NetSuite Industries: Building Materials
Simplifying Processes and Boosting Efficiency
for the Building Materials Industry
Overcoming Barriers in the Building Materials Sector
The building materials industry manages dynamic construction timelines, strict contractor expectations, and extremely complex inventory. From lumber and drywall to insulation and flooring, manufacturers and distributors in this space handle a broad range of products across multiple locations simultaneously.
With bulk and pallet-based inventory, tight delivery windows, and ongoing labor shortages, there is very little room for error. Finding a solution that eliminates human error, simplifies real-time tracking, and boosts inventory visibility is essential to the day-to-day success of companies in this sector.
When Manual Processes Make It Worse
Traditional and paper-based processes were not designed to handle the complexity of modern building materials operations. At every stage of the process, manual workflows introduce errors that are difficult to catch, costly to fix, and nearly impossible to trace.
A simple mistake, like entering the wrong product code or misplacing a pallet of materials, can halt a construction project and damage important business relationships.
Manual purchase order validation creates receiving backlogs and quality errors that typically go undetected
Memory-based putaway leads to mislocated pallets and wasted time searching the warehouse
Paper pick lists result in mispicks, inventory inaccuracies, and stockouts
Handwritten BOLs, missing documentation, and unverified shipments create compliance risks and put contractor delivery commitments at risk
Manual carrier selection and rate shopping can be costly, time consuming, and impact delivery expectations
Automate Warehouse Operations with
RF-SMART WMS for NetSuite
RF-SMART’s WMS for NetSuite gives building materials manufacturers and distributors real-time inventory control and visibility across every stage of their warehouse operations. Businesses in this sector can implement and configure automated solutions to meet their specific operational needs including:
Mobile Barcode Scanning
Manage the full range of SKU complexity with real-time validation at every touchpoint in the warehouse, updating NetSuite automatically and eliminating manual data entry errors.
License Plating
Gain full traceability at the pallet level by assigning unique identifiers to pallets, bundles, or crates of materials from the moment they arrive at the dock to the moment they ship.
Lot Traceability
Track lot and batch information through every warehouse transaction so teams can instantly identify and respond to quality issues or product recalls without a manual warehouse investigation.
Directed Putaway
Keep large-footprint warehouses organized by guiding workers to the correct storage location for every item received, whether it is wide-aisle racking for structural products, floor-level storage for pallet goods, or bin locations for smaller hardware.
Cycle Counting
Prioritize counts by velocity and value to keep on-hand quantities accurate across fast-turning fasteners and hardware as well as slow-moving bulk materials, without halting warehouse operations during peak construction seasons.
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Tracking Lots & Pallets
RF-SMART's License Plating functionality boosts the traceability of materials across all touchpoints, managing complex inventory processes throughout your supply chain by organizing and tracking multiple items or units as a single entity. With License Plating, companies in the building materials industry gain the ability to assign unique identifiers to pallets or bundles of materials, enabling:
- Precise tracking
- Faster warehouse processes
- Enhanced quality control.
- Maximized space optimization
- Optimized bin location management and
- Streamlined pick paths
- Boosted employee productivity
- Reduced material managing costs
"From the receiving side to all the way out the door, we are able to track where that pallet has gone, what bin it’s been to, and who has moved it."
Kevin Hansen
Inventory Control Manager at Estyle Corp.
Shipping Smarter with RF-SMART Shipping
Companies in the building materials industry ship a wide range of orders, from small items like hardware and accessories to bulky items like flooring and piping. For contractors and job sites running on tight project schedules, getting the right shipment out the door is not just an operational goal, it is a direct reflection of your reliability as a supplier. RF-SMART Shipping gives distributors in this space the speed, accuracy, and carrier flexibility needed to meet contractor expectations on every order without manual workarounds.
LTL Shipping
Manage Less-than-Truckload freight directly within NetSuite, generating accurate rates, booking carriers, and producing BOLs without leaving the system.
Automated Rate Shopping
Automatically select the best carrier and rate for every order using a configurable rules engine, replacing manual guesswork with cost-optimized carrier selection across both parcel and LTL shipments.
Multi-Carrier Support
Meet contractor and job site delivery requirements by choosing from a range of carriers including FedEx, UPS, USPS, and more, all from a single shipping workflow.
Scan, Scan, Ship Validation
Confirm the right items and quantities are packed before any label is printed, catching fulfillment errors before they reach the job site.
How Building Materials Customer PSP Limited
Maximized Operational Efficiency with RF-SMART
“Inventory visibility is where we’ve experienced the most value with RF-SMART.
Stopping incorrect orders from going out or mispicks being added to an order and
sent out has greatly impacted our business.”
Challenges
Manual, paper-based processes and a disorganized warehouse led to costly mistakes for PSP Limited including mispicks, inaccurate counts, and order fulfillment errors. Employee productivity was hindered as they wasted time searching for misplaced inventory, and the experience of overseas clients was negatively impacted by incorrectly shipped orders.
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Solution
With RF-SMART's barcoding solution, PSP Limited has experienced end-to-end inventory visibility, which allows users to identify and remedy errors in a timely manner. Since implementing cycle counts with RF-SMART, their employees can rely on the stock counts to be accurate and up to date. Across their supply chain, PSP Limited has increased efficiency and productivity.
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Results
By implementing RF-SMART WMS,
PSP Limited experienced:
Significantly reduced the number of mispicks and errors in order fulfillment Boosted efficiency in their putaway and picking processes with organized bin locations Cut warehouse printing in half 
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