Why NetSuite is the Smart Choice for Inventory Management

Inventory loss directly hits the profit margin. According to the IHL Group, $1.77 trillion was lost by retailers worldwide in 2023 due to inventory distortion. Of this, $1.2 trillion was lost to out-of-stock situations, while overstock situations contributed the remaining $562 billion of wastage. Both harm performance as excess stock ties capital in warehouses, while shortages mean lost revenue and unhappy customers.

To address this issue, many companies are turning to modern systems that bring accuracy and visibility into their operations. The benefits of an ERP Inventory management system like NestSuite are clear. It is critical for cash flow, customer satisfaction, and profitability. 

Oracle NetSuite provides a cloud-based system that gives real-time control and visibility of inventory. This translates into an improvement in cash flow, reputation with customers, and sustainable growth.

The topics discussed in this article will be:

1. What is inventory management, and why it matters.

2. The challenges businesses face without the right tools.

3. How NetSuite inventory management simplifies the process.

4. Key benefits businesses gain from automation, analysis, and visibility.

What is NetSuite Inventory Management?

NetSuite inventory management is a cloud-based module within a full-scale ERP system. It provides a single view of all stock across several locations in real-time. 

Unlike traditional systems, Oracle NetSuite automates manual processes such as order entry and stock reconciliation. It integrates perfectly with sales, finance, and supply chain functions so that all departments can use the same correct information.

NetSuite ERP is scalable for growing businesses, so the processes within inventory management can expand as the company introduces new products, locations, or markets.

How NetSuite Makes Inventory Management Simple?

NetSuite ERP handles inventory with features directly suited to the challenges businesses face: 

Real-Time and Multi-Location Visibility

Businesses can track stock levels across warehouses, retail stores, and distribution centers. This kind of visibility accounts for stock-out issues and excess inventory by displaying what is available, where it's located, and the rate at which it's moving.

Automation of Key Processes

Purchase orders, re-ordering, and stock adjustments can be automated, minimizing errors and giving staff the time to attend to higher-value tasks.

Advanced Analytics And Forecasting

The built-in reporting tools analyze sales trends and forecast demand. A seasonal business, for example, would forecast when demand would peak so stock would not run short.

Cloud Integration And Scalability

Being a cloud ERP, NetSuite links inventory with finance, sales, and operations. Such an integration removes silos, allowing companies to grow without manual upgrades. 

Efficiency and Cost Reduction

By preventing overstocking and warehouse inefficiencies, companies minimize carrying costs and free up working capital. It also reduces labor costs for manual entry and reconciliation due to automation.

Traceability and Accuracy

NetSuite tracks items using their serial and lot numbers, as well as expiration dates. This traceability becomes of utmost importance in industries such as healthcare, food, and manufacturing, where compliance and accuracy matter.

Features of NetSuite Inventory Management

NetSuite provides capabilities that help businesses handle complex inventory operations while improving responsiveness and strategic insight. Here are some of the features of NetSuite inventory management: 

Multi-Location Fulfillment

NetSuite allows businesses to manage stock and fulfillment across multiple warehouses and stores, ensuring orders are fulfilled from the most optimal location. Predefined fulfillment rules help reduce shipping costs, avoid split shipments, and enable timely stock transfers during shortages.

Item Visibility

The platform consolidates all item-related data, including real-time stock levels, movements, demand signals, and transaction history, into a single, centralized view, creating a single source of truth for inventory data. Teams can monitor inventory throughout the supply chain, identify exceptions quickly, and make informed decisions without relying on separate systems.

Barcoding & IoT Integration

Barcode scanning and IoT devices such as RFID and GPS automate data capture throughout the inventory lifecycle, enabled through NetSuite WMS and supported third-party integrations. These integrations increase accuracy in receiving, picking, and shipping while updating stock records in real time and reducing operational delays.

Item 360 Dashboard

The Item 360 Dashboard provides a comprehensive, role-based view of each product, including KPIs, stock by location, demand forecasts, and alerts. This centralized view enables decision-makers to monitor item performance, detect issues early, and take actions to improve inventory and fulfillment operations.

Demand-Based Replenishment

NetSuite dynamically calculates reorder points using sales history, seasonal trends, and lead times, ensuring inventory levels are always aligned with actual demand. This reduces overstocking and stockouts while automating replenishment decisions across multiple locations.

Cycle Counting

With Smart Count, inventory can be counted on mobile devices without freezing warehouse operations, and real-time activity is tracked during the count. This improves counting accuracy, reduces operational disruption, and ensures inventory records are always up to date.

Traceability & Lot/Serial Management

NetSuite enables forward and backward tracking of inventory using lot and serial numbers, supporting fulfillment strategies like FEFO. This ensures efficient stock usage, improves traceability, and helps maintain regulatory compliance across industries.

NetSuite Inventory Management Benefits

From procurement and fulfillment to finance and customer experience, inventory decisions directly influence multiple business functions. Oracle NetSuite inventory management supports these decisions by connecting inventory data with demand, supply, and financial insights within a single ERP environment. 

