Controlling inventory is frequently mentioned as being essential to a company’s success.  You can rationalize your inventory to cut costs and maximize income and profits. Even though your business may be smaller, the process of inventory management is still quite complex.

Well managed inventory starts with accurate, error-free and obtainable data about your inventory. But how much do you actually know about it?

This blog goes into great length on the value of inventory management and the numerous strategies that are available within NetSuite Inventory Management.

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NetSuite Inventory Management Best Practices for 2023

The world is evolving at a rapid rate. Businesses are having a hard time to keep up. It’s a much more dynamic environment now, where data analysis is very important as it helps businesses a lot, NetSuiteinventory management helps you with gaining a deeper understanding of your clients, better sales, enhancing clients targeting, lower costs and enables the development of better problem solving strategies.

By using NetSuite, customers can benefit from reliable and efficient shipping. NetSuite Inventory Management reduces manual processes by automatically monitoring inventory levels. It allows you to predefine execution rules to eliminate multiple shipments for a single order and avoid overage shipping costs.

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It will solve your problems such as; inefficient utilization, inaccurate planning and excessive handing. NetSuite provides benefits like decreasing charges of goods sold, optimizing inventory levels and increasing profitability.

Some of the best practices for 2023 by NetSuite Inventory Management are:

• Establishing Key Performance Indicators
• Creating an inventory receipt strategy
• Establishing strong relations with suppliers
• Calculating minimum stockholding limits
• Investing in an inventory management system

What is Inventory Management?

Inventory management helps businesses in determining which stock to order when and in what quantities. Inventory is tracked from purchase process to sale. To guarantee there is always enough inventory to fulfil client requests and proper notice of a shortage, the technique recognizes patterns and responds to them.

A company’s health depends on effective inventory management since it lowers the risk of stockouts and inaccurate records by ensuring that there is rarely too much or too little stock on hand. NetSuite inventory management’s goal is to have the right products in the right place at the right time.

Let’s explain it with an example:

A soap manufacturer has previously created a batch of soaps to dispatch to different points of sale. Given the high consumption of soaps, it reorders raw materials to start manufacturing the next batch.

Raw materials ordered beforehand, in this case, act as the inventory for the company. And the already delivered finished products are the inventory for retail units that will be selling soaps further.

Pre-ordering raw materials helps the company produce and supply soaps regularly to ensure the lead time does not keep customers waiting or making them switch to its competitor’s soap.

What is an Inventory Management System?

An inventory management system incorporates many software programs to keep track of stock levels and stock movements. The solution can integrate with multichannel sales platforms or shipping systems.

An inventory management system optimizes inventory levels and ensures product availability across multiple channels. It offers a single, real-time view of all products, stock, and orders across all locations and sales channels. This enables businesses to carry less inventory on hand and frees up cash to be used in other parts of the business. In order to meet customer expectations while minimizing inventory costs, an inventory management system is used.

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Inventory management software is used to track items and parts while they’re transferred from seller to a warehouse, through warehouses and eventually at a retail outlet or straight to a consumer. This software provides numerous benefits in a business setting:

• Inventory management software helps businesses cut expenses by lowering the quantity of insignificant parts and products in storage.
• Using inventory management software is time saving, cost saving and also increases business efficiency.
• Helps in the organization of warehouses. It leads to a new focus on enhancing mix and accelerating inventory turns.
• Inventory management software is a best source of updated data.
• Provides data security.

NetSuite Inventory Management system gives inventory managers advantage of software solutions to automate the workflow. It helps you allocate resources more efficiently. Inventory management system get product to customers in shorter and shorter amounts of time without creating back-office burden.

Does NetSuite have an Inventory Management System?

A system for managing inventories is available in NetSuite. Businesses can use it to reduce inventory to free up cash while preventing backorders because it offers a distinct, real-time view of inventory across all locations and sales channels.

NetSuite provides many features such as:

• It enables the users to configure multiple units of measure.
• It allows to have multiple locations for storing inventory and provides real time location-wise reporting.
• It allows to use Bins, an inventory feature to track the location of your inventory within your warehouse.
• Assembly Items is another feature that NetSuite provides. They are individual items that are made up of multiple components. If a product requires complete traceability of the components used—where they came from and where the final product went—Selecting this feature will ensure that traceability is strictly maintained.
• The final key feature NetSuite provide is Kits and Packages, they are units composed of individual items sold together.

