NetSuite Case Studies

From 50% to 90% Inventory Accuracy: Mann Lake

Written by RFSMART | May 1, 2023 2:48:00 PM

INDUSTRY: Consumer Products

ERP: NetSuite

CHALLENGE

Mann Lake's warehouse operations relied entirely on manual, pen-and-paper processes, leaving them with inventory accuracy below 50%, no real-time bin-level visibility, and annual warehouse shutdowns lasting 3-4 days just to complete a physical count.

RESULTS

After implementing RF-SMART as their WMS and Shipping solution, Mann Lake increased their inventory accuracy by 40%+, eliminated multi-day warehouse shutdowns, and shipped 12% more orders while cutting labor by 10%.

RF-SMART PRODUCTS USED

RF-SMART Shipping
RF-SMART WMS
Material Handling Automation Connector by
RF-SMART

 

40%
Increase Inventory Accuracy

12%
Increase Shipping Transactions

10%
Decrease in Labor

 

"I don't think we were even hitting 50% accuracy pre-RF-SMART.
Now, we are sitting closer to 90%. That is a huge improvement."

Carol Pelkey
Director of Warehouseing @ Mann Lake

The Challenge

Before RF-SMART, Mann Lake’s manual processes created operational bottlenecks that threatened scalability and caused inventory inaccuracies.

Key Issues Included:

  • No Bin-Level Visibility: With hundreds of units of a single item split across multiple bin locations, warehouse staff spent excessive time navigating the warehouse floor to locate product.
  • Inefficient Picking: Paper-based picking led to excessive back-and-forth travel, taking up to two hours to pick just 30 identical orders and even pulling administrative staff onto the warehouse floor during peak seasons.
  • Disruptive Physical Counts: Full inventory count required a complete 3-4 day warehouse shutdown for each year.
  • Fragmented Systems and Manual Data Entry: Separate shipping platforms, no labor metrics, and manual entry of weights and dimensions for 12,000+ SKUs created compounding inefficiencies across operations.

The Solution

To address these challenges, Mann Lake required a solution that was fully native to NetSuite and could scale with their multi-location, high-volume operations. By partnering with RF-SMART for NetSuite, Mann Lake:

  • Replaced paper-based receiving and picking with real-time scanning, feeding live inventory data directly into NetSuite at the bin level.
  • Implemented RF-SMART Pick Planner to automate pick planning, group orders by bin, and direct warehouse employees through the optimal picking path.
  • Adopted RF-SMART Shipping for a single-platform fulfillment experience with a more intuitive interface and responsive support.
  • Automated item weight, dimension, and image capture and upload with RF-SMART's Mobile Dimensioning feature.
  • Enabled real-time manufacturing reporting, giving production managers accurate, real-time visibility.

"We got to where we are by providing a good customer experience and having
the best quality product, much like RF-SMART.”
 

The Results

By partnering with RF-SMART, Mann Lake was able to transform their warehouse from a manual, paper-driven operation into a real-time, data-powered fulfillment engine.

With RF-SMART, Mann Lake:

  • Improved inventory accuracy from less than 50% to approximately 90%
  • Increased shipping transactions by 12% while decreasing labor by 10%
  • Captured and processed weight and dimensions for 95% of 12,000 SKUs in just one week.
  • Eliminated annual warehouse shutdowns for physical inventory counts

By unifying their WMS, shipping, and automation tools under one platform, RF-SMART has positioned Mann Lake to continue scaling their operations as they expand to new locations and grow their product catalog.