Here are some of the benefits businesses can gain from NetSuite inventory management:

Streamlining Inventory Processes

NetSuite enables businesses to maintain balanced inventory by providing real-time visibility across warehouses, stores, and distribution centers. Through NetSuite’s demand planning and automated replenishment, businesses can align stock levels with consumption patterns and lead times. With this, operative teams can reduce overstocking and stock shortages without relying on manual intervention.

Boost Profitability

An inventory aligning with demand naturally drives profitability. Having a clear insight into inventory movement and item performance helps businesses to make the right decisions in purchasing, pricing, and inventory turnover optimization. NetSuite helps businesses identify which items contribute the most to revenue and which consume capital without returns. By improving inventory turnover and reducing fulfillment disruptions, businesses protect margins while supporting consistent growth. 

Decrease Cost of Goods Sold

NetSuite brings clarity to how inventory costs flow through the business by ensuring inventory movements are accurately reflected in valuation and financial records. NetSuite offers costing methods such as Average Cost, FIFO, LIFO, and Standard Costing. Better purchasing visibility reduces urgent purchases, excess handling, and inventory write-offs. These efficiencies create a more stable and controlled cost of goods sold. 

Better Forecasting

NetSuite leverages historical sales and inventory data to provide more accurate demand forecasting. This allows planners to align stock with anticipated sales, preventing both overstocking and stockouts, and supports more reliable planning across procurement and production.

Data-Centric Business Decisions

Integrated analytics and reporting through NetSuite dashboards, saved searches, and reports provide clear insights into inventory performance, trends, and costs. With access to real-time data, decision-makers can make informed choices on purchasing, stock allocation, and pricing strategies, resulting in more effective operations and improved resource utilization.

Support for Uninterrupted Production

By ensuring that materials and stock are available when needed, NetSuite helps prevent delays in production and order fulfillment. Reliable inventory availability supports smoother workflows, reduces downtime, and enhances overall customer satisfaction.

Syncing Inventory Across Multiple Locations

NetSuite centralizes inventory information across warehouses, stores, and partner sites, giving businesses a single source of truth for stock levels. This enables faster reconciliation of inventory positions, more efficient allocation of stock, and better coordination across multiple locations.

Maintaining Industry Compliance

NetSuite ensures that inventory valuations and records are aligned with accounting standards and regulatory requirements such as ASC 330 and IFRS inventory valuation guidelines. Accurate record-keeping and traceability support audit readiness and reduce the risk of compliance issues, giving finance and operations teams greater confidence in their reporting.

Why Jobin & Jismi is Your Trusted NetSuite Partner?

Effective inventory management is a critical driver of operational efficiency, cost control, and business growth. Organizations that integrate data-driven insights, automated processes, and real-time visibility across their supply chain are better positioned to meet customer demands, optimize resources, and drive long-term business performance.  

As a certified Oracle NetSuite Solution Provider, Jobin & Jismi partners with businesses to translate these capabilities into tangible results. From strategic implementation and process alignment to ongoing optimization, we ensure NetSuite delivers measurable improvements in inventory performance, operational efficiency, and overall business outcomes.

Good inventory management makes businesses profitable and customers satisfied. NetSuite merges visibility, automation, and analytics into a single platform that scales with growth.

By reducing manual effort, enhancing forecasting, and providing real-time information, NetSuite inventory management enables leaders to mitigate risk and enhance efficiency. 

If companies are assessing their next steps, collaborating with dependable NetSuite consultation services will ensure the system is adapted to align with business priorities and deliver tangible results.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much does NetSuite inventory management cost? 

The cost depends on factors like the number of users, modules, customizations, and deployment scale. Pricing is typically subscription-based and tailored to each organization’s requirements.

How do I add inventory to NetSuite?

Inventory is added by creating new Inventory Items via Lists > Accounting > Items > New and selecting ‘Inventory Item’ or by importing multiple items using CSV files. For mobile or WMS environments, the Inventory app allows scanning and adding items with details like quantity, location, SKU, unit types, costing, pricing, and accounting accounts.

What is an inventory management module?

An inventory management module is a component of NetSuite ERP that manages stock levels, tracking, valuation, replenishment, and reporting across all locations and channels.

What is inventory control?

Inventory control refers to processes and tools used to monitor, track, and optimize stock levels, ensuring availability while minimizing carrying costs and waste.

How do I adjust inventory in NetSuite?

Inventory adjustments in NetSuite can be performed using the Adjust Inventory feature or Inventory Count, allowing businesses to update stock levels for discrepancies, returns, or shrinkage. These updates automatically adjust quantities and costs while maintaining accurate records for reporting and compliance.

Can serialized or lot-numbered items be adjusted in inventory?

Yes, NetSuite supports adjustments for serialized and lot-numbered items, maintaining traceability and compliance with forward and backward tracking requirements.