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NetSuite ensures that you have the right amount of stock. In NetSuite, managing inventory is way more efficient. It also reduces handling expenses and shipping charges. It allows companies of any type to manage their entire business applications in one single system. It handles every need of worldwide businesses that use different languages, currencies, reporting necessities and tax laws.

NetSuite is more than just a financial management system. It gathers all core business functions. This platform is a single solution for all areas of business. Its automated and streamlined processes; instantly gather and submit accurate data in real time; and manage inventory and supply chain changes on the fly.                                                                                                                                        

It provides Unlimited Inventory Visibility: Real-time, company-wide inventory visibility — across warehouses, retail stores, pop-up shops, drop shippers, 3PLs or any other place where you manage or stock inventory — key to enabling a buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere customer experience.

How to select the right NetSuite Inventory Management System?

For many small and mid-sized businesses, their so-called stock management is not much of a system at all, but a combination of unskilled and inefficient data exports. Improved and optimized inventory not only reduces costs and increase process efficiencies, but it can be a launching pad for differentiated customer experiences.

NetSuite Inventory Management provides the benefits of cloud inventory management and with it, the ability to achieve end-to-end visibility of inventory to do everything from the reliable promise of goods to streamlining logistics in a way that rivals much larger companies.

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NetSuite provides out of the box functionality for core processes and it is flexible enough to manage, customize and configure to your business’s exclusive processes. It has more refined features that will balance with inventory management needs. NetSuite is more than just a financial management system now. The three most important considerations while choosing an inventory management system are:

Inventory Management business problem

What problems is your business facing? The problem could be stock management, frequent overstock, replenishment of stock, not able to efficiently itemized stock into reserve inventory or lacking of visibility through various warehouse locations. Knowing your business’s problem will definitely ease the process of finding vendors that can achieve those features and functionality needs.

Integrating Inventory Management

An integrated method to inventory management confirms precise data across systems and offers a window to assess trends and business efficiencies.

Right Technology Partner

The right technology partner will bundle the training capabilities with the software and selecting software that is easy to use and understand, helps to lower the barrier in entry from the beginning.

By acknowledging business problems, clients and users, choosing inventory management software is not as overwhelming as it seems.

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What are the best Practices for NetSuite Inventory Management?

Many CRM software are choosing NetSuite for thousands of businesses around the globe. Our experience with NetSuite is incredible. It’s instinctive and rich functionalities makes it ideal for almost all kind of businesses. It provides customer management, sales forecasting, time tracking, campaign management, email marketing, incentive compensation, opportunity management, lead management, real time dashboards and real analytics.

NetSuite gives you the visibility and control to make right decisions, it provides you the capacity to lead operational change in your businesses. With easy personalization and connectivity for third-party partners, you can constantly enhance your operations and cut cost in your day to day operations.

OdeCloud will help its clients position themselves to success by providing exceptional independent NetSuite consultants. We help our freelance consultants improve their skills with our strong community of like-minded experts and exclusive technology, while cutting costs, risks and efforts for companies looking to hire top talent. We will curate and organize your businesses.

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We will ensure your project success with our performance-oriented matching technology. We provide a fully managed freelance service to ensure projects are delivered efficiently and consistently. We have skilled individuals that are self-sufficient, who you can depend on to bring your A-game.

The most experienced NetSuite consultants are increasingly opting for freelance work, our platform meets their requirements by offering them the best talent options for crucial NetSuite projects. We provide you technology powered talent solution to optimize your NetSuite platform ultimately helping your business grow. OdeCloud brings the core focus on value to NetSuite consultation.

Why companies in rapid growth choose OdeCloud?

Our collective intelligence and collaboration SaaS allows you to move projects faster. We provide evolutionary expertise through platform-level collaboration and collective intelligence. We run by agile talent pool to help speed up the company’s critical technology projects. We offer seamless pricing and flexible plans to fit your budget and talent requirements.

Benefits we provide

Our approval process is based on actual project data, with feedback from customers and peers we find you the perfect fit. Our technology makes it possible for NetSuite consultants to learn quickly, crowdsource solutions and solve problems with hundreds of experts sharing the same idea. We provide great visibility. You can eliminate long email chains where tasks get lost and time is wasted, we have made everything dead simple.

