Multi-location inventory and bins
Stock sits in warehouses, in transit, at customer sites, and with third-party logistics providers. NetSuite tracks inventory by location and, where needed, by bin, so you can see available stock and promise delivery dates with confidence. Decide how transfers between locations are initiated and received, since in-transit stock is a common source of confusion.
Keep location structure practical. A sprawling set of locations that nobody maintains produces counts that cannot be trusted.
Reorder points and demand planning
Replenishment decisions should be driven by demand and lead times, not memory. Reorder points, safety stock, and demand-planning tools generate purchase suggestions that buyers review. The quality of the output depends on clean sales history and accurate supplier lead times, so spend effort on those before trusting recommendations.
- Segment items by velocity so fast movers are reviewed more often.
- Flag slow and obsolete stock early to avoid write-downs.
- Compare forecast with actual demand monthly and adjust planning parameters.
Drop ship, special order and landed cost
Not every order ships from your warehouse. Drop-ship orders go directly from the supplier to your customer, and special orders are purchased when the sale is made. The system should link sales and purchase orders so margin and fulfillment status stay visible. For imported goods, landed cost adds freight, duty, and fees to the item cost so margins reflect reality instead of the supplier's invoice alone.
Customer pricing, rebates and agreements
Distributors manage thousands of customer-specific prices, quantity breaks, and volume rebates. Store these as structured rules so they apply automatically at order entry, and keep the agreements attached. Rebates owed to customers, and those owed to you by suppliers, should accrue as sales happen so margin reports are not overstated until the rebate is paid.
Revenue and pricing solutions →Warehouse operations: receiving, picking, returns
Handheld scanning speeds receiving, put-away, picking, and cycle counting while improving accuracy. Returns need a clear process: authorize, receive, inspect, and decide whether the item returns to stock, goes back to the supplier, or is scrapped. Each decision should have an accounting treatment defined in advance.
EDI and integration with customers and suppliers
Larger customers often require electronic purchase orders, advance ship notices, and invoices. Plan EDI early because trading partners have their own testing and certification steps that can lengthen the schedule. Define which system owns item and price data so partners always receive current information.
NetSuite integration services →Measures that show the system is working
After go-live, track a handful of numbers monthly to see whether inventory is under control. They give you early warning and a way to show leadership the return on the project.
- Inventory turns. How quickly stock sells through, by category. Falling turns signal overbuying or slow-moving items.
- Fill rate. The share of order lines shipped complete and on time, which is the measure customers feel.
- Inventory accuracy. Cycle-count variance as a percentage of value. Trending down means the processes are holding.
- Gross margin by customer and item. Once pricing and landed cost are accurate, margin reports reveal unprofitable accounts and products.
Pitfalls that lock up cash
- Counting rarely. Annual physical counts find problems too late. Cycle counting high-value and fast-moving items catches errors while they are fixable.
- Pricing in spreadsheets. Shadow price lists create invoice disputes. Keep one authoritative source and train sales staff to use it.
- Ignoring supplier performance. Late deliveries distort planning. Track actual lead times by supplier and update the system.
- Overbuilding locations. Every added location multiplies counts and transfers. Add locations only when they change how stock is managed.
