NetSuite Helps Manufacturers Scale, Win More Customers and Strengthen their Bottom Lines

Manufacturers face unique challenges in the dynamic, global marketplace, where labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, tariffs, and other forces create new daily roadblocks for the world’s producers. Supply chain disruption can be especially difficult for manufacturers, but geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and black swan events like the global pandemic are some of the other issues that can interfere with a producer’s ability to scale, grow, and remain profitable.

Despite these challenges, manufacturing stands out as one of the sectors with the fastest productivity growth in the UK, with notable productivity gains in transport equipment, machinery, metal products, and automotive between 2010 and 2022. “The UK manufacturing sector is a vital component of the economy, contributing significantly to employment, innovation, and economic growth,” global talent solutions firm Randstad UK reports.

Technology is playing an important role in the sector’s growth, with the UK government supporting the manufacturing sector through various funding initiatives. Recently, over £50 million was awarded to 30 cutting-edge manufacturing projects, focusing on battery technology, self-driving vehicles, and automotive research and development, the firm reports.

“The UK manufacturing sector continues to thrive, driven by substantial investments, government support, and a focus on innovation and sustainability,” Randstad says. “With ongoing projects and funding, the industry is well-positioned to maintain its growth trajectory and contribute to the broader economic development of the country.”

Using Tech to Capitalise on Emerging Opportunities

As manufacturers address emerging challenges and leverage new opportunities, enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms like NetSuite are helping them scale their organisations, win more business, and operate more efficiently. From the shop floor to the top floor—NetSuite helps growing manufacturers control, coordinate, and manage every aspect of their operations in one place.

Here are some of the core NetSuite functionalities that were built with manufacturers in mind:

• Order management. Optimise inventory on hand, reduce shipping costs and improve the customer experience by automating key processes and access to real-time information. “As customer expectations rise and supply chains become more complex, it is both more critical and more difficult than ever to deliver the perfect order,” the software provider says. “NetSuite Intelligent Order Management automates order promising, allocation, orchestration and execution processes.”

• Planning and scheduling. Automatically balance supply and demand, ensuring the right inventory is always in the right place at the right time. “Scheduling is one of the most complex functions within manufacturing. NetSuite delivers a real-time scheduling engine that is flexible, yet intuitive, with finite and infinite capacity scheduling.”

• Supply chain management. Where a product is manufactured, and who it’s manufactured by, should not be a barrier to growth. NetSuite delivers a global view of inventory, regardless of where it is in production, allowing companies to manage outsourced production as if they were doing the manufacturing. The ERP also provides real-time inventory visibility, vendor location management, and full distribution requirement planning (DRP) capabilities for multi-location planning.

• Procurement. Manage suppliers and purchasing processes with the visibility to ensure products arrive as expected and at the best possible price. “NetSuite was built to support the needs of product-based businesses from the start,” the company says. Using requests for quote, blanket purchase orders and purchase contracts, for example, means manufacturers always have the right materials or items in the right place and at the right time.

• Shop floor control. Producers spend a lot of time and effort trying to perfect future plans with planning and scheduling applications. Managers and supervisors can use NetSuite’s interactive tablet application to get real-time updates from the shop floor and accurately record exactly what’s happening during each step of the manufacturing process. The application provides an interactive work queue showing all current and future operations scheduled through the current work center.

• Quality management. NetSuite helps manufacturers deliver high-quality products with minimal overhead. For example, companies can define inspection plans, pass/fail criteria, collect results and monitor all results as they’re being recorded. “NetSuite is specifically designed to help manufacturers of all sizes reduce operating costs, increase revenue and better manage their business and supply chains,” the software provider says.

• CRM and marketing. NetSuite’s native customer relationship management (CRM) delivers powerful capabilities in a single cloud solution, including sales force automation, marketing automation and customer service and support management. It also includes powerful sales performance management, order management and partner management that seamlessly integrate with ecommerce systems. “A complete picture of sales helps you plan your shop floor operations and improve your forecasting,” NetSuite points out.

Get the Right NetSuite Partner in Your Corner

In today’s demanding manufacturing landscape, a robust ERP like NetSuite isn’t just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic imperative for sustained success. A unified platform to control everything from order management and supply chain to shop floor operations and customer relationships, NetSuite empowers manufacturers to navigate complexities, optimise efficiency and capitalise on emerging opportunities.

With deep expertise in the manufacturing sector and a proven track record of successful NetSuite deployments, SANSA Solutions helps manufacturers integrate and tailor the ERP’s powerful capabilities to overcome obstacles, streamline processes, and ultimately drive growth and profitability. Contact us today.