NEXT POST — NetSuite Inventory Management: A Comprehensive Guide

We provide you all type of customer interactions that includes sales history shipping status and many more, which means you can create a profile for each client and serve them better. We provide you with real-time data you need to plan your sales. You can also track the time your staff spend on individual interactions with incredible precision, you can better understand the value of each client.

How to get your work done?

Talk about the objectives you want to achieve with your NetSuite system. Get the best assortment for your work and take advantage of our flexible service plans. Get a talent management department that includes executing and delivering projects.

Preparing your Inventory Management System for 2023

If you are looking for an efficient and complete means of managing your NetSuite inventory, OdeCloud NetSuite professionals are here for you. Our team can provide you with a personalized solution to meet your specific requirements. We will work with you to build an effective and user-friendly system. As a result, you can concentrate on your business objectives.

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Our organized community of hundreds of NetSuite approved consultants and software partners work coherently to provide the best result for your business. We offer a talent market, digital workspace and machine learning community for independent technology consultants and world class business looking hire to them. We will help businesses to keep their inventory costs low.

We provide lot tracking and expiration date tracking, which will help businesses to keep track of their inventory, so they what they need and when they need it. We help businesses save their money and ensure product availability, because we are providing businesses a complete view of their supply chain, from raw materials to final products, so that they can plan their production more efficiently and make sure that the products are available when customers need them.

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What Is Inventory Management?

Inventory management is all about keeping track of the items in your stock, from raw materials to finished products. It includes everything from ordering and receiving new goods to tracking how much inventory you have on hand and where it’s located.

Why do Businesses Need Inventory Management?

Good inventory management is critical to the success of any business that holds inventory. It is important to track and manage inventory levels so that businesses know what products they have on hand, where those products are located, and how much of each product they need to keep in stock. By keeping a close eye on inventory levels, businesses can also avoid overstocking, which can tie up valuable cash flow in unnecessary inventory. In short, inventory management is important because it helps businesses maximize sales, minimize costs, and keep customers happy.

Methods to Effectively Manage Your Inventory

If you want to be a successful retailer, you need to know how to effectively manage your inventory. That means having a system in place to track what you have in stock, what needs to be reordered, and what’s selling well. Here are methods of inventory management:

FIFO

The first-in, first-out method is one of the most commonly used inventory management techniques. This system assumes that the first items to arrive in your stock are the first ones to be sold. FIFO can help manage perishable goods or seasonal items. For example, if you run a bakery and receive a shipment of flour every Monday, the flour that arrived in this week’s shipment would be used before the flour from last week’s shipment. This ensures that your bakery is using the freshest ingredients possible, which provides the best taste for your customers. The first-in, first-out method can also help to prevent waste, as older items are used before, they have a chance to expire. Overall, the FIFO system is a simple and effective way to manage inventory and ensure that your business is running smoothly.

LIFO

The last-in, first-out method is the opposite of FIFO. In this system, the assumption is made that the last items to arrive in your stock are the first ones to be sold. LIFO can help manage inventory for businesses that sell fast-moving goods or seasonal items. For example, if you run a clothing store and receive a shipment of sweaters every Monday, the sweaters that arrived in this week’s shipment would be put on the shelves first, while the sweaters from last week’s shipment would be put on the shelves last. This ensures that your customers are seeing the newest items in your store, which can help to boost sales. The LIFO system can also help to prevent waste, as older items are used before they have a chance to expire. Overall, the LIFO system is a simple and effective way to manage inventory and ensure that your business is running smoothly.

ABC Analysis

The ABC analysis is a method of inventory management that categorizes inventory based on its importance. In this system, inventory is divided into three categories:

1. A items are the most important items in your inventory, and they represent the items that generate the most revenue for your business.
2. B items are less important than A items, but they still generate significant revenue for your business.
3. C items are the least important items in your inventory, and they generate the least amount of revenue for your business.

The ABC analysis can help manage inventory because it allows businesses to focus on the items that are most important to their bottom line. This system can also help businesses to save money by reducing the amount of inventory they need to keep on hand. Overall, the ABC analysis is a simple and effective way to manage inventory and ensure that your business is running smoothly.

