After investing in a modern ERP like NetSuite, nothing frustrates operations leaders more than discovering persistent inaccuracies between actual and system counts for inventory. Not only does this erode trust in data critical for fulfilling demand, it introduces needless waste as teams scramble trying to find phantom inventory or expedite missing items.
Below we outline key root causes and cures for remedying inaccurate NetSuite inventory levels:
Data Migration Missteps
Like any business system transition, migrating your legacy inventory data accurately into NetSuite poses challenges. Items may get defined inconsistently or beginning balances transferred inaccurately from the old system. Historical transactions may fail to convert leaving gaps.
How To Fix:
- Carefully transform and validate item master data, reviewing for duplicates or inconsistencies
- Scrub starting balances, identifying and writing off stale counts
- Perform test data conversions early, performing root cause analysis on exceptions
You can’t manage inventory properly on inaccurate, dirty baseline data. Invest the needed cleanup effort upfront before building processes on a shaky foundation.
Poor Physical Inventory Processes
Even with clean data migration, actual inventory counts will deviate over time from system levels without rigorous cycle counting programs. For many companies, end-of-year wall-to-wall physical inventories provide the only true data correction point.
The typical ensuing adjustments lead to income volatility on financials and lack of visibility to trends. Moreover without understanding root causes for discrepancies, the same issues persist allowing gaps to accumulate until next year-end again.
How To Fix:
- Institute routine, robust cycle counting programs addressing high-volume and high-value items more frequently
- Leverage barcode scanning and mobile devices to eliminate manual errors recording counts
- Enforce resolving adjustment transactions timely, identifying root cause drivers
Consistent cycle counting procedures integrated with NetSuite provide real-time corrections maintaining alignment rather than waiting for one annual financial disruption.
Inaccurate Receipt/Shipping Processes
A prime culprit for introducing phantom or missing inventory is inaccurate processing of items moving in or out of the warehouse. For example, receiving against purchase orders where the quantity entered or associated inventory item differs from the actual shipment. Or fulfilment teams scrambling to ship customer orders shortcutting confirmation of what actually got picked and loaded on the truck.
How To Fix:
- Standardize and simplify rules for receipt/shipping handling exceptions like overages or item substitutions
- Configure system validations and workflows in NetSuite to match shipping/receiving processes mandating correct UOMs, lot/serial tracking etc.
- Enable barcoding, RFID and other auto-ID for streamlining transaction processing accuracy
- Run routine analytics reporting on standard KPIs like receipt accuracy and shipping precision to monitor for gaps indicative of process issues
Getting transactional intake and outflow processes consistently executed eliminates major contributor to downstream counting errors.
Why Choose SuiteRep?
Inventory challenges boil down to people, process and system breakdowns. SuiteRep consultants draw from real-world operator experience in distribution, retail and manufacturing to marry optimized standard NetSuite capabilities with proven operational practices for inventory excellence tailored to your business.
We help streamline underlying root causes like data migration validation, bolstered cycle counting routines and system workflow training – not just slap on aftermarket inventory Band-Aids. Real sustainable accuracy results from the ground up, not bandages on top of broken processes.
SuiteRep also provides:
- Built-in Inventory Management Leading Practices for rapid process transformation
- End user adoption services so employees actually leverage system capabilities
- Ongoing managed services to sustain optimized operations
- State-of-the-art NetSuite aging report solutions
Get your NetSuite inventory finally under control. Contact SuiteRep to schedule a free assessment exposing gaps in your inventory management practices. Our team provides actionable next steps to cost-effectively achieve and sustain 95%+ accuracy.
