With a nearly 50 percent increase in production in the last 20 years, U.S. manufacturers are more efficient than ever. The contributing factors are many, but there’s no doubt that in recent years, technology has completely transformed how things are made.

Technological improvements have been made on the assembly line, but some of the most significant upgrades have happened in the cloud as modern manufacturers of all sizes moved their valuable customer and process data to cloud ERP solutions like NetSuite.

This shift in focus to data-driven, cloud-hosted technology has leveled the playing field for manufacturers, allowing smaller operations to compete with the behemoths that have long ruled the industry. This new tech allows organizations to quickly adapt to changing markets and implement quick shifts in inventory as supply and demand fluctuate.

Investment in NetSuite is a strong first step to modernize your ERP processes, but it only represents a portion of what you must do to achieve  true transformation. When NetSuite for Manufacturers is truly optimized, businesses can focus their resources on perfecting their products and scaling instead of getting bogged down by the technology. Case in point: NetSuite’s unified platform has helped various companies grow more than 500 percent year-over-year.

Top manufacturers know when and how to push beyond “factory setting” configurations and strategically tailor NetSuite to their unique business needs through customized reporting, dashboards, integration, and more. Here are a few ways they’re reaching their goals with an optimized ERP solution:

Have the Right Manufacturing Modules for the Job

NetSuite outfits manufacturers with a new level of transparency, accessibility, and agility. It also helps companies grow by offering access to a library of NetSuite manufacturing-specific modules including:

• Demand Planning
• Advanced Inventory
• Advanced Manufacturing
• OneWorld

NetSuite provides manufacturers with real-time visibility to critical business data in a variety of ways. Implementing the right pieces and doing it in a way that truly makes sense for your business is critical to driving transformation.

Learn more about NetSuite’s manufacturing modules.

Get Personalized With Reports

With NetSuite, manufacturers can automate their entire product lifecycle management, quote-to-cash, and plan-to-report processes enabling them to:

• Reduce time to market of new products
• Improve order processing efficiency
• Closely monitor and control costs
• Deliver better quality products
• Reduce IT support and resource costs
• Speed up the financial close process
• Improve support and services productivity
• Gain controls critical for compliance activities

However, the reality is no two organizations have the same reporting needs. To truly get the most out of their reports, companies can’t settle for the default settings. They must embrace reporting optimization. With the right configurations in place, NetSuite can deliver increased visibility and real-time reporting and analytics for your manufacturing operations, customer activity, customer service, inventory and supply chain, and more.

Be Smart About NetSuite Management

Managing business-critical IT can be a full-time job—and with the value it provides to your organization, frankly, it should. In the real world, however, manufacturers don’t always have the resources to bring a full-time IT team member on board, let alone one dedicated entirely to the management and optimization of your NetSuite ERP system.

Learn more about your NetSuite Management options.

NetSuite offers a variety of support options for its customers, but keep in mind that they are primarily focused on getting started and on a single project basis. That’s why companies who are unable to accommodate an in-house team member choose to partner with a managed service provider (MSP) instead. 

A partnership with an MSP could be the right solution if your organization simply doesn’t have the time or resources to optimize NetSuite. That’s because an MSP can deploy a team of dedicated experts to help your company overcome optimization challenges and make certain your NetSuite solution performs at its best. An MSP partnership can save you time and money and free up the remainder of your team to focus on more strategic initiatives.

Learn more about how to start optimizing your manufacturing business with NetSuite in this complimentary eBook.

And drop us a line to get started optimizing your NetSuite solution with a free 15-minute consultation.