Just-In-Time

The just-in-time method is a type of inventory management that seeks to minimize the amount of inventory on hand by only ordering goods as they are needed. This system can help reduce costs and maximize efficiency. Just-in-time inventory management can be difficult to implement, but it can be very beneficial for businesses that can do so. The main advantage of just-in-time inventory management is that it can help businesses to save money by reducing the amount of inventory that needs to be stored. In addition, just-in-time inventory management can also help businesses to maximize their efficiency by ensuring that they always have the necessary materials on hand without having too much surplus. While just-in-time inventory management can be difficult to implement, businesses that can do so can reap significant rewards.

Best Ways to Improve Inventory Management

Any business owner will tell you that managing inventory is a challenging but critical task. After all, if you don’t have the right products in stock, you’ll miss out on sales opportunities. But if you have too much inventory, you’ll tie up valuable resources that could be used elsewhere. So how can you strike the right balance? Here are some of the best practices:

Use Unified Inventory Management System

A unified inventory management system is a software solution (like NetSuite) that helps businesses to track and manage their inventory. This type of system can help improve inventory management because it provides businesses with a centralized place to track all of their inventory data. In addition, unified inventory management systems often come with features that can help businesses to improve their overall efficiency. For example, some unified inventory management systems come with barcoding features that can help businesses to streamline their picking and packing processes. Overall, a unified inventory management system can be a valuable tool for businesses that want to improve their inventory management.

Keep an Eye on Your Old Goods

One of the best ways to improve inventory management is to keep an eye on your old goods. As items get older, they become less valuable and more likely to expire. As a result, it’s important to continuously monitor your inventory and remove old items as necessary. This can be a challenge, but it’s important to stay on top of it to avoid having too much dead inventory.

Monitor Your Inventory Levels Closely

This means keeping track of how much inventory you have on hand and how quickly it’s selling. Doing so can help you to avoid stockouts and overstocks. Additionally, it can help you to make more informed decisions about your inventory levels. For example, if you know that you typically sell through your inventory within two weeks, you can order new goods accordingly.

Communicate With Your Suppliers

To keep your inventory levels in check, it’s important to communicate with your suppliers. This way, you can ensure that you’re always getting the goods you need when you need them. Furthermore, it’s important to build strong relationships with your suppliers so that you can negotiate better terms and get discounts when possible.

Major Mistakes in Your Inventory Management

While there are many things you can do to improve your inventory management, there are also some major mistakes that you’ll want to avoid. Here are some of the biggest mistakes you can make:

Not Ordering Enough Goods

Another common mistake that businesses make in terms of inventory management is not ordering enough goods. This can lead to many problems, including lost sales opportunities and stockouts. To avoid these problems, it’s important to always have a good sense of how much inventory you need and order accordingly.

Ordering Too Many Goods

On the other hand, businesses can also order too many goods, which can lead to overstocks and wasted resources. To avoid this problem, it’s important to keep an eye on your sales data and order accordingly.

Failing to Communicate with Suppliers

Another mistake that businesses make is failing to communicate with their suppliers. This can lead to several problems, including stockouts and late deliveries. To avoid these problems, it’s important to build strong relationships with your suppliers and always communicate your needs.

Not Tracking Your Inventory Levels

Not tracking your inventory levels can have some serious consequences. For one thing, it will be very difficult to manage them effectively. As a result, you may end up with stockouts or overstocks. Additionally, you won’t be able to make informed decisions about your inventory levels. This can lead to inefficiencies and higher costs. In the worst case, it can even jeopardize the success of your business. So, if you’re not already doing so, start tracking your inventory levels today. It’s essential for effective management and decision-making.

Seasonality Problems

Many businesses experience fluctuations in demand due to seasonality. This can be a challenge for inventory management because you need to have the right amount of inventory on hand at all times. If you don’t, you may end up with stockouts or overstocks. As a result, it’s important to take seasonality into account when planning your inventory levels. This way, you can be sure to have the right amount of inventory on hand when demand is high. Seasonal demand can vary quite a bit from year to year, so it’s important to keep an eye on trends and adjust your inventory levels accordingly. By doing so, you can avoid the costly consequences of stockouts and overstocks.

Types of Inventory Losses

Inventory loss is often seen as an inevitable cost of doing business. But with the right systems and processes in place, businesses can do a lot to reduce the amount of inventory they lose each year. Here are some main types of inventory losses;

Employee Theft

Employee theft is one of the most common types of inventory losses. This can take many different forms, such as taking inventory home without permission or selling inventory on the side. Theft can also occur when employees fail to properly document inventory levels or when they damage inventory.

