete inventory.

Benefits of Inventory Management 

Saves Money 

Knowing stock trends helps you better use your stock and lets you stay updated about where and how much stock you have. You can also keep less stock at each location (store, warehouse) to save money. 

Improves Cash Flow

Cash flows through the company when inventory is managed correctly because you spend money on items that sell.

Satisfies Customers 

Ensuring customers get what they desire immediately is one way to cultivate loyal and returning customers.

Real-time Visibility 

The most significant benefit of the NetSuite ERP system is the ability to view inventory levels in real-time across all channels and locations. NetSuite guarantees end-to-end visibility of every order completed across departments, channels, and locations. 

NetSuite provides complete visibility of the product flow from the sales process to accounting to order fulfillment. Additionally, it enables inventory data integration with back-office and accounting procedures.

Better Forecasting 

An inventory system integrated with NetSuite ERP guarantees efficient and seamless data collection, enabling analytics to provide pertinent insights into demand and market trends. Businesses can readily enhance their stock forecasting by comprehending these data-driven trends and demand patterns.

Sync Inventory Locations 

An integrated ERP system such as NetSuite provides a comprehensive picture of stock levels across warehouses, distribution centers, retail locations, and supplier sites.

Maintain Industry Compliance 

NetSuite, the world’s top ERP system and inventory management solution, strictly complies with international compliance laws and standards to guarantee the highest level of financial transparency.

Challenges of Inventory Management

Getting Accurate Stock Details 

Without precise stock details, you cannot determine which stock moves well or when to replace it.

Poor Processes

Manual procedures can slow down operations and increase the likelihood of errors.

Changing Customer Demand 

Consumer preferences and requirements are ever-evolving. You cannot determine when and why customer preferences change if your system cannot observe trends.

Using Warehouse Space Well 

If products are difficult to find, staff members waste time. By becoming proficient in inventory management, this problem can be resolved.

Top NetSuite Inventory Management Features

Multi-location Fulfillment 

This feature guarantees inventory availability and reduces obsolete inventory by enabling transparency in inventory stock and proactive monitoring of stock levels, sell-throughs, and inventory transfers. 

Replenishment

Market trends and consumer demand fluctuate. To guarantee adequate stock, these variations and supply chain logistics, seasonal demand changes, and other information must be considered. 

Based on historical and seasonal data, NetSuite Inventory Management’s demand-based replenishment and dynamic ordering management can help the company maintain desired stock levels. 

Cycle Counting 

The cycle-counting capabilities of Oracle NetSuite Inventory Management software allow for automated inventory counts without causing outages or stopping transactions for the duration of a location. 

Traceability 

Through lot and serial tracking, traceability enables organizations to check their inventory back and forth and establish fulfillment plans that reduce waste and guarantee efficient inventory usage. 

Cloud Infrastructure 

Cloud-based infrastructure eliminates the need to maintain on-premise computer equipment, lowering the cost of growing and supporting inventory management.

What Is The Cost of NetSuite Inventory Management 

Knowing where to store and retrieve items is only one aspect of inventory management. Beyond simple storage, it also entails intricate computations and other data analyses that offer a thorough understanding of inventory turnover and expenses.

Inventory costs and turnover impact NetSuite Inventory Management’s overall ROI. These significant aspects also affect a company’s overall health and operational efficiency. This emphasizes how crucial inventory costs and turnover are to poor inventory control. 

NetSuite Inventory Management is an excellent choice for data analysis. It provides businesses with the tools they need to ascertain the actual costs of their inventory, including purchase prices, handling fees, taxes, and other expenditures.

The size and complexity of your company’s operations are just two of the many variables that will affect the actual cost of implementing NetSuite inventory management. Folio3’s NetSuite consultants can provide a precise quote for your business. 

Conclusion

NetSuite Inventory Management equips businesses with a thorough understanding of their inventory operations through a wide range of analytics capabilities. The software’s main features enable businesses to maximize inventory levels through demand-based planning based on sales forecasting and historical data, ultimately increasing profitability and providing inventory visibility for the entire organization.