Inventory Control and Production Planning
Manufacturers leverage NetSuite to gain end-to-end visibility into their supply chain and production floor. The system centralizes inventory management across locations, preventing both shortages and excess stock by tracking raw materials and finished goods in real time. Production planners can use NetSuite’s scheduling and capacity planning tools to optimize assembly lines and work orders. For example, the platform supports bill-of-materials (BOM) management and work order tracking, ensuring that each assembly step is accounted for and materials are available when needed. This unified approach eliminates the disconnected spreadsheets and manual processes that often plague manufacturing, streamlining workflows from production to shipping.
Quality Management
Maintaining product quality is a top priority in manufacturing, and NetSuite includes capabilities to help enforce quality standards. Using the Quality Management module, companies can define inspection plans, set pass/fail criteria, and record inspection results at various production stages. These tools allow manufacturers to catch defects early and ensure that only products meeting specifications move forward. NetSuite essentially formalizes and automates quality control procedures so that delivering a high-caliber product becomes part of the routine. By integrating quality data with production data, manufacturers can analyze trends, reduce waste, and continuously improve their processes.
Challenges
Manufacturers often grapple with inventory mismanagement, such as stock shortages halting production or excess inventory tying up capital. Disconnected systems can cause silos between procurement, production, and sales, leading to inefficient production workflows where equipment sits idle or orders ship late. Maintaining high product quality is another challenge—without proper oversight, defects can slip through, causing rework or returns. In short, issues like unorganized inventory, production bottlenecks, and quality control problems can erode a manufacturer’s efficiency and reputation.
NetSuite’s Solutions
NetSuite helps manufacturers overcome these challenges by integrating all facets of operations on one platform. Its inventory management ensures accurate tracking of raw materials and finished goods across all locations, with automated reordering to prevent stockouts. This means the right parts are available at the right time, avoiding production delays. NetSuite’s production module coordinates work orders, BOMs, and scheduling so that workflows are optimized and transparent. From the shop floor, workers can log production progress and inventory usage in real time, giving managers instant visibility into order status and resource utilization. If a machine goes down or a supply shipment is late, the system’s alerts and dashboards enable a quick response to reallocate resources or adjust the schedule. Furthermore, NetSuite embeds quality management into the process: inspection checkpoints can be mandated within work orders, and any failures are logged and can trigger corrective actions. By formalizing quality checks, manufacturers catch issues early and maintain compliance with standards (e.g. ISO). In sum, NetSuite dissolves the data silos that cause inefficiencies, providing manufacturers with an agile operation where inventory is optimized, production is well-planned, and quality is consistently monitored.