While it is impossible to eliminate employee theft, several steps can be taken to minimize its occurrence. One way to deter employees from stealing is to conduct regular audits of inventory levels and require employees to sign out inventory when it is removed from the premises. Another way to reduce theft is to offer incentives for employees who report instances of theft or help prevent it from happening. By taking these measures, businesses can help to reduce the amount of inventory loss due to employee theft.

Customer Theft

Customer theft is another common type of inventory loss. This can happen in many ways, such as shoplifting or return fraud. While it is not possible to eliminate customer theft, there are many steps that businesses can take to minimize its occurrence. One way to deter customers from stealing is to have a clear and visible security presence in your store. This can help to deter potential thieves and make it more likely that they will be caught if they do try to steal. Another way to reduce customer theft is to implement security measures such as CCTV cameras and alarms. By taking these measures, businesses can help to reduce the amount of inventory loss due to customer theft.

Breaking and Expiration of Goods

Another common type of inventory loss is breakage or expiration of goods. Reasons are damaged packaging or products that have reached their expiration date. While it is not possible to eliminate this type of inventory loss, businesses can take steps to minimize it. One way to reduce breakage and expiration is to carefully track inventory levels and remove damaged or expired goods from the premises as soon as possible. Another way to reduce this type of loss is to implement quality control measures such as regular inspections of products. By taking these measures, businesses can help to reduce the amount of inventory loss due to breakage and expiration.

Incorrect Inventory Counts

One of the most common causes of inventory loss is incorrect inventory counts. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as human error or problems with the inventory management system. Incorrect inventory counts can lead to stockouts or overstocks, which can be costly for businesses. To avoid this type of loss, it is important to regularly audit inventory levels and to have a robust inventory management system in place.

How NetSuite Inventory Management Can Help Your Business?

NetSuite inventory management system provides many benefits for businesses, including the ability to reduce inventory on hand, optimize inventory levels, ensure product availability, and keep inventory costs low. Here are some benefits of using NetSuite for inventory management;

Reduce Inventory on Hand

One of the main benefits of NetSuite inventory management system is that it allows businesses to reduce the amount of inventory they have on hand. This is because NetSuite gives businesses a single, real-time view of inventory across all locations and sales channels. This means that businesses can make more informed decisions about what inventory to keep on hand and what can be safely sold or shipped from other locations. As a result, businesses can free up cash that would otherwise be tied up in excess inventory.

Optimize Inventory Levels

Another benefit of NetSuite inventory management system is that it helps businesses optimize their inventory levels. By giving businesses a single, real-time view of inventory across all locations and sales channels, NetSuite helps businesses avoid stockouts and overages. This is because businesses can see exactly how much inventory they have on hand at all times and can make adjustments accordingly. As a result, businesses can avoid costly stockouts and maximize their sales potential. 

Ensure Product Availability

In addition to reducing inventory levels and avoiding stockouts, NetSuite inventory management system also helps businesses ensure product availability. This is because NetSuite gives businesses a complete view of their supply chain, from raw materials to finished products. As a result, businesses can plan production more effectively and ensure that products are available when customers need them. 

Keep Inventory Costs Low

Finally, NetSuite inventory management system helps businesses keep their inventory costs low. This is because NetSuite includes features such as lot tracking and expiration date tracking. These features help businesses keep track of their inventory so that they only purchase what they need when they need it. As a result, businesses can avoid waste and save money on their inventory costs. 

Overall, NetSuite’s Inventory Management System provides many benefits for businesses that can help them save money, avoid stockouts, and ensure product availability. If you’re looking for ways to improve your business’s bottom line, consider implementing NetSuite’s Inventory Management System today.

Conclusion:

Inventory management is a critical part of any business, and there are many ways to manage it effectively. By auditing inventory levels, implementing a robust inventory management system, and keeping track of inventory, businesses can avoid costly mistakes and ensure that their products are available when customers need them. NetSuite’s Inventory Management System provides many benefits for businesses that can help them save money, avoid stockouts, and ensure product availability.

If you’re looking for an effective and comprehensive way to manage your Netsuite inventory, contact OdeCloud NetSuite professionals. Our team of experts can provide you with a custom solution that takes into account your specific needs. We’ll work with you to create a system that is efficient and easy to use, so you can focus on your business goals. Contact us today to learn more about our inventory management services.

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