TRANSFORMING TODAY’S
MANUFACTURERS:
NetSuite Provides the
Foundation for Success
What does it take to remain competitive in the constantly
changing world of manufacturing? There may not be
a single answer, but one thing is certain: without the
right tools and systems in place, it’s nearly impossible
for companies to keep pace. For this reason, leading
innovators in manufacturing are turning to NetSuite’s
cloud platform as the solution of choice to run their entire
manufacturing business.
WHY MANUFACTURERS
CHOOSE NETSUITE
Whether a company is a 50-year-old discrete manufacturer
running the same on-premise system they have been
using since the 90’s, or a high-tech manufacturing startup
rapidly outgrowing QuickBooks and Excel spreadsheets,
the reality is that these manufacturers—as different as
they may appear at face value—are operating in the same
business ecosystem and face the same modern day
business challenges.
Regardless of the size or age of a company, manufacturers
striving for success need a system that can keep pace and
address the challenges of today.
That is where NetSuite comes in. Across the NetSuite
customer base, there are thousands of manufacturers that
fall across the spectrum of size and age; this is because
NetSuite revolves its business strategy around five pillars to
address the challenges all modern businesses face. These
pillars include NetSuite’s:
• Reliable platform
• Industry-specific capabilities
• Global functionality
• Customer experience focus
• Flexibility to accommodate complex business models
At its very core, NetSuite is designed for a modern
business. This fact, combined with years of industry best
practices, has made NetSuite both the product provider
of choice and trusted advisor for manufacturers. Based
on these pillars, let’s explore how NetSuite addresses
the needs of a manufacturer going through the ERP
selection process.
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
“WE NEED
MANUFACTURING-
SPECIFIC CAPABILITIES”
Whether a manufacturer is in its first round of seed funding,
or its 50th year of business, it is critical that manufacturers
are equipped with the manufacturing-specific functionality
to increase efficiencies, improve utilization and reduce
errors. With more than 30 years of experience in ERP,
NetSuite has developed industry-specific functionality to
address these exact manufacturing-specific needs. From
order capture and inventory management to shipment
and billing and support, NetSuite manages the entire
manufacturing process flow. It supports inventory for
multiple locations, assembly management requirements,
bill of materials management, work order management,
diverse methods of measurement and bar coding.
On top of the core functionality, NetSuite offers an
Advanced Manufacturing edition, which caters to even
more complex manufacturing requirements, including:
• Manufacturing Execution Systems
• Bar Code Scanning
NetSuite’s stepped approach to the implementation process
and leading practices are critical differentiators compared to
the competition.
• Tablet Experience
• Advanced Routings
• Rough Cut Capacity Planning
• Resource Requirements Planning
• Quality Control
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
“In my 12 years in the finance
world, NetSuite is the most end-
to-end solution I’ve seen.”
Tim Ward CIO, CraftMark Bakery
• Batch Control & Management
• Recipe/Formula Management
• Dynamic Reporting
• Release Management
As critical as the functionality is, many businesses are
understandably concerned about the implementation
process—implementing all at once feels overwhelming.
With decades of experience in ERP implementations,
NetSuite has developed manufacturing-centric “stairways”
that walks businesses through a stepped approach to
adopting functionality that helps to implement NetSuite’s
manufacturing capabilities at a comfortable pace.
HEAR IT FROM A NETSUITE CUSTOMER
CraftMark Bakery aims to change the game in baking
by offering high quality products, with extreme
agility and rapid time to market. For this reason,
during its ERP selection process, CraftMark Bakery
sought manufacturing best practices and the deep
functionality that could match its detailed requirements
and aggressive schedule. The company needed a
Customer Spotlight: CraftMark Bakery (previously
known as Specialty Bakery)
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: Blue Microphones
cloud-based solution that could support its expansion
and rapidly scaling business.
NetSuite delivered exactly the platform that CraftMark
Bakery was looking for. It provides an agile platform,
manufacturing best practices and a user-friendly interface.
CraftMark uses NetSuite across all of its operations—from
procurement and inventory management to distribution
and financial reporting—and even utilizes NetSuite’s
mobile capabilities on its shop floor.
“WE NEED A STURDY,
RELIABLE PLATFORM”
Of course, companies exploring their ERP options also
want a solution to last well into the future. Big or small,
replacing a company’s systems is no easy task, which is
why reliability and sturdiness of the solution are absolutely
critical. The last thing a business wants is to go through
process of selecting an ERP just to go through painful
upgrades or even another evaluation.
NetSuite’s cloud platform is the kind of solution that is
built to last. It is global, accessible at any time from any
device and automatically updates with the latest features
and functions so that customers are always running
“The platform is key. For a lot of
customers, it’s the platform that
got people onto the product in the
first place because it’s a true cloud
platform that delivers the agility that
a modern company needs.”
