The ability to effectively manage a complex supply chain is the core of a wholesale distributor’s business - and it’s also the biggest challenge. Of 623 respondents in Geodis's 2017 “Supply Chain Worldwide Survey,” only 6% stated that they have “full visibility” into their supply chains. Lacking that full picture of the supply chain can have devastating effects. Consider:
- Nando’s, a restaurant chain specializing in peri-peri chicken, ran out of chicken in outlets all over England during the New Year’s bank holiday of 2017.
- Toymaker Mattel recalled over 1.5 million toys in 2007 due to suppliers outsourcing toy production to firms that used lead paint.
Wholesale distributors are intimately familiar with these struggles: limited to zero visibility into supply chain operations, managing complex supply chains across multiple systems and guaranteeing greater transactional velocity and accuracy. NetSuite 2019 Release 2 offers a number of enhancements that drive increased control, visibility and efficiency for wholesale distributors.
Simplify Warehouse Management
On-the-floor warehouse tasks are often completed manually, adding time and introducing potential for errors at each step. With NetSuite 2019 Release 2, wholesale distributors can take advantage of a series of features that help to automate and more easily document warehouse management processes.
- With NetSuite 2019 Release 2, the updated NetSuite WMS mobile solution includes:
- Enhanced picking capabilities like single-order picking, multi-order picking and a pick recommendation engine.
- An Order Release feature to control the flow of orders to the warehouse.
- Faster processing, supporting up to 10,000 order lines per day per picking location.
- Customizable WMS screens with no coding required.
- Advanced Manufacturing that offers:
- Production Unit of Measure (UoM) that establishes unit conversions so shop floor personnel don’t have to make calculations when recording production amounts.
- Serialized Components that allow manufacturing operators to record assembly build data directly from the shop floor tablet.
- Inventory Status that enables warehouse staff to set aside inventory for specific work orders based on their status.
Get a 360-Degree View of the Supply Chain
In order to be informed and proactive, wholesale distributors must have a handle on activities taking place in the supply chain at all times. Available in NetSuite 2019 Release 2 in its first phase, the Supply Chain Control Tower provides a single view of the state of your supply chain that offers:
- Targeted alerts identifying critical supply chain issues that require immediate attention.
- Pre-configured supply chain KPIs to track the overall health of a business’s supply chain.
- A Predicted Risks feature that identifies purchase orders for which delivery may be in jeopardy.
- “What If” scenarios that enable wholesale distributors to simulate the business impact of inventory changes across their global supply chain.
- A Commitment and Allocation Engine that allows businesses to match inventory to customer orders across varying customer types and timelines.
The insights provided by the Supply Chain Control Tower will provide wholesale distributors with more control over supply chain processes, increasing on-time delivery and optimizing efficiency as a result.
These functions allow wholesale distributors to speed up existing, tedious processes, expand their view of the warehouse floor and reduce their margin of error at critical areas of the supply chain.
NetSuite 2019 Release 2 Provides the Framework for Real-Time Action
The features available in the latest version of NetSuite will give wholesale distributors the ability to better understand all aspects of the supply chain, more easily manage the warehouse floor and take proactive, forward-thinking actions in both places.
But that’s not all: This is just a taste of what’s available NetSuite 2019 Release 2. Be sure to check out the release notes for a full list of benefits that NetSuite's latest release can bring to your organization and the blog highlighting new functionality for all organizations.
Finally, for a hands-on primer, be sure to access your included preview account as soon as it's available. There, you'll be able to see how the new features will work with your own data and get a jumpstart on maximizing the impact of NetSuite 2019 Release 2.