NetSuite Industries: Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Tips for CPG Companies
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Effective Inventory Management
The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is a fast moving, highly competitive industry that provides frequently replaced items like makeup, household products, clothes, and food and beverages. CPG companies, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers and e-Commerce enterprises, need real-time, accurate inventory data to effectively manage stock levels, ensure slow moving inventory can easily be identified, and accurately track order statuses.
The consumer goods industry is marked by rapid change and complex demand patterns, which are primarily driven by seasonality trends and customer buying behaviors. Unable to keep up with the additional SKUs to meet these demands, many companies regularly experience longer lead times, poor responsiveness, and stock-outs. This is only magnified with a paper-driven processes, which can be slow and error-prone.
Why Automation is Critical
Automating these processes can ensure your team has up-to-date information at all times. By departing from a paper-driven process to scanning barcodes throughout your operation, you reduce errors and improve the productivity and accuracy of your warehouse team.
CPG companies that don’t adopt real-time data collection typically encounter:
- Excessive time identifying and rectifying manual capture errors
- Warehouse workers relying on tactic knowledge for product location
- Obsolete inventory or slow moving being neglected – taking up space and accruing costs
- Inventory discrepancies from stock counting causing adjustments
Why Mobile Technology Contributes to
Your Success
Using a mobile NetSuite WMS means you can automate manual processes in picking, packing, shipping and inventory counts. With a SuiteApp like RF-SMART, your staff are prompted to the location to putaway or pick inventory in a fraction of the time without having to rely on tacit knowledge. Even better, these inventory movements are recorded in real-time in NetSuite with every item accounted for in the correct location - saving time, effort, and optimizing your operations.
Consider your counting process. Mobile Cycle Counts save time and money by eliminating full physical counts; which eliminates operations from shutting down or incurring additional man hours. As CPG businesses struggle to keep track of stock levels, mobile technology allows you to complete counts regularly knowing your inventory is always accurate.
Automation in your warehouse can be applied to:
- Purchase Orders, Transfer Orders, Sales Orders, Work Orders
- Receiving
- Picking
- Inbound putaways
- Stock counting
- Inbound License Plating
- Bin Replenishment
- Pack Station
- Shipping
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Shipping During Busy Season with RF-SMART for NetSuite
One of the biggest struggles the consumer packaged goods industry faces is keeping up with an influx of demand during busy seasons. With customer satisfaction and reputation on the line, implementing a solutions that automates and speeds up their shipping processes is critical to the daily operation of companies in this sector.
RF-SMART Shipping ensures your orders get out the door quickly and with the best rate through:
Reduced training time for seasonal staff: The intuitive interface helps train seasonal workers in seconds without disrupting operations.
Real-time rate shopping: Automatically compares rates across multiple carriers to help control shipping costs during high-volume periods.
Streamlined workflows: Eliminates manual steps in the shipping process, reducing errors and increasing throughput.
Adaptability to changing requirements: The systems no-code rules engine allows CPG companies to adjust shipping rules as needed during peak seasons
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Think Beyond Barcoding
To effectively manage your inventory, you will also want to leverage advanced mobile tools to further automate your operations and increase inventory accuracy up to 99.9%:
Automated Pick Planner:
Work Order Reporting:
How RF-SMART Helped Mann Lake Overcome Inventory and Operational Hurdles
Challenges
Mann Lake, a leader in beekeeping and backyard hobby farming, faced several challenges as they grew from two to six locations across multiple states. They struggled with manual inventory tracking using pen and paper, which led to inaccurate stock counts and poor visibility of product locations. The company also faced inefficient picking processes, relying on warehouse staff to keep up with orders during busy seasons. Lastly, they encountered difficulties in labor tracking, productivity forecasting, and shipping operations.
Solution
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Results
By implementing RF-SMART, Mann Lake experienced:
A 12% increase in shipping orders while decreasing labor by 10%Real-time manufacturing data entry and improved accuracyIncreased processing times of weights and dimensions for 95% of all SKUs within a weekImmediate ROI in labor cost savings through Mobile Dimensioning
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