Paul Farrell SVP Product Marketing, NetSuite
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: CMP
the latest version. It is able to handle a broad range of
business needs—from small companies with a handful
of employees to huge global enterprises—and is highly
customizable, with a massive ecosystem of partners with
built-for-NetSuite offerings.
NetSuite has consistently focused on enhancing the
performance of the platform, for startups and large
enterprises alike. This fact, combined with NetSuite’s
customizable cloud-based architecture, makes NetSuite
the solution of choice for companies seeking a proven
system along with all of the key updates and functions.
HEAR IT FROM A NETSUITE CUSTOMER
CMP, the world’s largest independent manufacturer
of aftermarket compressor parts for refrigeration and
HVAC units, runs NetSuite as a core component of
a lean manufacturing initiative, aimed at eliminating
waste. With lean manufacturing, CMP Corp. has
systematically transformed its business for greater cost-
efficiencies across core business processes in both
aftermarket and custom-machined lines of business.
NetSuite Manufacturing Edition enables CMP to
streamline production with such capabilities as work
orders, bills of material, assembly management and
requirements planning, while NetSuite’s cloud infrastructure
enabled CMP to reduce its server count from 10 to two
while trimming its IT staff by one full-time employee
and eliminating reliance on third-party IT consultants.
Avoiding high capital expenses for a new ERP solution
enabled CMP to focus its resources on devising and
implementing its highly successful lean
manufacturing program.
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
“WE NEED GLOBAL
FUNCTIONALITY”
It is no secret that global functionality has rapidly become a
vital aspect of success in the modern business world. With
many manufacturers moving production or warehousing
overseas and selling into international markets, global
functionality is a critical piece of the puzzle for many in
their ERP selection. Large companies require agility to take
advantage of global opportunities while small companies
are operating internationally and need a solution that
allows them to do so. NetSuite provides a global solution
that moves at the speed of business and provides small
and large companies alike with the functionality needed
for success.
Another factor manufacturers consider are the challenges
associated with managing complex, international supply
chains. With companies focusing more on partnering and
outsourcing for increased efficiencies, supply chains are
becoming more fractured and international.
NetSuite’s global ERP meets this need for a global
infrastructure to accommodate more fractured supply
chains, international fiscal functionality, multi-level company
structures and global supply chain functionality through:
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: P3 Medical
“Companies need technologies and
tools to provide the same control as
when the supply chain was controlled
within the four walls of their facility.”
Paul Farrell SVP Product Marketing, NetSuite
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
• Scalable Infrastructure: New data centers around the
world brings NetSuite’s solutions closer to customers,
ensures data protection and makes it easy for customers
to add subsidiaries, sales offices, distribution centers,
manufacturing plants, contract manufacturers or
business partners.
• International Fiscal Functionality: NetSuite provides the
fiscal capabilities to easily support companies in any
country, supporting more than 20 languages, 190
currencies and financial compliance laws across more
than 110 countries worldwide—and makes the process of
going global more streamlined.
• Multi-Level Company Structures: NetSuite natively
provides the ability to accommodate multi-level company
structures to seamlessly account for parent and
subsidiary corporations. Some companies—including
Shaw Floors—take a two-tier ERP approach, in which
a subsidiary runs on NetSuite, enabling the parent
company to leverage the on-premise system it has
already invested in heavily.
• Global Supply Chain Functionality: With NetSuite,
businesses are able to optimize global supply chains by
planning the supply chain, managing available capacity,
optimizing inventory and executing on the supply chain
with visibility into every portion of it.
HEAR IT FROM A NETSUITE CUSTOMER
Akustica, Epec and Shaw are all businesses operating
globally and have chosen NetSuite to fully manage
their supply chains. Benefits these successful companies
have experienced in turning to NetSuite include:
• Real-time updates of information and visibility across
their company and supply chain.
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: Epec Engineered Technologies
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
“What you really want is to make
sure the whole customer experience
is coordinated, so the customer is
delighted.” Paul Farrell SVP Product Marketing, NetSuite
• Integration with other systems for complete visibility
from raw material purchasing and manufacturing, to
fulfilling orders and billing.
• More automated operational processes.
• Easy-to-use dashboards.
• Ability to expand and grow globally due to ease
of scalability.
• Access from any location from any device.
• Multi-language and multi-currency capabilities.
“WE NEED TO FOCUS ON
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE”
As manufacturers expand more and more into B2B and
B2C commerce, the customer experience becomes
a key consideration. In the modern world of business,
there are more touch points with the consumer than
ever before. Customers expect consistent experiences
regardless of how they engage—whether via the web,
call center, mobile device or otherwise.
