Mastering Inventory Management: Unlocking the Power of NetSuite Forecasting, MRP, and Supply Chain Control Tower
Inventory management is the lifeblood of wholesale, retail, and manufacturing businesses, yet it often presents some of the most complex challenges to sustained growth. Are you struggling to balance customer demand with your cash flow? NetSuite's robust solutions, including Material Resource Planning (MRP) and the Supply Chain Control Tower, are designed to transform your operations into a lean, efficient, and profitable machine.
The Common Challenges of Inventory Planning
Businesses frequently face a host of issues that contribute to supply chain risk and operational inefficiency:
Cash Tied Up in Inventory: Overstocking leads to cash flow being trapped in your warehouse as "dead stock".
Customer Dissatisfaction: A lack of adequate inventory levels can result in reduced customer satisfaction and confidence, as you're unable to fulfill orders.
Lack of Visibility: Many companies struggle with no supply planning visibility across their operations.
Complexity: Managing complicated item planning parameters, navigating complex multi-location planning, and achieving scalability are ongoing hurdles.
Centralizing your processes with NetSuite helps you address these challenges head-on.
Material Resource Planning (MRP): The Foundational Solution
NetSuite's Material Resource Planning (MRP) is the core process that identifies customer demand and the supply requirements needed to meet it. It provides the mechanism for optimizing the procurement of inventory and cash flow, ensuring you are always able to fulfill orders.
The MRP process follows a clear path to ensure inventory levels are adequately planned:
Forecast Demand: Begin by accurately forecasting customer demand.
Plan Supply: Use planning parameters to adequately plan the supply required to support that demand.
Review Exceptions: Review exceptions and recommendations presented by the planning workbench.
Execute and Mitigate Risk: Execute on any exceptions and work to mitigate any risk to the supply plan.
Release Orders: Release any planned orders—including Purchase Orders (POs), Transfer Orders (TOs), and Work Orders (WOs)—to sufficiently cover all supply needs.
Introducing the Supply Chain Control Tower: The Intelligence Layer
While MRP handles planning, the Supply Chain Control Tower acts as the intelligence layer, predicting risk and assessing your ability to deliver orders on time.
This powerful tool uses a dashboard to deliver reports and alerts on the overall health of your supply chain. It provides:
AI-Powered Risk Prediction: It predicts risk using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the likelihood that an order will meet your demand.
Intelligent Predictions: Intelligent predictions derived from machine learning assess your readiness to deliver orders on time.
Exception-Based Reporting: The Control Tower highlights what requires your immediate attention by providing exception-based reporting.
"What If" Scenarios: You have the ability to exercise "what if" scenarios through Supply Chain Snap Shots to simulate potential outcomes and make proactive decisions.
The Control Tower allows you to get your inventory as tight as possible while maintaining confidence that you can meet your customers' needs.
The Value to Your Business
By adopting NetSuite's integrated approach to forecasting, MRP, and the Supply Chain Control Tower, your business can realize significant benefits, supporting long-term growth and stability:
Optimize Inventory Levels
Execute Supply To Optimize Sales
Increase Customer Satisfaction
Ensure Stable Production Through effective inventory management
Achieve Scalability and ease complex multi-location planning
Gain Visibility Across the entire supply chain
NetSuite provides the solutions needed to transform your business into an efficient and profitable operation, minimizing stockouts and reducing excess inventory in the process.
