RF-SMART launches NetSuite inventory planning

RF-SMART has launched Supply Chain Planning for distributors using Oracle NetSuite, bringing replenishment decisions into a connected inventory optimisation workflow. The application evaluates stock records and demand information to recommend purchases and transfers between warehouses, extending the company’s NetSuite offering beyond warehouse execution into decisions about what goods to hold and where.

Introduced on 10 November, the product uses NetSuite inventory balances, sales history, item master data, supplier lead times and location information as inputs. Buyers can review recommendations and exceptions before creating purchase or transfer orders in the RF-SMART application, which then posts the approved records into NetSuite. This is an assisted purchasing process, not an announcement that supplier orders are automatically authorised without review.

Distributors have to balance working capital against the risk of unfilled customer orders. Keeping too much stock creates storage and financing costs, while buying too little can leave demand unmet during a supplier delay. Purchasing decisions therefore depend on the expected demand for an item, lead time to replenish it, the availability of stock elsewhere and the service commitments attached to customer orders.

A buyer using spreadsheets may export inventory reports, add sales histories and calculate reorder quantities separately for many stock-keeping units (SKUs). When a business has several branches or distribution centres, the same calculation has to consider stock already in transit and possible transfers between locations. RF-SMART’s planning application is designed to use the existing NetSuite records rather than maintain an independent set of purchasing figures manually.

Businesses can configure planning rules for the whole organisation, particular stock locations or individual SKUs. The application supports safety stock, reorder point and replenishment policies, recognising that a fast-moving part with a short local lead time presents a different purchasing problem from an imported item ordered infrequently. The rules determine how the software produces recommendations; they do not guarantee that demand or lead times will match the assumptions.

Safety stock is inventory held against variation in demand or supply, while a reorder point indicates when new stock should be requested under the chosen planning policy. The calculation only remains useful if sales history, expected replenishment time and inventory positions are current. An unexpected shutdown at a supplier or a one-off large order can make an otherwise reasonable automatic recommendation inappropriate.

Transfer orders form part of the same process. A shortfall at one warehouse might be covered by moving goods from another site instead of raising a new external purchase order. The sending location still needs enough stock for its own customers, and the transfer must be feasible within the required delivery window. The tool can identify a candidate movement, but the buyer determines whether the commercial and transport conditions support it.

RF-SMART says recommendations display the underlying requirements and allow users to manage exceptions before acting. An outlying order, wrong inventory count or delayed inbound delivery can distort a reorder calculation, making the review stage an operational control rather than a formality. The vendor has not released a quantified independent test of its recommendations across different distribution networks.

Approved purchase orders and transfers can be posted to NetSuite without users leaving the planning application. This reduces duplicate entry between the planning and execution steps, but it relies on consistent item records, stock quantities and account permissions. A purchasing recommendation may still require a separate supplier confirmation or transport booking after the record is created.

The software provides measures including stock turns, days of supply, fill rate and working capital. Stock turns relate the quantity or value sold over a period to average inventory, while days of supply estimates how long a stock position might cover expected demand. The measures can help identify excess holdings or emerging shortages, although the calculation method and reporting period must be consistent when comparing different categories.

Improving one metric can affect another. A distributor may raise its customer fill rate by keeping more goods readily available, but that can increase inventory value and storage requirements. Conversely, reducing average stock without accounting for lead-time variation can increase missed sales. The planning tool presents data for those decisions; the business sets the acceptable balance between service, cost and risk.

RF-SMART cites two customer accounts in support of the launch. Safe n’ Simple, a medical product manufacturer and distributor, reports reducing inventory value by approximately $800,000, or 20%, over six to seven months while improving product availability. The result comes from the named customer and is not accompanied by an independently audited comparison or a published account of all changes made during the period.

Runyon Surface Prep, an industrial equipment distributor, estimates that the application saves its purchasing team 25 to 30 hours each week. Controller Jeff Roberts says he expects the figure to rise as staff become more accustomed to the information. It is a company-reported estimate of time saved across the team, not evidence of an equivalent reduction in payroll cost or a universal productivity result.

The new product differs from RF-SMART’s established warehouse management functions, which guide receiving, counting, picking and movements of goods already inside a facility. Supply Chain Planning addresses earlier purchasing and allocation choices using demand, stock and lead-time records. RF-SMART says its NetSuite portfolio already includes more than 100 tools and that it has more than 13 years of NetSuite-specific experience.

The product is available to NetSuite companies distributing finished goods. RF-SMART has not announced fixed deployment times, a common savings rate or a planning method guaranteed to compensate for incorrect records or disrupted suppliers. Each implementation will have to reconcile local purchasing rules, supplier master records and permission to create orders before recommendations can be used in routine operations.

The two early customer accounts provide examples of reduced stockholding and planning effort, but their circumstances are not disclosed in enough detail to serve as benchmarks for every distributor. Subsequent adoption will show how well the application’s rules and exception review cope with changing demand, supplier lead times and inventories spread across multiple sites.