Customer Spotlight: Akustica, Shaw and Epec
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
Modern manufacturers need the capacity to communicate
with their stakeholders and customers effectively and
seamlessly, a key advantage of the NetSuite commerce
solution. NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce engine:
• Enables implementation of both B2B and B2C portals
that streamline order placement and improve
customer satisfaction.
• Streamlines order management by transferring orders
automatically to back-office fulfillment processes.
• Automatically creates dynamic price lists that reflect
purchase volumes.
• Supports creation of coupons or discounts on specific
items, enables exempting other items from discounts
and automatically delivers upsell recommendations.
• Provides search engine analysis, website analytics
and reporting, online marketing analytics and more.
• Accepts real-time payments from different credit cards
and international currencies and supports Google
Checkout or PayPal checkout options.
Learn How 7 Nation Has Empowered Ecommerce Expansion
Between multi-channel purchasing support, quote
request, password protection, application performance
sensors and Google tag manager, SuiteCommerce
optimizes the online ordering process from start to
finish. These capabilities are the core of the customer
experience and absolutely necessary for the most
optimized B2B and B2C commerce possible.
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
Customer Spotlight: MES
“We started our journey looking
for an ecommerce platform—when
we started looking at NetSuite, we
realized there was an opportunity we
had by being on the same platform
for ecommerce and ERP system to
streamline all of our backend systems”
Shridhar Shah CIO & VP of Marketing, MES
HEAR IT FROM A NETSUITE CUSTOMER
MES—the largest distributor of firefighting equipment in the
United States—recently went through the ERP selection
process. It was primarily looking for an ecommerce platform
and was impressed by NetSuite’s unified approach to ERP
and ecommerce. After considering the options, MES chose
NetSuite for the efficiencies and visibility achieved from
having ERP and ecommerce on a single platform.
NetSuite has streamlined MES’ back-end systems and
has enabled MES to provide customers a smoother
experience. MES has gone so far as to create personalized
microsites for about 100 customers. Each customer was
provided a personalized catalog with customized pricing
and a customized look and feel. Customers could transact
without having to call a sales rep, freeing up time for
reps to bring in new customers and continue to grow
the business.
“WE NEED A FLEXIBLE
SOLUTION”
In the face of constant change, businesses need to
quickly be able to pivot and iterate on their business
model, and they need a solution that is going to be
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: Urban626
Watch the Customer Story Video Online: Liberty Bottleworks
able to form to that model. New companies lacking
a platform to support and monetize their state of the
art innovations and unique business models are at a
serious disadvantage as they try to establish themselves
in the market, while older companies risk stagnating
and ultimately failing if they fail to recognize the need
to modernize. For instance, today a company may bill
in more traditional ways, but in the future their billing
practices may become more complex and they need to
be prepared for that potential. Functionality and a flexible
platform makes rapid changes in processes possible so
that businesses can focus more on innovating and less on
the software to support these innovations.
HEAR IT FROM A NETSUITE CUSTOMER
Qardio is a health monitoring company that makes
devices and apps for easier heart health tracking. Its
products are available on the company website, as well as
on Amazon and retailers like Target and Best Buy, which
allows the company to do business in about 40 countries.
This company chose NetSuite in part because of
SuiteBilling, which supports the company’s current
revenue model and provides the ability to support
possible future revenue models—such as subscriptions,
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
By choosing NetSuite, over
30,000 businesses have chosen
the ERP that does not simply
recognize modern business
trends, but trailblazes and
innovates in response. With that,
the only question that remains
for businesses who have not yet
considered making the switch—
“if not now, then when?”
device rentals or even usage-based charges. By preparing
for future changes like these upfront, Qardio is poised
for long-term growth and expansion, regardless of what
their business model looks like in the years to come.
CONCLUSION
For modern manufacturers, NetSuite provides a single
solution to fit all of their key requirements: a sturdy, reliable
platform with all of the industry-specific, customer-centric
and global capabilities necessary for success in today’s
business ecosystem. By choosing NetSuite, over 30,000
businesses have chosen the ERP that does not simply
recognize modern business trends, but trailblazes and
innovates in response. With that, the only question that
remains for businesses who have not yet considered
making the switch—“if not now, then when?”
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Transforming Today’s Manufacturers: NetSuite Provides the Foundation for Success
www.netsuite.com/manufacturing
[email protected]
877-638-7848
Transforming Today's Manufacturers
What does it take to remain competitive in the constantly changing world of manufacturing? There may not be a single answer, but one thing is certain: without the right tools and systems in place, it’s nearly impossible for companies to keep pace. For this reason, leading innovators in manufacturing are turning to NetSuite’s cloud platform as the solution of choice to run their entire manufacturing business.
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